Mention the term computer software and many people automatically think of games or operating systems such as Microsoft’s Windows or the Mac OS.

But, with our lives now dependent on the omnipresent computer, software—the programs computers need to operate—has become as vital as the air we breath, the food we eat and the water we drink.

In fact, the production, monitoring and sustainability of all three are now just as dependent on computers, and in turn, software.

Sure, there was life before computers. But over the last few decades, the world has increasingly turned over control of most facets of every day life to those small electronic boxes that sit on our desk tops and in our briefcases.

Think of a day in your life, and then think of all the ways it is controlled by computers.

Everything from the information we receive to the cars we drive, from the games we play—at least the organization of those games—to our banking, record-keeping, even our communications, are controlled in some way by a computer.

So it is no wonder the business of developing computer software is growing—and the Central Okanagan is seeing some of that business growth in our own backyard.

While not yet a rival to tourism or the agriculture industry, software development is surprisingly large here.

We appear to have a full range of companies, from smaller ones with just a few people working in a basement to larger companies with not just developers, but a whole support staff and sales force to market the software they create.

“Software has become the language we all speak,” says Gary Symonds, head of VeriCorder, a one-year-old local company that has developed a sound recording and editing program that can be used on Apple’s iPhone and can produce broadcast-quality recordings.

In many ways, Symonds’ company is typical of the software industry here.

It started with an idea born out of necessity—Symonds is a former radio reporter—and in a short period of time has grown into a business employing nine people.

Based on growth over the  last 12 months, Symonds expects his company to double in size by this time next year.

But while entertainment, audio and visual software does development here, the real strength of the industry is in the less sexy fields, where what used to be mundane tasks like number-crunching, record-keeping and sales tracking have been turned over to computers.

One of the largest software developers here is QHR Software, a company started in 1992 by Al Hildebrandt.

He took the company public in 2007. Last year, QHR did $6.5 million in business.

With the growth recorded in the first three months of 2009, this year Hildebrandt expects the company will do $10 million in business.

QHR creates software for the medical industry—both for record-keeping and payroll at the hospital and individual doctor’s level.

And it is very good at what it does.

For the last two years, doctors in Manitoba, where the company is particularly strong, have rated QHR’s product the best for the operation of their offices, a distinction of which Hildebrandt is justifiably proud.

“The key is you have to get good at something,” says Hildebrandt.

“Often you can outlast your competition, which is often bigger and has more money, by being better.”

At its offices in the high-tech Landmark Square complex in Kelowna, QHR employs 90 people, one-third of whom are software developers.

From here the software is developed, the programs created and sold across North America to doctors, health organizations, hospitals and other medical industry professionals.

According to Hildebrandt, in the medical profession, especially in large organizations like hospitals and health authorities, there can be as many as seven different types of work done in one day by an individual, all with different pay rates.

Without computerization, keeping track could be a nightmare.

So his company developed the software needed by the industry to track what needs to be logged specifically in that industry, and the software makes sure people are paid the proper amount on time.

It may not be as sexy as the latest popular video game but it does help a vital industry—the health industry—function properly.

And it is just one example of what is being replicated throughout this area.

In West Kelowna, Jack Pyck runs Quantech Software, a company that develops software for the automotive sales industry.

With a background in automotive sales prior to becoming a software developer himself, Pyck knew there had to be a better way to manage the flow of information, sales and sales leads at auto dealerships, as well as links between dealers and the lenders who finance automobile purchases. So he developed the required software.

Like many in the industry, Pyck said he moved here for lifestyle reasons before starting his company in Westbank 10 years ago.

Now, virtually all his company’s products are provided over the Internet and employs 10 people.

“We do everything from our offices, everything is virtual. Even the software is now online,” says Pyck.

While Pyck feels the industry is not quite as vibrant as it was a few years ago when there were more large players locally, he says software development here has been helped by groups like the Okanagan Science and Technology Council, an organization dedicated to helping the high-tech sector here grow, and the Okanagan Research and Innovation Centre, an “incubator” for new businesses located downtown. It is home to the local offices of the National Research Council.

