Finance and business professionals transitioning their business to the cloud can now benefit from DataDear – a project that received €161,000 in funds from Fusion, the national funding programme administered by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST).
The technology was developed by the DataDear Consortium, represented by Scope Solutions and the University of Malta.
Over the past decade, the business world has experienced a noticeable shift from traditional software to software being offered as a cloud-based solution, the latter also referred to as SaaS (software as a service). This shift has been further accentuated by the current COVID-19 dynamic, which has naturally accelerated this process for some companies.
Scope Solutions identified this shift and set up shop in 2013 to provide advice, together with implementation and support services for business wanting to adopt a cloud-based solution. Scope also recognised the influential position played by key stakeholders in the cloud adoption process, which includes accountants in business and in practice. To this end, the firm has been focusing on empowering finance and business professionals by embracing technology in order to drive the business forward.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been working in their siloed setups using traditional software and legacy processes. In today’s world, these on-premises setups are being replaced by cloud-based software. For startups, cloud adoption is relatively straightforward, yet for established entities this transition can be more cumbersome.
For startups, cloud adoption is relatively straightforward, yet for established entities this transition can be more cumbersome
A number of researchers have established that one of the reasons SMEs delay shifting their organisation to the SaaS model, is due to the existing deep business processes that are embedded in the day-to-day running of the operations, especially when it comes to recording data for analysis and reporting.
Research also shows that spreadsheet software is one of the most-used technologies for collecting, computing, and displaying data. Accountants and business owners are familiar with spreadsheet software. In spite of the risks associated with operating such a versatile tool, undoubtedly there are also various benefits of operating this tool, when approached diligently.
At a dissemination event entitled ‘DataDear: Empowering Finance Professionals’ held last Friday at Esplora Interactive Science Centre, Kalkara, professionals were presented with the results of the technology. They also took part in an interactive discussion with a panel composed of Tech MT CEO Dana Farrugia, PWC partner Steve Ginell, Nouv partner Andrew Naudi, Beppe Muscat from NM group and Scope partner Brian Ferris.
During his presentation, Ferris said: “Through Scope’s active work in the cloud solutions space, particularly with finance professionals, an opportunity was identified a few years ago, which was later brought to life through DataDear, a synergistic and integrated SaaS product.
“DataDear has now embarked on its own journey, currently servicing thousands of finance and business professionals throughout the entire globe, once again emphasising Malta’s presence as a strategic player in the fintech industry.”