Geneva-based software distributor Instrumatic Inter SA has agreed to sell its majority shareholding in computer-aided software engineering specialist, SQL Software Ltd, to its management for an undisclosed sum. Instrumatic decided it wanted to focus on its core activities. But investment group 3i Plc has also taken an equity stake in SQL worth UKP750,000, which the Harlow, Essex-based group intends to spend on research and development and further expansion into the US. SQL’s flagship product is PCMS, a product configuration management system that enables users to model and manage the engineering processes and configuration of the software they intend to develop. According to managing director Tani Haque, PCMS, in contrast to rival offerings, looks at things from the top down rather than from the bottom up, which makes people think on a higher level when managing change. It also makes it easier for both engineers and management to see and understand how a given application will work. Furthermore, PCMS can be used in an heterogeneous environment – PCMS Star Data File Store networking software, which is incorporated into PCMS, enables customers to hook onto a network and presents them with a common user interface no matter what workstation they use. It also enables them to develop applications for a Sun Microsystems Inc machine, for example, on a Digital Equipment Corp VAX. And the product can be integrated with almost all other software engineering tools by means of simple interfacing. As a result, it can co-exist quite happily with a customer’s existing tools. And this fits in with SQL’s innovative distribution strategy of working closely in partnership with others. Although such partners consist mainly of software engineering firms and systems integrators, the group also has a worldwide distribution agreement with DEC. But DEC doesn’t just resell PCMS. It has instead integrated the product into its core nucleus of software engineering tools, namely Cohesion Works and Team C. Taque reckons that PCMS is a mission-critical system aimed at users that want to undertake serious software engineering. This includes engineers developing embedded software or real-time applications. SQL generated turnover of more than UKP10m last year, and boasts 100% compound growth year-on-year. Between 20% and 25% comes from the UK, some 35% from the US, and the rest from Europe and Australia.
