Business Intelligence is the only sector in IT which has survived the recession relatively unscathed. And with good reason. In hard times companies need all the information they can get in order to survive.
Business Intelligence centers around extracting information from existing databases to allow informed businesses to evaluate the state of their finances at any point in time and plan future strategies.
1. Business Intelligence is relevant For All Business Sectors
There is not a business in existence which cannot benefit from BI. Personally I have used it to sell paint, analyse exam results, monitor repair work done on government houses and have even worked on counter-terrorism using the exact same skill-set for each.
I have worked in banking, retail, insurance, healthcare, education and government. There really is no limit to what you can do or where you can work.
2. Business Intelligence is an Easy Platform to Other IT Areas
There is so much to learn to be a productive employee in the IT industry that it is not only overwhelming to those starting out but is also in the mind of any employer looking at a graduate's resume.
And it is not just the 'what' to learn, as this may have been covered at college, but the 'how'. How to actually apply this knowledge in a business environment.
Business Intelligence usually requires the knowledge of one piece of software which is designed to do one specific task: generate reports. This really narrows the scope of what you need to learn.
At the worst, there is also a distribution application which also needs to be mastered, but this is usually not very involved.
3. Many IT Professionals Are Not Cut Out To be Business Intelligence Consultants
The question you may be asking yourself is: "Why aren't other IT people just switching jobs to Business Intelligence if it is so great?"
The reason is twofold:
a. Many of the programmer community just do not have the interpersonal skills to be a BI expert. Working in Business Intelligence requires a great deal of interaction with people at all levels of a business. This is the scariest thing in the world for many programmer types.
b. BI is not seen as "proper programming", and to be honest, it is not. The formulas and macros that the more advanced BI Experts use are still only a few lines long. And of course, it is possible to have a successful BI career and not be able to write any code (though it will be a struggle!).
Whichever of these cause existing IT expert to stay clear of Business Intelligence (it was 'b' which was my initial concern, but I do not regret my choice for a second), it all works to create a fertile ground for the newcomer to IT.
Summary
The mix of these points makes an ideal combination for anyone hoping to break into the IT industry. Between the rapidly expanding Business Intelligence sector and the lack of prospective employees (even from within the IT industry itself!) this is an opportunity not to be missed.
Like all things, the market place will level itself out over time, but now is the chance to be at the forefront of this exciting new development.
About the Author
Jason Dove is a published author and a Business Intelligence expert who has worked as a consultant for over a decade providing top notch assistance for the world's leading companies.
Jason is also the mastermind behind the revolutionary Scry Career Primer, the only product on the market dedicated to launching your IT career, covering everything from gaining industry experience, to writing a killer résumé to exploiting the most popular IT sectors. Sign up to his FREE newsletter here.
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