Barcelona-based Sysdata SA is the leading member of a group of four companies formed in 1987 that offer software, consultancy and services. Almost all the group’s business comes from the financial and industrial markets of Catalonia, although a tentative advance into the rest of Spain was begun in 1994, following a distribution agreement signed with Sunion SA. Sysdata itself is composed of three divisions – consultancy, systems and products, and accounted for 88% of the group’s sales in 1995. The other three members of the group are Iesim SA (computer and management training), STT SA (temporary employment) and Icondata SA, the most recent addition, which specializes in multimedia, three-dimensional graphics and animation. Sysdata managing director Jose Carlos Aula told Computerworld Espana that although the Catalan market currently provided 97% of sales, there was still enormous scope there to offer the financial sector new products. Sysdata’s most successful program to date is GesFoPen, developed to manage investment funds and pension plans, while applications for hospitals and general management are also available. Aula commented that clients were showing great interest in incorporating multimedia technology, and as a response to this, Icondata was currently developing specialized products aimed at marketing – interactive catalogs, product presentation among others – training and management (reports and mailshots). Of Sysdata’s 210 staff, 64 were taken on in the last 12 months, during which time Sysdata has doubled sales to exceed $10.3m on which it made profits of $1.2m.
