List

Biggest software companies in B.C. RANKED BY | Total number of employees in B.C. Biggest software companies in B.C. Ranked BY |  Total number of employees in B.C.

Rank '20 Company Product line Top local executive(s) Year founded No. B.C. staff '20/'19

SAP Canada Inc 910 Mainland St, Vancouver V6B 1A9 P: 604-647-8888 F: 604-681-2934 sap.com

MDA 13800 Commerce Pky, Richmond V6V 2J3 P: 604-278-3411 F: NP mdacorporation.com

Traction on Demand 2700 Production Way Suite 500, Burnaby V5A 0C2 P: 604-620-6040 F: NP tractionondemand.com Change Healthcare Imaging, Workflow & Care Solutions 1 10711 Cambie Rd Suite 130, Richmond V6X 3G5 P: 604-279-5422 F: 604-279-0572 changehealthcare.com

Hootsuite 5 8th Ave E, Vancouver V5T 1R6 P: 604-681-4668 F: NP hootsuite.com

Global Relay 220 Cambie St 2nd floor, Vancouver V6B 2M9 P: 604-484-6630 F: 604-608-2941 globalrelay.com Clio (Themis Solutions Inc) 4611 Canada Way Suite 300, Burnaby V5G 4X3 P: 888-858-2546 F: NP clio.com

Bench 545 Robson St Suite 200, Vancouver V6B 2B7 P: NP F: NP bench.co Galvanize 3 980 Howe St Suite 1500, Vancouver V6Z 0C8 P: 604-669-4225 F: 604-669-3557 wegalvanize.com

Sage 13888 Wireless Way, Richmond V6V 0A3 P: 604-207-9480 F: NP sage.com/ca Boeing Vancouver 13575 Commerce Pky Suite 200, Richmond V6V 2L1 P: 604-232-4200 F: 604-232-4201 boeingvancouver.com Absolute 1055 Dunsmuir St Suite 1400, Vancouver V7X 1K8 P: 604-730-9851 F: 604-730-2621 absolute.com PNI Digital Media 425 Carrall St Suite 100, Vancouver V6B 6E3 P: 604-893-8955 F: 604-893-8966 pnimedia.com Vision Critical 200 Granville St, Vancouver V6C 1S4 P: 604-647-1980 F: 604-647-1005 visioncritical.com Realtor.com 10271 Shellbridge Way Suite 300, Richmond V6X 2W8 P: 800-444-8570 F: NP careers.realtor.com Copperleaf 2920 Virtual Way Suite 140, Vancouver V5M 0C4 P: 604-639-9700 F: 604-639-9699 copperleaf.com Sophos Inc 777 Dunsmuir St Suite 1400, Vancouver V7Y 1K4 P: 604-484-6400 F: NP sophos.com ZE PowerGroup Inc 5920 No 2 Rd Suite 130, Richmond V7C 4R9 P: 604-244-1469 F: 604-244-1675 ze.com Thoughtexchange 1990 Columbia Ave Suite E, Rossland V0G 1Y0 P: 250-551-2492 F: NP thoughtexchange.com Clevest 13700 International Pl, Richmond V6V 2X8 P: 604-214-9700 F: NP clevest.com

Business management software, enterprise resource management solutions, analytics, mobile, collaboration in the cloud

Space robotics and sensors, satellite antennas, electronics and subsystems, surveillance and intelligence systems, defence and maritime systems and geospatial radar imagery

Salesforce platform consulting, implementation and software development services, marketing automation, data management and software-as-a-service technology

Departmental diagnostic imaging solutions, enterprise workflow and infrastructure solutions, extended care and change management solutions

Social relationship platform management from one integrated dashboard with more than 16 million users

Cloud archiving and information governance solutions for the global financial sector and other highly regulated industries

Cloud-based legal technology

Financial technology company that automates accounting tasks to organize the financials of small businesses

Cloud-based audit and risk management software with data analysis for finance, governance, risk, IT and compliance professionals

Business management software, solutions and services for small and mid-sized businesses

Data science and software development services for Boeing's global customers

Embedded, persistent end-point security and management solutions for computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones

Software platform for retailers that offers on-demand personalized products for sale online, from in-store kiosks and from mobile devices

Cloud-based customer relationship intelligence software

Real estate sales and marketing solutions

Develops and sells decision analytics software to utilities and other companies managing critical infrastructure to improve investment planning

Encryption, end-point security, web, email, mobile and network security solutions backed by SophosLabs

Software development and consulting firm that provides products and services for energy, commodities, industrial, agriculture and financial markets

A software-as-a-service community intelligence platform that helps leaders crowdsource the answers to questions in real time

Innovative software for mobile workforce management exclusively for utility field operations

