Jeremy Hughes is only torn from his passion for designing software when the world-renowned surfing breaks near his Raglan home are pumping.
Perched above his garage, his home-office is rationed with a glimmer of the harbour – but it is the nearby black-sand beaches he schedules his clients around.
“There are some days the surf is epic but you have already made work commitments,” he said. “Then there are the days, especially with forecasting, where you schedule your clients so you can get an afternoon off to surf.”
The software designer has an enviable work life balance.
He first launched Ignition Software in Auckland after finding himself jobless following the 1980s stock-market crash. Ten years later – after negotiating with his fashion designer wife – they relocated to Raglan. “I said I would only move to the Waikato if we could live in Raglan,” he said. “I still wanted a beach lifestyle but still work professionally.” He modestly admits it “works really well”.
Writing software “lights” Hughes up. “When you have someone prepared to share their issue with their business…it is the satisfaction of helping people. It is creative as well…the brainstorming and problem solving.”
Hughes’ clients include a 12 year contract with the New Zealand Police and more recent work with Hamilton success story Industrial Tube Manufacturing.
His team of eight Waikato based staff deal mainly with designing custom-built solutions for the company’s 20 clients. The company has created quality control software for the Police for an asset tracking database and is in the throes of “widening that scope” to other Government agencies.
“Sometimes people have systems which they are not happy with. We…modify it more for their needs. We don’t have to make a whole system from scratch we can integrate with what the company already has.
“Our core focus is delivering bug free solutions.”
The company adopted Lean philosophy 18 months ago and has increased the time writing software to 84 per cent per project. The remaining time is spent on administration and project management. “It is about asking is this something we cannot do and still get there? Streamlining.”
The future for Ignition Software includes an ambitious expansion which will see turnover double within three years. Then, in between catching a few waves, there’s the job management tool used by Industrial Tube Manufacturing that looks set to achieve greater distribution when it becomes a “product” for sale later this year.
Source:http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/5334438/Software-designer-loves-making-waves
