Thorn EMI spin-off Parsys Ltd, the London W7 manufacturer of the Transputer-based SuperNode multiple intsruction-multiple data massively parallel computer, has set up its first subsidiary outside the UK in Tres Cantos, Madrid. Parsys’ sales and commercial director in the UK, Ian Coburn, says Spain has been the first country outside the UK to achieve critical mass – four to six installations being the trigger point for Parsys to consider setting up base in a country. Parsys has reached its seventh installation in Spain, having just sold a SuperNode 1000 machine to La Coruna University. The company has also received a confirmed order for a system from the Complutence University of Madrid. All Parsys’ Spanish installations are university-based, most on the back of European Community or Spanish government projects, and applications vary from research into operating system design to molecular modelling to robotics control. The largest configuration sold in Spain to date is a 32-processor SuperNode 1000, worth a minimum UKP70,000 according to current prices, installed at CSIC. The new Spanish subsidiary, Parsys Espana SA, is about to appoint its third member of staff. Switzerland and Italy are the only other countries outside the UK that have provided any business for Parsys, though this has only been one machine a-piece so far. Coburn says Parsys is now seeking to set up subsidiaries throughout Europe once the orders start rolling in. In Europe, Parsys wants to establish fully-fledged subsidiaries while, beyond the continental frontier, the company is likely to establish a presence by way of a joint venture. So far, Parsys, a member of the European Esprit GP MIMD general-purpose parallel computing project, has kept clear of the US, having witnessed other small UK companies take up the challenge and paying dearly.
