The pursuit of excellence

In software development, continuous innovation and exceptional customer service are key. Combined with a focus on employee happiness and job satisfaction, Trihedral Engineering is a global leader in the industry

It's the end of a busy week at Trihedral Engineering Ltd. (www.trihedral.com) in Bedford, N.S., and vice-president, Barry Baker, is enjoying some downtime with his staff. "When you walk down the hall on a Friday afternoon, you see people playing the pinball machine or a game of pool in the lounge," he says. "It's part of our corporate culture." Employee appreciation is one big reason why Trihedral is creating business buzz both in Nova Scotia and around the world.

Recently named one of the Top Ten Best Employers in the Maritimes for 2007 by Canada's Top 100 Employers, this homegrown company has been developing leading-edge software for mission-critical monitoring and control since 1986. Trihedral's software may not be seen, but it's hard at work behind the scenes keeping public radio and television on the air, making sure there is gas at the pumps, and directing planes overhead.

From the day it opened, Trihedral has been guided by its corporate philosophy of hard work and honesty to every client and its fair treatment of employees. This philosophy has led the company into its second decade of successful business growth.

By advancing its visual tag system software daily, Trihedral has become a smart and agile competitor in every industry it touches, including water and wastewater, oil and gas, chemical manufacturing and distribution, air traffic control, and power generation. Information technology is the driving force behind its business, but the employees are the heart of the operation. "Our product is the result of the work of the human mind," says?Baker. "Our people are the No. 1 asset here, and we tell them that. It isn't too radical to say that we concentrate on our people first and the software second."

No matter what the sector, Trihedral team members are satisfied when they know that they have provided the best possible service to their clients, who are located around the world. As a global service provider, Trihedral recently opened an office in Orlando, Fla., to meet the accelerated demand for its software. The staff members at the new office have already begun providing training and on-the-ground support for Trihedral's growing customer network in the U.S. southeast. Trihedral also has an office in Aberdeen, Scotland, that focuses on product development and system integration in the oil and gas industry.

"Our pursuit of excellence is what our clients enjoy and what our staff enjoys delivering," says Baker. "One thing we tell our staff is that everything they do is very important to our clients. If our software were to develop a major flaw tonight at midnight, it would make the front-page news because so many people would be affected."

Although its computer software is an integral operational tool for its clients, Trihedral is not the sole provider, and competition for business is fierce. "We're not like Microsoft — companies don't have to buy our products," says Baker. "There are lots of competitors, and lots of bigger competitors, so we have to be the best."

Trihedral employees work hard to improve and customize their software for each client to ensure the company stays ahead of the pack. "Software by its very nature is never finished," says Baker. "You can recreate it, change it, and modify it, which makes innovation a key part of our business."

That type of innovation can't happen without innovative people. Over the next five years, the company will be hiring 180 new employees as it expands its Bedford operation and taps into new international markets. Baker is eager to see what new minds and ideas culled from Nova Scotia's post-secondary institutions can bring to Trihedral.

"The people who graduate from our province's universities and colleges want to continually learn throughout their lives," says Baker. "Those are the people we want working for us."

— Mary-Eleanor Walker

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