Mr Richard Firth is CEO and chairman of MIP, the financial administration software company. MIP, widely acknowledged as the world's leading development company on the Progress Software platform, has earned a number of accolades. Its Astra framework was chosen in 2001 as the backbone for Progress's open source Web enablement initiative. MIP beat more than 30 international companies to secure this award. This framework is now being deployed by customers worldwide. This award owed a great deal to Firth’s unwavering commitment to software quality and discipline. Before he was chairman and CEO, Richard was MD of MIP from 1996 to 1999 and a consultant for British American Consulting Group from 1992 to 1996. He gained experience as a senior programmer for FNB from 1986 to 1992 and was an IT systems analyst for FNB from 1989 to 1992. Before that he was on foreign exchange from 1986 to 1989.

MIP has been recognised by the Department of Trade and Industry as the country's most innovative midrange IT company. As part of Richard's commitment to the IT sector and South Africa, he has launched a grassroots initiative to provide young adults from the previously disadvantaged sector with IT skills and training, especially with regard to software development.

Presentation
Using SOA to Drive Strategy

Richard Firth is MD of MIP, one of South Africa's fastest growing software companies (www.mip.co.za). MIP has been a pioneer in the fields of "software as a service" and service-oriented architecture. In particular, it has created and honed the concept of contingency-based billing, in terms of which clients defer up-front payment in exchange for monthly payments. This has a fundamental impact on clients' strategic decision-making.

MIP has taken its approach to SOA and contingency-based billing to a new level, using it to impact directly on its clients' strategies. In particular, it has worked with Coris and Alfinanz to create a model for dramatic growth.

Coris has grown in a short space of time to become the third largest employee benefits administrator in South Africa; while Forbes magazine named Alfinanz as the world's leading financial services outsourcing company. Alfinanz's key client, Channel Life, climbed from No 42 to No 6 in the South African insurance market.

Coris, Alfinanz and Channel Life have all drawn the attention of Sanlam, which has taken strategic investments in all three companies, and is using them to drive aspects of its own strategy.

Richard will discuss MIP's approach to SOA; the company's architectural design principles; how it applied them in the case of Coris and Alfinanz/Channel Life; how SOA created a foundation for near-limitless growth; how it has allowed MIP to reuse existing applications, processes and modules, and deliver applications to clients in record time; and how it has created a foundation for sustained growth.

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