Sources: Interviews with above companies and BIVresearch. Others may have ranked but did not respond to information requests by deadline. NP Not provided 1 - Business unit of McKesson Medical Imaging 2 - BIV estimate 3 - Previously ACL; name changed May 13, 2019 4 - 2019 figure Kirsten Sutton, vice-president and managing director, SAP Labs Canada 1989

Chris Pogue, president, MDA government programs 1969

Greg Malpass, founder and CEO, Mike Epner, president, Chris Peacock, chief marketing officer, Errol Olsen, chief financial officer, Tanya Jarrett, chief people officer 2006 NP 1988

Ryan Holmes, CEO 2008

Shannon Rogers, president and general counsel, Warren Roy, CEO and founder 1999

Jack Newton, co-founder and CEO, George Psiharis, chief operating officer 2008

Ian Crosby, co-founder and CEO 2012

Laurie Schultz, president and CEO 1987

Paul Struthers, executive vice-president and managing director, Sage Canada 1981

Bob Cantwell, president 1996

Christy Wyatt, president and CEO 1993

Simon Cairns, general manager 1995

Ross Wainwright, CEO 2000

Klaus Salchner, vice-president, software engineering, Ryan Green, vicepresident, product 1982

Judi Hess, CEO, Boudewijn Neijens, chief marketing officer 2000

Chris Kraft, vice-president, product management 1985

Zak El-Ramly, president and CEO, Aiman El-Ramly, chief strategy officer 1995

Dave MacLeod, founder and CEO, Jim Firstbrook, founder and president 2009

Thomas Ligocki, president and CEO 2002

Business in Vancouvermakes every attempt to publish accurate information in the List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Anna Liczmanska, lists@biv.com.

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COVID-19 drives home new normal of remote working

human resources |  B.C. software companies see pandemic changing the way business is done

BY TYLER ORTON TORTON@BIV.COM

The economic fallout of COVID-19 poses something of a paradox for a t ech company like Thought e xchange, according to CEO and co-founder Dave MacLeod. The 140-person firm, formally known as Fulcrum Management Solutions Ltd., is headquartered in the B.C. Interior and depends significantly on a remote work force to support its commercial p latform for crowdsourcing. While throngs of businesses across the province are now adjusting to sending work ers home to work remotely, T houghtexchange has been set up to accommodate that since its founding.

Work i ng from one of th ree small offices making up its headquarters in Rossland has always b een optional, as is attendance at its WeWork Cos. Inc. office in Vancouver.

“We’re privileged that we’re built for this,” MacLeod said, referring to government calls for workers to stay home amid the pandemic. “It’s just business as usual for us because it’s how we’ve always operated.”

Although Thoughtexchange is poised to weather the storm in what he describes as a “wild” business atmosphere, many cli ents are not. “ It’s a bit of a paradox in that clients will be facing revenue cha l lenges,” sa id M acL eod, whose clients include American Airlines Inc. (Nasdaq:AAL). “A n d a t t h e s a m e t i m e … we’re seeing an unprecedented amount of interest in what we do to make leaders’ crowdsourcing proficient.”

Thoughtexchange’s plat form ca n crowdsou rce ideas f rom groups ranging from 10 to 100,000 people.

It closed a Series B financing round in December 2019 amount ing to $20 million, leaving the B .C. tech company well prepared for difficult economic times.

With that in mind, Thought exchange will be giving away its p latform for free to any organization that needs crowdsourcing h elp related to COVID-19. “It may or may not have an eco nomic benefit but we’re going to d o it anyways,” MacLeod said. “If there’s an organization out there that needs to hear back from people and it could actually help them, and make them more safe, and make their business more successful in a really hard time, then it’s kind of our corpor ate duty.” T houghtexchange typically charges between $2,000 and $10,000 per month for entrylevel packages.

While the company is already set up to work remotely through a mix of tools such as Slack Technologies Inc.’s messaging services and Zoom Video Com munications’ v ideo conferencing services, other companies are now in the trial-by-fire phase. “A lot of people have been re luctant to use video conferencing t ools in the past; there’s always the thinking that it’s better to do it in person. But many businesses will now realize they can do much more online than they realize – because, right now, they have to,” said Werner Antweiler, an associ ate professor at the University of B ritish Columbia’sSauder School of Business.

“There’s a massive exploration going on right now, seeking out what can be done virtually. So there may be a permanent ef fect on in-person meetings in the b usiness world, and frankly, it’s a whole lot cheaper.”

Antweiler sits on the board of directors for a Toronto-based company that used to f ly its d i rectors to meet i ngs at its headquarters.

