SirsiDynix took one step in its reorganization following its acquisition by Vista Equity Partners by establishing SirsiDynix International, consolidating all its operations outside North America. Prior to this move, there were separate and often independent sales, support, and administrative operations, including Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. SirsiDynix has a broad international presence, providing library automation software to libraries in at least seventy countries. The international sector is of critical importance to the future of the company. About 25 percent of the company's customers lie outside the U.S. and Canada. Due to market saturation in North America, the international sector offers the greatest potential market for new sales.
SirsiDynix International will be lead by Keith Sturges, who will report directly to the yet-unnamed SirsiDynix CEO. Sturges brings over twenty years of experience in software and services companies in a variety of industries. His appointment as President of SirsiDynix International will be his first experience in the library automation arena.
Sturges was born in the UK and was educated at University of Warwick and holds a masters degree from Wensbury University in London. In the UK, Sturges worked for General Electric Telecommunications. Subsequent career moves include:
| 1987 | Moves to US to accept position with Oracle, where he advanced to Vice President Advanced Services. |
|---|---|
| Dec 1994 | Joins Superscape, a developer of virtual reality software for PC's as Vice President of Sales and Marketing |
| Nov 1995 | Promoted to Vice President Sales for North and South America for Superscape. |
| Sep 2000 | Appointed President of Renaissance Interactive Holding Corp., overseeing the operations of subsidiary companies Impressa and Renaissance Interactive. |
| Oct 2001 | Appointed Executive Vice President for Worldwide Sales of Corechange, a developer of enterprise level portal software. Corechange was acquired by OpenText in Apr 2003. |
| 2002 | CEO of Misys Healthcare System––Homecare Division. |
| Dec 2004 | Appointed Chief Marketing Officer for Misys Health Care Systems. |
| Jul 2005 | Consulted as Chief Marketing Officer for Websourced, (later MarketSmart Interactive) an interactive media advertising firm. |
| Mar 2007 | Appointed President SirsiDynix International |
Peter Gethin, who founded Sirsi, Ltd., in May 1990 as the first distributor of Unicorn outside North America, will retire from the company. Sirsi, Ltd. was originally established as a separate private company, but was integrated into SirsiDynix as part of the acquisition of the company by Vista Equity Partners. Gethin's most recent title at SirsiDynix was Managing Director Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Prior to establishing Sirsi, Ltd, Gethin served as Deputy Managing Director and cofounder of BRS Software Products. The Unicorn ILS continues to make use of the BRS full-text retrieval engine.