Douglas MacLeod, OSTEC’s executive director, says this area has a great deal going for it when it comes to being a base for computer software development.

Unlike other industries, the people at the forefront of development do not need to be close to their clients.

So the Okanagan’s lifestyle is a big incentive for people to come here.

And for many looking to start a business, the high cost of buying a home has not been the issue that it has been for other workers looking to relocate here.

In many cases, the people who start up software development businesses here have come from elsewhere because of their own lifestyle choices and once here, want something to do.

But lifestyle is not the only attraction, says MacLeod.

The development of the University of British Columbia Okanagan has helped by starting to turn out homegrown talent.

Kelowna is also easily accessible with an airport that features flights to many major North American and Canadian destinations, including links to major Canadian and U.S. hub airports.

And the Central Okanagan also has plenty of bandwidth for developers to use.

The arrival of facilities like Rackforce’s recently opened Gigacentre, where huge amounts of information can be stored on servers in one secure, central repository, will also attract the attention of high-tech firms located elsewhere.

Pointing to the success of local large players, like QHR and that other area software development giant, Disney-owned Club Penguin, MacLeod said he feels there is a vibrancy in the industry here that is getting noticed.

“What QHR has done is quite phenomenal,” said MacLeod. “In the last six months it has made several announcements, including acquiring other companies elsewhere.”

Hildebrandt said his company is particularly strong in Manitoba, where it recently acquired a competitor and now sells its software to more hospitals in that province than any other company in the field.

But while the growth of the industry here has been satisfying to those involved, and the outlook is bright, there are ways to make it an even healthier, growing industry, according to some of those helping shape it.

Those ways include companies here working together or at least sharing knowledge, convincing more secondary and college students to take up computer studies in school so more local high-tech jobs can be filled with home-gown talent, more investors willing to fund software development projects, and more spin-off support industries, such as legal departments to help protect intellectual property rights.

“We also need to promote ourselves better,” said MacLeod.

A few years ago, the Okanagan tried to brand itself as the Silicone Vineyard, a nod to the emerging high-tech industry and the wines the Okanagan is now so well known for.

While the moniker is still used by some, you don’t hear it that much anymore. MacLeod said his group plans to look at rebranding itself in order to revamp for the 21st century.

Another need is to promote the local industry farther afield. And on that front, some success has already been made.

Recently, OSTEC hosted senior executives from some of the largest high-tech firms in North America, and MacLeod said the executives went away impressed by what they saw.

With those executives—including people from Mittel, Microsoft and Cisco Systems—helping spread the word about Kelowna, the future appears to be bright.

“People tend to be surprised when they hear about how many companies are developing software here,” says Hugh Bawtree, a Salmon Arm developer and founder of the Software Special Interest Group, an organization of software developers who get together under the auspices of OSTEC to help advance the local industry.

“We tend to fly under the radar.”

While Bawtree sees the industry here as “small potatoes” compared to the Lower Mainland, home of video game giant Electronic Arts, as well as areas south of the border, he said it is growing and can easily compete with larger centres.

But he tempered much of what others in the industry say, noting many who get into the business of software development end up leaving because of the heavy financial cost it can require up front.

“Software development is like gold prospecting,” said Bawtree.

“Nine out of 10 who get into it don’t last.”

As a freelance developer working for others, he found he could make a living at it early on and has developed applications for other people, including applications now available through Apple’s App Store for the iPhone.

He said that is how many break into the industry, by working for others before branching out on their own.

Unlike MacLeod, Bawtree doesn’t feel Kelowna’s plentiful bandwidth is much of an issue.

“Fifteen years ago, maybe, Internet access was an issue. But not now.”

He said he uses servers that are located in Edmonton and does not have a problem at his offices in Salmon Arm.

But while some in the industry may differ on what is needed to reach the next level for software development here, most agree that while other parts of the economy are hurting, their’s is an industry that appears to be weathering the economic storm quiet well. And that, they say, can only bode well for the future.

awaters@kelownacapnews.com

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