“Well, that costs us $30,000 to $40,000 a pop, so why are we spending this money?” he said. “I suggested as treasurer three years ago to switch to a digital platform, and it’s working just fine. People

Most of Rossland, B.C.-based Thoughtexchange’s 140 workers are already set up to work remotely, allowing the company to adapt to the new realities of COVID-19 | Submitted

like it, and it’s a whole lot cheap er. Yes, we don’t personally get t ogether for the meeting anymore, but for a small corporation like ours, it makes all kinds of sense.” Meanwhile, companies that have been sending employees home to work are now facing new concerns about cybersecurity, ac cording to Christy Wyatt. “ Now you have people remote [working], they’ve taken systems [and] in some cases these are sys tems that have never been out of t he office,” said the CEO of Vancouver tech-security firm Absolute Software Corp. (TSX:ABT). “ Even when devices are in the office, there’s a certain amount of vulnerability … so you’re go ing to see what I think of as ‘cyber lo oting.’” Wyatt said her company ex pects to see an uptick in cases in wh ich bad actors try to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic through phishing attacks or other means as more companies struggle to figure out best practices for employees working from home.

“They’re looking at new ways to compromise both individuals and industries because then they’re catching us while we’re all off guard,” she said.

Wyatt said now is not the time for more companies to deploy massive new initiatives depending on technology.

In the meantime, Absolute Soft ware is offering to help fix applications for clients remotely for f ree regardless of whether that was part of the package they’ve licensed.

“I don’t think people will take this as an opportunity for com panies to take advantage of the s ituation. I do think that there’s an opportunity for security compan ies and technology companies to s tep up,” Wyatt said. •

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Software companies accelerate employment growth

analysis |  Median one-year growth of B.C.’s biggest software firms increases by nearly 500%

By Albert Van Santvoort avansantvoort@biv.com

British Columbia’s biggest software companies are growing faster than they did five years ago, according to data collected on Business in Vancouver’s list of B .C. ’s biggest software companies (page 10). In 2 020, the median one-year growth rate for those compan ies increased to 5%, nearly five t imes the 1.2% median one-year growth rate they posted in 2016. However, the average one-year growth of 5.5% in 2020 was only fractionally higher than that of 2016. This suggests that in 2020 the growth momentum of smaller software companies lower on the list has outpaced that of larger companies higher on the list when compared with their 2016 counterparts. It also suggests that, unlike in 2016, software companies on the list in 2020 are in general growing at roughly the same rate, regard less of their size. The lacklustre performance of the larger players is evidenced by the mixed performance of the list’s top five software compan ies. Over the past five years, employment at two of the top five h as decreased while it increased at the other three. Traction on Demand ( No. 3) has grown the most: 197.9% to 560 B .C. e m ployees in 2020, up from 188 in 2 016. However, MDA (No. 2) had the largest decline in staff in the top five, falling 10.3% to 602 em ployees in 2020 from 671 in 2016. This broad-brush growth has unsurprisingly resulted in more employees across the spectrum of companies on the list. The No. 1-ranked company on the list, SAP Canada Inc., em ployed 1,381 people in 2020 versus 1,100 people in 2016. Clevest, t he company holding the N o . 20 spot on the list, had 132 employ ees in 2020 versus 100 in 2016. Talent is a tech and software company’s most important asset. Not only are British Columbian software companies hiring more people, but, according to a re cent C BRE Group report, those employees are increasingly more talented. In 2017, Vancouver ranked 16th on CBR E’s tech talent scoring ranking. B y 2 019, it had sur passed Chicago, Baltimore and Or ange County to claim 12th place. A c cording to the report, this jump was in part the result of Me tro V a ncouver’s strong techcentric universities. From 2012 to 2018, V a ncouver

In 2017, Vancouver ranked 16th on CBRE’s tech talent scoring ranking. By 2019, it had surpassed Chicago, Baltimore and Orange County to claim 12th place. According to the report, this jump was in part the result of Metro Vancouver’s strong tech-centric universities

North American tech talent quality versus cost analysis Vancouver top Canadian city for tech talent, according to CBRE Group report

was one of North America’s most attractive destinations for tech talent with a “brain gain” of 11,160, meaning that the city had 11,160 more tech jobs than people who earned tech degrees. The only hotter destinations were T o ronto, San Francisco, S e attle and Charlotte. Vancouver also beats out nearly every other city measured in terms of hav ing the highest-quality talent f or the lowest cost, according to the report. •

Source : CBRE 2019 Scor ing Tec h Talent re port

Change in B.C. employment at the largest software companies Traction on Demand had the largest five-year growth at 198%

200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 B.C. employees

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 SAP Canada Inc. MDA Traction on Demand Hootsuite Global Relay

Source : biv list

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