Keeping mum on systems

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Bruce Maunder, co-founder of Auckland systems developer Celsius Technology, is a difficult man to interview because almost everything he says is off the record. And there is a reason for his reticence.

Celsius specialises in designing embedded systems - devices that store, process and communicate data - on behalf of its customers in the United States and Australasia.

A typical contract will involve Celsius grappling with the intricacies of standards such as TCP/IP, IrDA, and Bluetooth, in order to build a prototype that the client can then put into production and take to market.

But Celsius finds that many of its customers, especially those based in the US, end up taking all the credit.



The most glaring example occurred when Celsius developed an e-mail toy for a large US supplier.

Celsius was responsible for everything from the user interface right down to the nitty-gritty of the wireless communication protocols.

But when the e-mail toy caught the attention of Wired magazine, Celsius' name was left out of the article. When Celsius put a photo of the product on its website, a US company that had been involved told Mr Maunder to take the photo down.

Mr Maunder says this attitude is making it difficult for Celsius and other small local electronics companies to promote their services.

"We can't mention the very cool technology we are developing. If it was known that we had done the e-mail toy we could have brought more work to New Zealand."

Formed in 1999, Celsius turned over just $250,000 in its first financial year. Revenue to March this year exceeded $1 million, and the outlook looks even rosier.

Mr Maunder says the next stage will be to fully exploit its patented technology, including some database-aware tools, by coming to marketing agreements with industry giants of the size of IBM and Oracle with the help of partners.

Celsius Technology