For the record 17 April

17-04-2007

by Maxim Kelly

Calyx full-year profits up 29pc | YouGetItBack.com in EUR2m Middle East deal

BT Ireland has won a EUR1.2 million managed services contract with marketing company Loyaltybuild. Under the terms of the five-year contract, Loyaltybuild will outsource the management of its web and applications infrastructure to BT Ireland, which is providing Loyaltybuild with a 34MB leased line from its offices in Ennis, Co Clare to BT's data centre in Dublin. Loyaltybuild's market research and brand-building activities across Europe rely on complex web-based booking engine and database technologies that are accessed daily by employees, partners, suppliers and customers.

IT services firm Calyx has reported that its pre-tax profits were up 29 percent to EUR2.2 million for its 2006 financial year. Overall turnover was EUR88.5 million compared to EUR38.4 million in 2005 -- a hefty increase of 130 percent. RTE reported the firm's board has set up a sub-committee of non-executive directors to consider last month's bid approach from chief executive and company founder Maurice Healy. Davy Corporate Finance is advising the company.

Dublin-based mobile phone software firm NewBay Software has announced that British mobile phone operator Orange UK has licensed its UGC Gateway product to enable easy integration with third party mobile sites. The deal means Orange customers will be able to upload mobile images and videos to a range of blogging, album and social networking sites. NewBay said its service allows mobile phone companies to make one connection in order to facilitate mobile blogging etc, rather than establishing individual connections with a range of different websites.

A Cork-based high-tech 'lost and found' firm, YouGetItBack.com, has won a EUR2 million deal with The Business Council (TBC), a firm based in the United Arab Emirates which helps other companies do business in the Middle East. TBC is headed by Hijazi Isaac, winner of 'The Investor' TV show in 2006 (the Arabian version of The Apprentice). "YouGetItBack.com are a very ambitious company," said Hijazi. "To have already established the company in 10 countries in just over nine months speaks volumes. It has a very interesting operating business model and has really used the internet and website to market itself globally." YouGetItBack.com provides clients with digital 'e-tags' and a signature adhesive tagging system for personal items such as iPods, mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, spectacles and house keys.

Mobile services infrastructure firm MobileAware has announced plans to host the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) workshop in Dublin later this summer. Enterprise Ireland is co-sponsoring the Declarative Models of Distributed Web Applications event on 5 - 6 June. Industry experts are expected to discuss the standards and best practices for extending the web from the desktop PC to a variety of fixed and mobile devices in home and office environments.