AI Issue 4 2017

62 Acquisition International - April 2017 In our popular Prominent Women in Business series, we turn the spotlight onto President and CEO Julie Ritter Southern of SpiraLinks, based in California. This is a firm that has designed, installed, and hosted secure web-based systems and websites for human resources, compensation, marketing and finance teams for more than 20 years. ith this deep understanding of compensation and performance management needs, SpiraLinks created their top-class compensation and performance management planning suite, FocalReview®. They are the leader in compensation management software for companies in the US, UK and beyond - and can be tailored to what works for a particular business. Indeed, they can partner with their customers to include the specific features they need for their Total Rewards planning. In addition, the solutions of SpiraLinks can be installed on- premise or in-the-cloud (SaaS). “The creation of our flagship product FocalReview® has been rewarding – bringing it thru 8 versions so far, growing alongside the Web’s growth and sophistication – taking its place as a business systems platform” Julie adds. Turning to Julie’s own job role, she is impressively the Head of SpiraLinks – also known as President, CEO, Chairman, Strategist and Chief Dishwasher. She tells us that her transition to the role of President has been varied, yet steady. This story begins when Julie started out in Computer Science, writing machine level code for mainframe computers, then moving to software programming for business applications for client service technology and implementing major ERP systems integrating across multiple technologies. Julie then moved onto various jobs in the Web world. Company: SpiraLinks Corp Name: Julie Ritter Southern Email: julie.southern@ spiralinks.com Web: www.spiralinks.com Address: 1682 Dell Avenue Campbell, California 95008 - 6901 USA Phone: +1 408 608 6920 Nothing but Stellar Customer Service W 1704AI43 Julie then tells us about this woman owned company and the diversity of the staff who work there. “As a woman owned company, we participate in numerous organisations and events that focus on the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics). We are GSA certified and small business certified, attending government and supplier events to regularly evangelise our products and services. “Our team is diverse in race, age, sex and religion. We embrace the creativity and experience each diversity brings to the table, to produce an excellent web solution and stellar customer service. In today’s global economy, the variety is needed and wanted. Our three office locations (US, UK and India) provide a follow-the-sun approach to software development and support - something that gives business, the economy and minorities an opportunity not normally granted to them in traditional business circles. “I would like to add that SpiraLinks staff are fantastic – they are smart, curious, dedicated, and customer centric. We encourage constant career growth, research of new technology trends and the impact on our business. We want to be the leader in our field, and to do that, we need to work as a team to be successful in what we do.” One of our key differentiators with other companies is SpiraLinks unwavering focus on customer service Julie goes on to say. “We want our customers to be self-sufficient when we turnover products and services to them. We are always available, but an informed client is a happy client” 2017 and beyond provide challenges and opportunities, not unlike the last 10, 20 and 30 years in techology. These go hand-in-hand” Julie explains before outlining her vision for the future of the industry and SpiraLinks. “Technology changes at a pace most company technology departments have a hard time keeping up with. As a small company, we are agile and can take some of the burden off these groups and partner with them to exceed their client expectations. Partnering with our clients is key to our success. Building a working environment for each project, in person and remote, where we can work together as a team is the way forward.”