Published 15th June 2006
Launch of Cognos Academy to combat skills shortage and train 8,000 consultants...
LONDON, England, June 15, 2006 – Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN; TSX: CSN), the world leader in business intelligence and performance management solutions, is predicting that the growing trend for business intelligence systems will lead to a BI skills crisis by 2009.
“We’ve found that the consultants with the wisdom, experience and BI skills needed in the current marketplace are concentrated within the older age groups. There is a severe shortage of skilled BI consultants amongst the 25-35 year-old band,” said Graham Walter, vice president UK, Middle East and South Africa at Cognos.
“It’s great to see the BI market going from strength to strength, and companies viewing it as a vital component of managing performance to ensure business success. But much more needs to be done now to ensure that the market has access to people with the required skills to meet this growing demand.”
According to analyst house Gartner, the global BI market is set to grow over seven per cent each year for the next four years, creating a market worth $3bn in 2009[1]. With the demand for BI set to dominate the industry, consultants must be trained in the suitable skills to handle this.
“The demand for BI skills from leading technology consultancies is growing, however we are finding there is not the supply of qualified workers,” said Stuart Britton, managing director of SEC Recruitment. “I would estimate that, on average, there is one person for every three vacancies. If nothing is done about this, the lack of BI skills could easily become the most challenging aspect of IT recruitment.”
In response, Cognos has launched the Cognos Academy, a mix of self-study, and classroom that will help new and existing Cognos consultants upgrade their skills and obtain a Cognos 8 BI Professional Certification. The global demand is predicted to be high, with an estimate of 8,000 BI consultants to be trained in the next three years.
“Business intelligence is fast becoming a desktop application used at all levels across companies, so it is creating a real demand for staff with relevant experience in rolling out and maintaining BI applications,” continued Walter. “The Cognos Academy is designed to provide consultants with all the skills they need.”
Courses at the Cognos Academy will also be available by invitation to Cognos customers who are working to set up in-house BI Competency Centres.
“An increasing number of enterprise customers are setting up BI Competency Centres to drive adoption and best practice within their organisations. We are keen to support this vision and provide the skills and knowledge where we can.”
“A BI skills shortage is an industry-wide problem that will affect all companies delivering business intelligence solutions,” concluded Walter. “The industry must wake up to the need for change and put in place measures to ensure the industry isn’t held back.”
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