Mr Michael Kelly, chief executive, FINEOS
Mr Michael Kelly, founder and chief executive of Fineos, foresaw the emerging demand within the financial services sector - which was experiencing unprecedented business, legislative and technological change - for a suite of enterprise products based on modern flexible software systems.
The Fineos systems enable banks and insurers to become customer-centric and, with their inherent flexibility, ensure that old legacy administration systems are no longer an impediment to business strategy.
Fineos has been profitable since inception, with continued year-on-year growth in revenues, profits, customer numbers and staff. Its customers include leading financial services companies across Europe.
Liam Young, chief executive, Conduit plc
Founded by Mr Liam Young, Conduit plc comprises two distinct businesses: Conduit Europe, which was formed in 1996, to provide information services - primarily directory services; and Conduit Software, which was set up in 1997 to develop and market the enabling technologies for information services to both fixed and mobile users.
Starting with three employees and £10,000 (€12,700), Mr Young has grown Conduit into a panEuropean business. It was successfully listed on the German Neuer technology market in June 2000.
Employing 1,300 people, the company provides directory assistance services to clients in the UK, the Republic, Switzerland and Austria.
Mr Galen Bales, founder and vice- president field operations, Point Information Systems Ltd
Mr Galen Bales holds responsibility for Point's worldwide field operations which encompasses all customer facing activities from sales, marketing, implementation, training and support.
He founded Point in 1989. The company develops customer relationship management software which enables organisations and their partners to interact with their customers and prospects at any stage of the customer lifecycle and over any media, such as WAP, the internet and SMS.
Deployed in 20 languages in 36 countries, Point's products are used by mid-to-large sized organisations and multinational companies.
Mr Anthony Bermingham, chief executive, LAKE Communications
Lake Communications is a global voice/data networking company supplying telecommunications products and software technology. It focuses on the small office market in Western Europe.
It was founded in 1991 by Mr Bermingham, through a management buyout. In 1993, he became chief executive and helped turn the company, then a loss-maker, into a profitable, global, high technology company.
Since 1991, its workforce has grown from 42 to more than 200, its research and development team has jumped from 22 to 100 people and sales have risen from £4 million to £40 million.
Peter Conlon, chairman, MV Technology Ltd
MVT was founded by Mr Peter Conlon in 1996. In the five years from start-up, it has become one of the world's leading suppliers of in-line automated optical inspection systems and solutions for electronic assembly and printed circuit board manufacturing industries.
The company has evolved rapidly into a global corporation with partners and customers worldwide.
MVT has grown the number of its employees from four to 150, of which 60 are involved in research and development. Revenues grew from zero to $28.2 million (€33.3 million) for fiscal year 2000.
Mr Conlon sold the company to Agilent Technologies in March this year for more than £100 million.
Garrett Byrne, chief executive, Interactive Services
Interactive Services was set up in 1993 by Mr Garrett Byrne, chief executive, and Ms Aideen Donohue, chief operations officer. It is a specialist e-learning developer, delivering high quality, interactive training solutions for the telecommunications industry.
Since its foundation, Interactive Services has grown rapidly and now employs 180 people. It is in the process of expanding its operations in the US where it plans to grow staff numbers from 20 to 200 by the year-end.
Mr Byrne has been responsible for developing and managing the company's major customer relationships. Its clients include Lucent Technologies, Ericcson, Verizon, SmartForce and Riverdeep.
Neil Wilson, chief executive, Datalex plc
Since its foundation in Ireland in 1985, Datalex has extended its reach across the global travel industry as a leading supplier of ebusiness infrastructure and solutions.
During its first 12 years, the company concentrated on the development of data communications gateways to access airline reservations systems. In 1997, it launched an expansion programme to evolve into a full-service, integrated e-business solutions provider. In October 2000, it went public and is now listed on the Nasdaq and the Irish Stock Exchange.
Today it is not only a supplier to, but also a strategic business partner for many of the world's leading airlines, global distribution systems and travel supply companies.
Bryan Maybury, director business development, Macalla Software
Macalla is one of Europe's leading providers of software for delivering information and services across multiple wireless, internet, voice and digital TV distribution channels and devices.
Established in Dublin by Mr Bryan Maybury, Mr Neil O'Cleirigh, Mr Peter Sherry and Mr Jerome O'Flaherty less than three years ago, Macalla is now an established global player with a rapidly growing list of blue-chip clients in Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe, North America and Japan. Mr Maybury has played a key role in driving the company from start-up to global leader.
Macalla's software product is widely used and highly acclaimed worldwide, while the company's revenue has grown sevenfold for the year ending April 2001.
