Roger Covey, president of Chicago-based System Software Associ ates Inc, was over here last week for an open day at the compa ny’s new European headquarters at Frimley, Surrey. The company sells a software product line known collectively as the Business Planning and Control System – BPCS for short – consisting of 25 integrated products aimed at manufacturing, distribution and accounting. The software runs exclusively on the IBM System/36, System/38 and the new AS/400 and costs between UKP2,000 and UKP17,500, depending on the hardware model. Mr Covey declared the AS/400 offered scope for unlimited growth, saying that he be lieved IBM had deliberately under-estimated the machine’s per formance. He also claimed that IBM had grossed $75,000m from its mid-range equipment over the last 10 years. System Software boasts over 3,000 users in 42 countries and says it is the world’s largest independent vendor of application software for IBM mid-range systems. It markets to end-users through an affil iate network currently consisting of more than 40 companies throughout the world. There are 11 affiliates in Europe, all independently owned firms which sell, install and maintain BPCS. Terry Osborne, general manager of SSA Europe, spent 27 years with IBM in which time he held a number of senior positions including vice-president of marketing for Europe and director of marketing services for IBM UK. He expects turnover to reach $12m in Europe this year and plans to increase staff at the Surrey headquarters to 80 by this time next year. Worldwide System Software has enjoyed prodigious growth, averaging a 100% increase in turnover over the last five years. The company posted a 124% increase last year to $31m, while sales for the first six months of 1988 have reached $25.5m. In February 1987 the company made an ini tial public offering which raised over $10m. The proceeds were used to buy two affiliates, ASE Services Inc in New England, and Admin EDP Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia.
