With more than 400 employees worldwide, Ideagen is one of the most exciting and fastest growing software companies in the world. Ideagen develops software that allows businesses in regulated sectors, such as aviation, aerospace & defence, banking, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, to meet their safety, compliance, audit and risk requirements. Below are the excepts of the interview with -Andy Gascoigne, Head of Cyber Security at Ideagen and Steven Cespedes, Head of Aviation at Ideagen.
Q - How do you look at the safety of the aviation industry? Is it hacker-proof? Or are we taking the current security too much for granted?
A - Andy Gascoigne, Head of Cyber Security at Ideagen, said: "The brutal truth is that nothing is ever really hacker-proof - if someone wants something so badly then it is highly likely that, given enough time and resources, that they will be able to get it.
"You do the best with both the tools and crucially, the people that you have, leveraging external expertise in areas that cannot be effectively driven internally, whilst all the while looking for areas to improve. The risk for a smaller company is somewhat reduced but a company that is in the supply chain of a larger organisation in the aviation industry makes it a realistic target, viewed by some as a weak link. You can never take security for granted. It is important to view security both externally and internally; suppliers, customers and employees. Covering all bases and not getting too focused on one area, or carried away with technology alone. There is little point installing the best state of the art burglar alarm into your home and then leaving the doors or windows open."
Q - Ideagen recently secured a software project with Inland Group of Companies. Can you tell our readers more about the 'Coruson' software?
A- Steven Cespedes, Head of Aviation at Ideagen, said: "Our Coruson software is a cloud application that provides organisations with complete control , visibility and real time reporting of every detail and aspect of safety and operational risk.
"It is used by some of the largest organisations operating in the aviation industry today from airlines such as British Airways, Air Asia and Ryanair to MRO organisations such as Haeco. The software is used in other industries also such as rail (used by the UK's RSSB - the Rail Safety & Standards Board) in Oil & Gas with Johnson Matthey and in Communications with Telefonica.
"The system is deployed to help organisations in highly regulated industries such as these to improve efficiency and productivity, manage safety, incident reporting and risk as well as quality and compliance with standards and regulations. It is an outstanding tool used by many of our clients to safeguard reputation and brand while successfully managing change and achieving strategic objectives."
Q - Joramco adopted Ideagen's 'Q-Pulse' software to improve both quality and safety. 'Q-Pulse' software rides on quality, saving time and avoiding mistakes. Can you explain us very briefly the advantages of Q-Pulse?
A- Steven Cespedes, Head of Aviation at Ideagen, said: "Q-Pulse is our quality and safety management software which allows organisations to take control of their operational data - complete with effortless analysis - in one simple system.
"The software is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and helps more than 2,000 organisations globally eliminate bureaucracy as well as automate and streamline business processes for standards and regulatory compliance, safety management and risk management.
"Q-Pulse has helped organisations and industries become more mature and accountable. Today it helps manufacturers, airlines, and healthcare organisations to comply with standards and regulations, control safety and risk and achieve unprecedented levels of quality and efficiency.
"Similar to Coruson, the software helps to identify emerging risks and opportunities, comply with regulations and standards and improve overall organisational performance."
Q -Cyber threats is a continuously evolving arena, like a multi-headed monster, thereby making it difficult for today's defence system to tackle to looming threat tomorrow. Your opinion on the issue.
A- Andy Gascoigne, Head of Cyber Security for Ideagen, said: "We leverage best-of-breed technologies and resources and enhance this with external expertise, which is standard practice in the fight against cyber-crime. For example, hosting with Amazon or Microsoft - people who are really at the top of their game and have hyper-budgets for their specialist domains. We don't need to invent that particular wheel again. Whilst we have our own Cyber team at Ideagen, we also augment that with specific systems and services from external security partners who are also experts in their field (e.g. certified external penetration testing, forensics etc).
"It's a difficult job, but that is the challenge that all people working in Cyber security actually thrive on. There are many adversaries that we need to counter and deciding which of those are currently more pertinent than others is just part of the job. Of course all that then changes again tomorrow. We don't sit still, like a golfer might eye the weather forecast and examine the greens in the morning; what will work best now and tomorrow? We're continually assessing the threat landscape in order to get the best out of what we have and also to add or change the defensive countermeasures which we possess."
Q - And lastly, Ideagen recently celebrated a decade of successive growth. Can you tell us about your journey so far...?
A- An Ideagen spokesperson said: "Ideagen has been one of the UK's fastest-growing tech firms in recent years. Originally existing under the moniker of Datum International, which was established in 1993, the company expanded mainly through a buy-and-build acquisition strategy before later becoming known as Ideagen after buying a company by that name.
"Since those days, our value on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market has rocketed from 1m to more than 260m, while headcount has reached more than 500 - with plans to double that in the next three years.
"Our staff is spread globally across four Centre of Excellence sites in the UK, US and Southeast Asia and we also have key satellite offices in the United Arab Emirates and in Europe. This has helped to diversify the company as well as making us a global specialist in quality, safety, audit, risk and performance management software.
"In total, Ideagen supplies around 4,700 organisations - from 200 NHS hospitals and 35 of the top 50 pharmaceuticals companies to some of the world's leading automotive manufacturers and powerful financial institutions like the European Central Bank, Bank of New York and Germany's Commerzbank.
"Among our clients are a number of airlines, including British Airways' owner IAG, Ryanair, KLM, Emirates and Air Asia, which use our aviation risk management technology to identify any issues that could affect operations and learn from data insights that drive efficiency, improve decision-making and increase staff safety.
"The widespread potential of our technology is highlighted in the sheer diversity of companies we work with, including the likes of Heineken, Shell and Boston Scientific. In the last few years, we have also successfully added the US Navy and Siemens to our growing client list.
"In regards to future growth and where the company is headed - our potential is absolutely huge. More and more organisations - no matter geographical location - require the software we provide to help them achieve and maintain compliance to a series of strict regulatory standards. As these standards and requirements become more demanding, our software solutions will become even more crucial to the everyday, operational performance of businesses.
"As well as that, our buy-and-build strategy means we acquire complementary organisations that we feel fits into our business model. Following a decade or so of rapid growth in the UK, we have since successfully grown into Europe, SE Asia, the UAE and the US in recent years."