System Software Associates Inc. named Larry J. Ford, a vice president with International Business Machines Corp., as its chairman, chief executive and president Monday.
The Chicago-based software producer also reported increased earnings and revenues for the third quarter.
Ford, who joined System Software after a 28-year career with IBM, succeeds founder Roger E. Covey, who plans to pursue an academic career, according to a company announcement. Covey, who owns about one-third of the firm`s 11.7 million shares of stock, founded System Software a decade ago. It is the world`s largest producer of software for IBM`s AS/400 computers.
Covey will remain on the firm`s board as vice chairman and will continue to be heavily involved in setting strategic direction, the announcement said. Ford has directed marketing efforts for the AS/400 and has held assignments around the world for IBM. He most recently managed IBM`s worldwide information and telecommunications systems.
”SSA has built a very successful business strategy focused on the fastest-growing part of the industry,” said Ford. ”We intend to build on that strategy.”
In response to client demand, Ford said, System Software products are written to connect with networks that include non-IBM machines, and it is likely the trend toward such open systems will continue.
Clients include manufacturers and suppliers who use computer systems to accomplish just-in-time delivery of parts for assembly, avoiding the expense of keeping large inventories.
The firm also has been a leader in computer-aided software engineering, known as CASE, which helps clients modify software to accommodate changing business demands.
System Software reported net income of $4.6 million, or 39 cents a share, for its fiscal third quarter on revenue of $37.8 million. Last year`s third-quarter net income was $4.5 million, or 38 cents a share, on $30.3 million in revenue.
Net income for the nine months ended July 31 was $9.1 million, or 77 cents a share, on revenue of $98.5 million, compared with earnings of $11.3 million, or 95 cents a share, on revenue of $82.1 million in the first three quarters of the last fiscal year.
The firm, which serves more than 4,000 clients, a majority of them overseas, continued to expand internationally in the last year and saw its CASE revenues more than double.
