A Maltese IT company has sealed a groundbreaking partnership with a global software company, EMC2.

Computime’s product Axon allows two of the most popular software applications for the oil and gas and energy industry – EMC2’s Documentum for Asset Operations and IBM’s Maximo – to ‘speak’ to each other, making the combination a more effective solution for this highly regulated and process-driven industry.

“The partnership enables us to bring Axon to market much faster than through a direct sales team. We will be able to leverage the EMC2 sales and partner teams to promote and position the solution across the globe,” Computime joint managing director John Wood said.

The certification from EMC2 is the latest in a string of successes for this 30-year-old firm, which took a quantum leap 15 years ago when it ventured into Libya to provide software solutions for the oil and gas industry there.

When the crisis hit, Computime was prodded into seeking new pastures, and around 24 months ago it won a multi-million contract in the North Sea, which brought it to the attention of other players in the sector.

A year ago, it set up a subsidiary in Vietnam – with seven staff supported by the Malta operation – to target the Asia-Pacific market and Wood said that the company hoped to seal ‘significant’ deals in the coming year.

The development of Axon took over two years, and before work started, Computime spent nine months discussing possible solutions with EMC2. Once development started, it involved intense teamwork involving both Computime and EMC2 but the end product is considered to be a breakthrough for users of Documentum and Maximo – considered to be ‘mission critical’.

“EMC2 is also active in the energy field so the potential client base gets wider and wider – from just dozens in this specialised field to hundreds,” Wood said.