From star gazing to computer boss

For those who think computing is akin to rocket science, Geac's new New Zealand boss Nigel Birtwell has the right qualifications.

His entry into the computer industry in the mid 80s came after he completed a doctorate in astrophysics at Leeds University.

There was not much call for people who knew how to make infrared observations of galactic star formations, but his experience in software development and image processing made him eminently employable.

"I wanted commercial experience, so I joined a company, Miles 33, which sold and integrated newspaper editorial and advertising systems," he says. One of its competitors was the system used by the Herald, Cybergraphics, which recently came under the Geac umbrella.

After 12 years at Miles 33 Mr Birtwell went looking for "an alternative lifestyle," buying a round-the-world ticket to find somewhere to settle.

Ever the scientist, he conducted experimental research, travelling round Australia for a few months in a VW Combi with surfboards on top and then around in New Zealand in a Maui campervan.

"I liked New Zealand better and Auckland was big enough to support my professional ambitions."

His first job was business manager for Gallagher Infomanagement Group, which does data and mail processing, including doing many of the postal ballots for the 1998 local body elections.

"It was all good experience and a good introduction to the New Zealand services market, but I felt I wanted to get back to my roots which were software development and systems integration houses."

He joined Geac last year as an Auckland-based business development manager, charged with following up new opportunities and understanding the market and the way it is changing.

As New Zealand manager he will oversee 185 staff and have sales and operations responsibility for Geac's i2, TIMS, StreamLine, System 21, SmartEnterprise and Mainpac solutions.

Local government activities in New Zealand will be managed by David Guy, former head of the local government division of software house Praxa, which Geac recently bought.

Mr Birtwell says Geac has made shrewd and strategic acquisitions, giving it a solid range of enterprise resource planning products. It has a clear e-commerce strategy for all products.

"We're supporting the systems we acquire in a way which gives customers confidence that we have stability and security going forward.

"System 21 is tier-one quality, with strength in manufacturing, distribution and warehousing on the (IBM) AS/400 platform. The strategy there is IBM WebSphere [IBM's middleware to make applications internet-enabled].

"StreamLine is our Microsoft go-forward product."

The next release of StreamLine, a New Zealand-developed system which runs on the Microsoft Windows NT operating system, is due today. It includes a fully-integrated customer relationship management module and a revised general ledger module.