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David Roberts, director responsible for Amatica's business strategy, describes a typical day working out of Amatica's office.

Today is one of those days that I particularly enjoy - being out of the office and visiting existing and potential new clients. For me, it's all about listening and learning. That way you build an understanding of the business issues and processes that shape their requirements and solutions.

Whether I travel to London by car or train depends on the timing on my meetings and whether I'm travelling with colleagues or alone. Paying £200 to Virgin Trains for a return ticket on one of their crowded trains to London is not good value in my book. So much for Britain's integrated transport policy.

Despite the delayed train (oh yes!), I arrive 10 minutes early for a meeting with the managing director of a firm of investment managers in the heart of the City of London. It's obvious that the economic climate has fostered a much more sober atmosphere and ties are more evident but I still enjoy the feeling that you're in an economic powerhouse.

The firm has a legacy system that it has inherited through an acquisition and has become difficult to adapt to current business requirements: its technology base limiting its adaptability.

My meeting finishes in time for our weekly conference call for an important web-based business solution project involving the client project manager, senior user, system tester as well as Amatica's project team, myself included. Thankfully, my main role is to observe and listen with the occasional interjection; the project being in the safe hands of the customer's and Amatica's project managers, I am confident that nothing has wandered off track.

My next meeting has a much easier agenda and located at the Hoop & Grapes at Aldgate, an excellent pub that serves Fullers beers and good lunchtime food. I meet with an ex-senior manager from HBoS with whom I had a number of explorative meetings with during his time there. We keep in touch and he is finishing an assignment as an interim programme manager within a major retail bank. We catch up and share experiences before he has to head off for his next meeting.

Next it's over to the west end for a review meeting with an existing client, a firm of investment managers. The meeting is relatively brief as our web-based client portfolio reporting and document management system is running as it should - that is perfectly according to spec!

Back to Euston and jump on the return train to Crewe. I find myself surrounded by Manchester students returning from an overnight trip to see Shakespeare's King Lear. Their lecturer, a lovely lady from Manchester with Barbadian origins, I am told by the students acted in the TV series Casualty as well as Cold Feet. I am enthusiastically instructed by the students to 'google' her which I do! It's an unexpected and offbeat end to my day out of the office!
 

© Amatica 07/04/2009