Hornbill Systems has taken the strategic decision to increase investment in Research and Development (R&D) during the course of 2009, with plans to expand the company's in-house development team by 80% before the end of the year. Hornbill's increased commitment to R&D is being driven by the growing number of mid-sized organisations which are actively looking to invest in IT service management solutions as a means to gain efficiencies and manage costs. At the same time, these customer-focused organisations are demanding the level of functionality traditionally associated with much larger companies, fuelling the requirement to develop innovative, and better quality enterprise-class solutions more quickly.

Gerry Sweeney, CEO of Hornbill Systems, comments: "At a time when most companies are cutting costs and reducing their headcount, Hornbill has its sights set firmly on the future. Firstly, there is the tremendous opportunity for us to capitalise on the growing demand for sophisticated, customer-focused service desk functionality that adds value to the bottom line but with the simplicity and ease of use that our customers have come to expect. Secondly, we are in a unique position of being able to tap into the significant pool of talent that exists in today's environment and hire the best people to drive forward Hornbill's product innovation. This will give us a strong competitive advantage well into the next decade."

To underpin our commitment to product quality, Hornbill is investing in formal process improvements and aims to achieve Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/)
in the first half of 2010. By implementing a process improvement programme that explicitly links management and engineering activities to the company's overall business objectives, Hornbill's customers will benefit from improved product and service quality and a unique range of solutions that meet their exact requirements and expectations.

In addition to almost doubling the size of the development team, Hornbill has also hired additional resources globally for other parts of the business including sales, marketing and professional services.

As Sweeney explains: "It's not just about technology. Getting closer to customers' needs and wants is pivotal to creating an enhanced customer experience. Putting customers at the core of everything we do and developing technology that can be used to drive excellence and prevent process stagnation is critical. This is what Hornbill calls the 'human touch' and it is an intrinsic part of our ethos that defines our future direction."

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About CMMI
CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organisations with the essential elements of effective processes. It can be used to guide process improvement across a project, a division, or an entire organisation. CMMI helps integrate traditionally separate organisational functions, set process improvement goals and priorities, provide guidance for quality processes, and provide a point of reference for appraising current processes.
For more information, please visit www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/