15 jobs to go in acquired Dublin firm


4 Sep 2007

The Dublin office of an Irish software company acquired last year by US technology firm Compuware for US$20m is to close after it emerged its parent is to centralise software development back to the States.

Last year US tech firm Compuware acquired Irish business software company SteelTrace for US$20m in cash.

SteelTrace’s shareholders included investors Trinity Venture Capital, Net Decisions and Enterprise Ireland.

Following the acquisition, the company’s 15 employees became employees of Compuware, including the Dublin development team and US sales and services team.

However, it emerged over the weekend that Detroit-based Compuware is to centralise a number of its product development activities in a move to reduce operating costs by US$13m and will see the elimination of the positions of 100 workers.

However, the company said it will maintain a sales presence in each of the locations affected.

The locations affected include Dublin, Ireland; Sydney, Australia; and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Specifically, in relation to Dublin, the company said it will transition development of its Optimal Trace product from Dublin to its Detroit headquarters, which will unify development for the full spectrum of the company’s application management solutions.

By John Kennedy