Lava expands in Australia

With the acquisition earlier this year of Australian systems integrator Informatica, the Canadian software firm Lava Systems is preparing for considerable growth in the Asia Pacific region over the next 12 months.

The recently merged operation has moved into much larger premises in Pyrmont and is actively hiring new staff.

The local operation, known as Lava Systems Asia Pacific, is a direct subsidiary of the Ontario-based software development firm. The managing director of Lava Systems Asia Pacific, Ian Halliday, said the company sees itself not just as a knowledge management technology provider, but as "a business process enablement provider".

He said that Lava's strengths in offering tight integration of its imaging, COLD and document management products with line of business operating systems from SAP and JD Edwards is complemented by Informatica's knowledge of the local market in the healthcare and transportation sectors.

Informatica has been responsible for many implementations of imaging systems in Australia and has developed considerable expertise in systems integration.

Informatica's former principal, Charles Lattuca, has converted his ownership of the Sydney company into Lava stock and now owns around 5-6 per cent of the Canadian software company.

"There was a real synergy there between our two firms," he said. "It hasn't been a case of taking the money and running."

REVENUES INCREASE

Mr Halliday said the parent company's revenues had almost tripled since the end of financial 94/95, with this financial year's result expected to be CAN$39 million. He believed that the Asia Pacific operation should contribute 10 per cent to that figure and expects that this region should generate around $10 million in revenue over the next 12 months.