New R&D man has big plans for Peace

By RICHARD PAMATATAU



Auckland's Peace Software has appointed technology high-flyer Tony Engberg as vice-president of research and development, signalling a change of direction for the local developer.

Engberg joined the company two months ago and plans to make it one of the world's best energy industry software makers.

Peace needed to provide customers with products that were easier to use but also better, he said, and that meant standardising on a lot more of what was offered.

From a classical management point of view, Peace was moving from a customised software house to one where the product could be shipped on a CD, he said.

But this did not mean that customers would be offered less of a product.

Rather, said Engberg, they would be offered systems that were easier to develop to meet specific needs.

There were no plans to move the 150-plus development team away from New Zealand.

This environment was good for software development and there was no shortage of smart people wanting to work at Peace, he said.

But the company was recruiting different kinds of people now as it had quite a mature workforce and many people who had been at the company since the early days.

With the new structure in place, Engberg expected the headcount to be more stable because resources would not be needed for specific new projects.

Before he joined Peace Engberg was chief technology officer and executive vice-president of R&D for Gemplus International in France.

Gemplus is one of the world's biggest smart chip card makers.

He previously worked at Hewlett-Packard for 23 years, ending up as group R&D manager for its customer service and support organisation.

But Engberg does not see working in New Zealand as a step down after such big jobs in other countries.

"If anything, the opportunity is more exciting because there is enormous potential in a country like this."