The team is headed by Patrick (Pat) Hayward as managing director. Pat brings to Neptune extensive operational banking expertise gained with Midland (HSBC), Bank of America and Gulf Bank, together with 25 years leadership skills in the banking software community. Having led Internet Systems Corp (mpct Solutions) internationally, the EMEA division of London Bridge Software and having most recently worked with GoldenSource, the EDM specialists, Pat has operated globally and has a very strong banking and technology network around the world.

Pat's executive team includes Alan Goodrich and Paul Carty who join Shalini Shivashankar (Finance and HR), Nathalie Gaudillat (Marketing) and Kamal Shah (Research and Development).

Alan Goodrich (Channels and Indirect Sales) joins Neptune to oversee all third party relationships, heading the development of a network of partners to expand and strengthen the company's sales and delivery capabilities. With more than 20 years in financial services and IT, Alan has a track record of achievement working for some of the market's foremost niche and global organisations.

Paul Carty (Direct Sales) has a successful track record in leading significant international sales opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, together with South East Asia, for Fiserv, Financial Objects and Mysis. During his career Paul has led sales operations from bases in the UK, Luxembourg, Thailand and Singapore. While leading Neptune's sales initiatives, Paul is focusing on developing the market in Europe.

Pat Hayward comments: "The immediate focus of Neptune is to establish Rubikon in the minds and budgets of the global banking community. The openness of the Rubikon architecture, the Java J2EE technology and the fault tolerant 24x7 design make the system totally scalable. There is no doubt that with Rubikon we can handle every type and size of institution, from the largest head offices supporting global operations through to providing ASP services to the smallest microfinance institutions."

He continues: "Rubikon's service oriented architecture uses an integrated workflow engine to streamline processes and place the customer at the heart of the business. In this way, Rubikon puts the user in the driving seat, harnessing technology to achieve business goals."

Paul Carty adds: "Neptune's close working relationships with various United Nations projects and four star status projects from World-bank based CGAP, together with our experience of implementing projects in ten countries, gives us significant impetus in the marketplace."

Alan Goodrich is already making headway in the area of strategic technology partnerships, closing new agreements with partners such as Oracle while identifying a number of potential distributors and system integration partners.

Stacey Small has also joined the team in a senior sales executive role, and has considerable experience in the banking world with both Lloyds TSB and Barclays Bank where he gained an extensive knowledge of banking practices. Stacey has substantial experience in full project life cycle and successful delivery of IT services, gained by working with banks in Europe, Africa, USA and the Middle East, as well as working in the sales organisations of Fiserv and Misys.

Simeon Agu, Neptune's chairman, concludes: "You might have the best product set in the world but without the right management team you will never make your mark, and that's where we've focused: on building that team. Pat still needs to add a couple more senior executives and then we'll be equipped to be up there with the best in the world."