From January 1988 to August 1994 I worked for IBSI, ending up as VP Product Development. Moved from UK to Germany in 1990 and managed 20-strong development team with P&L responsibility. Increasingly involved in customer support, pre-sales, marketing and strategy.
Joined Delta Software International Ltd 1988 to manage the IBM mainframe team for the Delta/ADS enterprise application development tool. This was initially a mostly technical role with an important element of negotiation with head office in Switzerland and fellow development centre in Germany.
Delta/ADS was the market leader in its niche in Europe, used by many large banks and insurance companies, which meant customer visits and general pre-sales and post-sales support, both in the UK and internationally.
Moved to Germany in 1990 to join Delta Software GmbH after managing the UK development organization and working closely with development teams in Germany and Switzerland. Started to learn German, where my colleagues helped my progress by deciding from one day to another to stop speaking English with me.
Quickly appointed Development Group Manager for German development team, which meant regular discussions with development groups in Switzerland and France, as well as strategic sub-contractors in Germany.
In 1991 this team was spun-out of Delta Software GmbH into a separate company, IBSI CASE Development GmbH, following Delta’s acquisition by IBSI (a big Delta/ADS user in France). This meant even more travel, this time mostly to France and Switzerland, and my first attempt to learn French.
Managed a team of 20 with profit and loss responsibility and a turnover of EUR 2 million for IBSI CASE Development GmbH; profit and loss, hire and fire responsibility. Drove the technical strategy and supported international sales. Spoke at a number of user conferences and customer events.
Assumed VP Product Development role in 1993 with transfer of all Delta/ADS development to IBSI CASE Development GmbH with the closure of the development centers in France and Switzerland.
