Lotus positions itself successfully

There is no doubt that many of the international software companies in Ireland are much better placed to meet any fluctuations in world markets because of the extensive roots put in place over the past 10 years, says Mike Cusack, general manager of operations for Lotus Development Ireland. And this is reflected in Lotus's business plans for 1998 with dozens of vacancies for software engineers and other positions.

But Mike Cusack takes note of the sad news of the pre-Christmas closure of Seagate in Clonmel and says it has put the spotlight firmly on the international electronic industry in Ireland including the multinational software sector.

But while he is not complacent, he points to the success of Lotus Development Ireland, which was the first major software company to establish in Ireland in 1985.

"Back in 1985," says Mike Cusack, "we were solely a manufacturing operation but even then we recognised how vulnerable this would be to downturns in international markets or the emergence of lower cost locations."

Because of this it was a conscious decision of Lotus and many other international software companies located here such as Oracle, to project Ireland to international management as a suitable location for higher valued added tasks.

In 1987, Lotus established its European Product Development Centre in Dublin which is one of three international centres of excellence which Lotus operate outside the US. The other two are located in Singapore and Japan. The Dublin division now employs about 200 people working on product development and localisation.

The 1990s have so far seen Lotus centralise many European customer operations in Dublin, including customer support, invoicing, credit management and other European management functions.

Elaine Stephen, head of European product development for Lotus, points out that manufacturing is still a key part of what they do in Dublin, but they have worked hard to develop other specialist areas. The company now employs around 500 people in Ireland.

The calibre of the software development centre is such that Lotus were recently awarded EU grants worth $1.2 million for software research and this year the Dublin operation won the annual Lotus Award for Technical Innovation - the first time it has been awarded outside the US.