News
Issue No. 24 - August/September 2005
Fortune 500 migrants’ sea change
A father and son team whose work is in demand from Fortune 500 companies has brought world-class business optimisation capability to Adelaide.
It's a sea change of sorts for Prof Zbigniew Michalewicz and son Matt, whose new company SolveIT Software has set up shop in the Plaza Building on North Terrace, Adelaide.
SolveIT is the second major venture for the pair, whose previous company in the US grew to 150 employees before they sold out.
SolveIT is based on Prof Michalewicz's work in heuristic mathematics where he has developed adaptive business intelligence software that learns from experience with users' data.
Basically, SolveIT helps a client optimise profits by spotting problems in business processes – finding out where the bottlenecks are – and helping firms predict the future. Another product line tells clients what their customers want and why they come through the door.
“We make it possible to find out things about customers – why are they coming to you? Why are they leaving? If our competitors make a change, do we have to change too?” says Matt Michalewicz, a consummate marketer who raised US$15million in venture capital for his previous company.
Previous clients include General Motors, Ford, Bank of America, Siemens, Chevron-Texaco, Honda, Boeing, Procter & Gamble, DuPont, Wells Fargo and Unilever. The Michalewicz team wants to duplicate their success here.
Matt came here for the international IT convention in 2002. He was attracted by the quality of life in a city of very convenient size and initiated the move.
“The biggest difference between Australia and the USA is that your awareness level can be much higher here,” Matt says.
“Over here there are not 500 competitors. That adds to the level of interest.”
After Matt paved the way in April 2004, Zbigniew followed in December 2004 after landing a post in a top faculty in one of the world’s great universities....
