Local software company maps out future growth

Queen’s University spin-out company, EventMAP, is creating 10 highly skilled jobs in Belfast, with Invest Northern Ireland support of £85,000.

EventMAP has developed a range of software products and services that optimise timetabling and resource management within universities, and has already enabled many large institutions to realise significant annual financial savings. The business has been developed by Dr Barry McCollum and Dr Paul McMullan from QUB’s Department of Computer Science, in association with a specialist mathematical research group from the University of Nottingham. It has recently secured a six figure contract in Oman, supplying its timetabling software to Sultan Qaboos University. EventMAP expects sales to grow to around £1 million by 2017.

Announcing the expansion, EventMAP’s CEO, Dr Barry McCollum said: “This is an exciting time for the company. Opportunities are opening up for us not only in the education sector but also within many areas of the public sector and in large-scale manufacturing – in fact, we see possibilities for our technology anywhere where very complex organisations can be made more efficient. Our recent success in Oman reflects this potential and is an important stepping stone for us in leveraging additional business in the Middle East.

“Over the next three years we will be implementing a marketing strategy to target sales within a number of national and international markets including UK, France, Portugal, Finland, Switzerland, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

“We’ll also be continuing to develop new technology, including advanced cloud-based solutions. Our mission is to further advance our position at the cutting edge of the resource management and software optimisation field.”

George McKinney, Invest NI’s Director of Technology & Services, said: “EventMAP has invested significantly in research and development and the resulting innovative technology has enabled it to steadily gain market share.

“The company’s software and services have been adopted by four of the UK’s Russell Group universities and a further five of the top 100 universities in the world.

“We are supporting EventMAP in a significant expansion that will create 10 quality jobs and help it to substantially grow sales, primarily in export markets.”