Spotlight on John Savage, Technical Director of ActionPoint

Tell us about your background?

Limerick has always been my home having been born and raised in Dooradoyle. I studied in St. Clement's Secondary School and in 1997, I began my college education at the University of Limerick. While studying Computer Systems at university, I discovered my passion for software development.

How was ActionPoint first started and what does your company do?

ActionPoint is a custom software development and IT Services company that has been building enterprise software and IT systems since 2005. ActionPoint was co-founded by myself and David Jeffreys, four years after leaving college. We met the very first day of University and got along famously. We worked together throughout university on various group projects, as well as, going on work placement together. Straight after college, I went working in the U.S. for a company in LA that developed a corporate instant messaging solution. After almost four years, my visas were set to expire and looking at the opportunities available to me, David and I decided to establish ActionPoint with a contract from my LA employer as our first commercial engagement. This allowed us to start the company while also realising the potential of the product we developed.

Why did you choose to return to Ireland and base yourselves in Limerick?

Limerick has always been a place of importance as it’s where I grew up. Moving to LA after college was a really great experience but when I realised ActionPoint had potential, I knew that Ireland was the right place to be. David had been putting in the groundwork while I was in LA, we were beginning to develop some contacts locally so really deciding on Limerick as the right place “to-start” was a no-brainer.

Another reason we decided to base ourselves predominately in Limerick was because, at that time it was turning into a hub for industry and IT. The growth of Dell and multinationals in the National Technology Park were a notable attraction to the area and it was from then on, we knew Limerick was going to be a good fit for ActionPoint.

How has the company benefited from being based in Limerick?

We have been extremely fortunate with the team we have built at ActionPoint. Limerick is a central hub in Ireland as the capital of the mid-west region, which has allowed us to attract top-class talent from across Ireland and internationally. Another major advantage is the work-life balance offered by Limerick which is streets ahead of the other major metropolitan areas of Ireland. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, having the University of Limerick on our doorstep has enabled us to discover some incredible graduate talent.

How many employees do you have in Limerick and overall across your many offices?

We currently employ 90 employees across six offices, Limerick (HQ), Galway, Dublin, Cork, London and Los Angeles.

You studied in the University of Limerick and now you’re based nearby in the National Technology Park. How big of an asset do you believe the University and its graduates are to Limerick?

There’s an unquestionable benefit for us to have our company based on the grounds of the University of Limerick. The University has brought a great deal of life into the city and a flood of talented graduates over the years. We have been very fortunate to have a number of UL alumni come through our doors at ActionPoint. As mentioned, we work quite closely with the University of Limerick and we want to give back as much as we can. That’s why we started the ActionPoint FYP prize for final year Computer Science and Information Systems (CSIS) students. As graduates of CSIS, both David and I felt it appropriate to help students showcase their technical skills and furthermore, to reward them for their commercial endeavour.

I have always been of the mantra, “give more than you take” so when the University included David and I in the selection for the 12th Annual UL Alumni Award, we were truly honoured and humbled. Only 40 alumni have been bestowed the University’s top honour so for us, this was a career highlight.

What advice would you give to others considering starting their own business in Limerick?

I say GO for it! Limerick’s economic renaissance is clear for all to see. Limerick remains one of the best value locations in Ireland to start a business and is the largest destination for inward investment outside of Dublin. Beyond big FDI, there is also a thriving and supportive business, science and technology community. The recent opening of the Confirm Smart Manufacturing centre is testament to the advancements being made in this regard. It is a great example of the academic and commercial community collaborating for the advancement of a vertical like Manufacturing.
The local business network has a pervasive can-do attitude that is infectious and super supportive. This all summates to make Limerick an exciting place for innovative tech businesses.

What does your role entail?

I lead the Software Development team at ActionPoint, I am responsible for driving technical excellence and the delivery of everything built by the custom software team.

My role has changed over the years, at one time I was “the programmer” of the business. Nowadays, my role has expanded a lot, I am busy with operations, finance and supporting the sales effort while trying to be the best possible support and mentor for my team. In addition to this, I evaluate new technologies and ensure that they can be operationalised in a risk-aware manner. I work closely with clients to ensure that the technology is simply "taken care of"; This ensures ActionPoint can partner with our clients at the business level rather than being technically constrained.

I ensure that the operational team is setup for success and work in an environment that constantly strives for excellence and continuous improvement. Furthermore, I also ensure that the team are working on new and interesting projects with exciting and engaged clients using the latest and greatest technologies.

ActionPoint recently won IT Architect of the Year at the a Tech Excellence Award for your online passport renewal project. Congratulations! Can you tell us about that project and how it felt to win the award?

Thank you so much, we are still blown away at the response from the Online Passport Renewal System which we created for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFA) early last year. To receive such a prestigious award and recognition has been surreal. On the night of the ceremony, we were pleasantly surprised to have won the award as the competition was really strong and the Tech Excellence Awards are attended by the best in the business.

However, getting back to your question of what the project is all about. When we began working on the passport renewal system, we knew that dealing with citizen data on such a large scale was going to present protection and security challenges. The DFA had the vision of creating a world class customer experience for passport renewals.

The Online Passport Renewal System is the second of its kind in the world, a big leap forward for the DFA. The goal for the DFA was to reduce lead times and vastly improve customer experience. As you might be aware, the fastest possible turnaround time in peak season was 12 working days. It was an ongoing frustration for Irish citizens, so creating a fast turnaround time was imperative for the system we were developing. Our system reduces processing times by an average of 5 days or 42%.

Did you utilise any supports from local agencies?

Our Local County Enterprise Board (LCOEB) was a great support for us, we were able to utilise grants to support job growth in the very early days. Another great initiative organised by the LCOEB was the National Enterprise Awards; We entered in 2011 and won both county and national honours. This greatly enhanced our reputation on the national stage. We have also had great support from the academic institutions, UL and LIT. More recently, we have appreciated the support of Bank of Ireland through its workbench facility which we have used to great effect to host some of the events we organise. Finally, a mention to an organisation that is really driving engagement and growth in the Limerick business community, Limerick Chamber. We won a Limerick Chamber award in 2011, which was a huge coup at the time for us. David has also been a board member since 2014, which has given him the opportunity to give back to the region through the various initiatives that the Chamber run.