Paul Ashton News

SpecTec Group is proud to announce the new opening office of SpecTec Poland. SpecTec Poland is a Product Development office and it opened on 2nd November 2012. The SpecTec Poland team is working on AMOS2 development, IDEA development and on testing activities of AMOS2 EMS. "We opened there because of our experience with the high standard of programming personnel available and we have been able to build a team very able to provide the additional resources we need right now" - says Paul Ashton…

In joint co-operation, MarineProvider and Xantic (former SpecTec) have built an integration module linking the AMOS Maintenance & Purchase software (AMOS M&P) version 5.0 with MarineProvider's e-procurement solution. "Each customer that upgrades to AMOS M&P version 5.0 receives a complete e-Procurement enabled version that contains everything needed to work seamlessly with MarineProvider's e-procurement solution. AMOS users do not need any special additional patches or custom configuration work done", says Collin Lewis, CEO of MarineProvider ASA. "MarineProvider required a much deeper integration than the generic portal driver functionality in our e-commerce module," says Paul Ashton, Director Technology and Innovations of Xantic.

In the last six months, the shipping industry has seen the marine B2B market grow from nothing into a highly competitive race between e-commerce ventures to attract major shipowner/shipmanager support and investment capital. The shipping world has suddenly come alive to the world of e-commerce. Within the last few months, the industry has grown from a few providers of marine e-commerce Internet services to more than 70 e-commerce portals targeting different market segments - and more portals and initiatives are launched every day. Shipping companies are now recognizing that e-commerce is no longer a 'nice-to-have' option. For shipping companies battered by poor annual earnings, embracing information and communication technology may not be a matter of choice, but a matter of survival.

In the last six months, the shipping industry has seen the marine B2B market grow from nothing into a highly competitive race between e-commerce ventures to attract major shipowner/shipmanager support and investment capital. The shipping world has suddenly come alive to the world of e-commerce. Within the last few months, the industry has grown from a few providers of marine e-commerce Internet services to more than 70 e-commerce portals targeting different market segments - and more portals and initiatives are launched every day. Shipping companies are now recognizing that e-commerce is no longer a 'nice-to-have' option. For shipping companies battered by poor annual earnings, embracing information and communication technology may not be a matter of choice, but a matter of survival.

The AMOS software division of Xantic has been acquired from the Dutch telephone group, KPN, by an international group of investors, including members of the previous management. The contract was signed in Amsterdam on May 4, 2005, after negotiations of less than a month. The buyout was led by Giampiero Soncini who said, “We are very happy that AMOS is back with the management that grew the company and understand the AMOS software and the need to develop it and support for the shipowners and managers around the world.” Mr. Soncini will be the company’s new CEO, supported by Stefano Foti as CFO. The company will revert to the original name of SpecTec, which is already widely known.

Vector Maritime Services has signed a partnership agreement with France Telecom for the provision of all Inmarsat Services including Inmarsat A, B, C, mM and Fleet. “We selected France Telecom because of their reputation for quality and working with their partners to provide the best customer service” said Paul Ashton. At the same time Vector have announced a partnership agreement with Broadband Maritime for the provision of VSAT services to ships. Broadband Maritime provide a global VSAT service for a low all-inclusive flat rate per month. Vector are also pleased to welcome Claire Mercer as Director of Airtime Sales, responsible for both Inmarsat and VSAT services. Claire’s career includes Nera and Marconi was previously with Xantic as Airtime Sales Manager.