TeamSpace

Michael Johnston couldn’t be happier about building his business in Nova Scotia.

The president and founder of Bedford-based software development company TeamSpace employs a staff of 60 people and is creating software for clients like IBM, Nickelodeon, MTV and BBC.

Hundreds of thousands of people use his company’s software applications every day, and he still gets to drive home in 10 minutes.

Johnston is a Truro native and Harvard graduate who got his start as a software consultant in Boston. In 2000, he moved back to Nova Scotia with his wife and first child.

“My wife and I were high school sweethearts, and when our first child was born, we decided it was time to move back to Nova Scotia to be closer to family,” he recalls.

Johnston started his own company, working with a business partner in the UK. His first client was IBM, and the team began to focus on building software applications using IBM’s Lotus collaboration software.

“I brought IBM with me from my time in Boston. Basically, we use the Lotus technology to create applications that help organizations work better virtually, and that save money and increase efficiency.”

The work for IBM continued to build. The team designed collaboration tools that IBM could use on an international level to standardize management training for more than 50,000 employees. They also built a tool to enable more than 60,000 IBM teams to collaborate and share information.

“Good work begets more good work. In the technology sector, you have to spend time learning and building to become really good in a specific area,” Johnston explains. “Lotus collaboration applications are what we grew up doing, and it’s where most growth has taken place in the enterprise software division.”

Johnston says the IBM business helped TeamSpace in its first stage of growth, taking it from a group of four guys in a basement to roughly 20 people.

“Basically, we’re all software developers who develop hardcore programs for organizations to help them with their communications and business goals.”

TeamSpace expanded its work to build more diverse software applications like videogames, virtual worlds and interactive web content. A few years ago, they launched a development arm called theREDspace to focus on rich, interactive software.

“We found ourselves building integrated learning applications and using technologies like Flash. After we co-invented a patented approach with IBM, we recognized that these applications could be useful in other sectors that need interactive technology, so we built a second arm of the company,” Johnston explains.

One of the first clients for theREDspace was Viacom, which owns the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central properties. theREDspace also develops software for banks and has become a vendor to the BBC in the United Kingdom.

Citing recent projects, Johnston says theREDspace redeveloped Nickelodeon’s home page and is responsible for the technology that delivers video content to MTV sites. The company is also currently developing a virtual world for a large U.S. toy company.

Johnston says his connections in the entertainment business are paying off. He recalls the “small world” effect when he met his Comedy Central client.

“He contacted us online and told me he’s a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and his parents actually live Nova Scotia. This guy had a soft spot for Nova Scotia and he really liked our work. He selected us based on those two variables. That’s the ultimate Nova Scotia story. It’s about who you know here.”

TeamSpace now has over 45 employees at its head office in Bedford, and satellite offices in Toronto, the U.S. and the U.K. The company continues to work with clients locally and in larger markets that need customized applications for their business.

“We’re useful to companies that don’t have programmers on site but need to develop specialized software. Most of our business is outside this region, but there are some companies and partners in the Atlantic Provinces that need programming support,” Johnston explains.

Johnston says he chose to build his business in Nova Scotia because it’s home, and because of the balanced lifestyle this market offers.

He adds that Nova Scotia’s location makes it a good place for what he calls “nearshoring,” which refers to the practice of sourcing service activities to a nearby, less expensive country.

“We’re not local in New York or Boston, but we’re also not eight time zones away. We can be somewhere in the middle, in terms of both our location and our cost. The clients appreciate that.”

Johnston says TeamSpace hires most of its staff from this region, and maintains close ties to post-secondary programs in IT and digital media.

“We get talent from here as much as possible. Occasionally we hire specialized developers from other parts of the world, but we try to hire locally. There are some really good people here. We just wish there were more of them,” he laughs.

Johnston says the company’s goals are to grow the IBM business and expand the interactive and game development arms of the company. He is also taking steps to sell the company’s services to more media networks like the BBC.

“We plan to continue our growth from this market. We’re doing really interactive and fun work. We’re designing games and virtual worlds and best of all we get to do it all from right here in Nova Scotia.”