Since the launch of PineSoft in 1989 the company has become a major supplier of administrative software to assist university and college Placement Managers maintain comprehensive details of all aspects of the “placement” task, which in these days of QAA and Health and Safety issues is very extensive.
The success of the company has been founded on listening to the needs of users and constantly improving the application to match the aspirations of customers. The comprehensive maintenance package provided to all users ensures prompt knowledgeable support and automatic access to new features as they are developed.
Founded by Stuart Donald, who remains the company’s MD, PineSoft initially designed bespoke/custom software for customers initially using Psion and Borland products.
In 1995, the company responded to the market demand for software compatible with the tools used in almost all establishments – so the switch to Microsoft Access/Office was made with user-defined flexibility replacing bespoke software and the introduction of a comprehensive support & development policy. The aim was to grow the product by “word of mouth” recommendations from an expanding group of loyal customers.
A PhD and DIC from Imperial College London led to a career as a lecturer at the University of Abertay Dundee. In his role as the School Placement Manager the lack of professional tools provided the initial spur for developing PineSoft. In 2004 Stuart left Abertay to concentrate fully on developing the company.
Louise Finlayson is responsible for the new website, where it is hoped that the addition of video demonstrations will prove of benefit to potential and existing customers. Louise is qualified to MSc level in Computing and is presently studying for a PhD at the university of Aberdeen. Louise was one of only two UK doctorate students presenting a paper at the CHI International HCI Conference in Canada in 2006. In 2007 she had a paper presented at an International conference in Beijing. With her youth and ability the future of the company is assured. Louise is taking an increasing role in software development and is currently heading up our web design division.
Teresa Donald is the PineSoft Business Manager and her duties involve administration and marketing strategies. The latter rather neglected by the technically minded PineSoft staff.
Jamie and Stephen Donald are likely to provide less input into the company in future years as they pursue their careers in medicine.
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Dr Stuart K Donald BSc (Hons), PhD, DIC Managing Director and Founder of PineSoft 1972 - 2004 : Lecturer and Placement Manager, University of Abertay Dundee, School of Computing & Advanced Technologies s.donald@pinesoft.net |
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Mrs Teresa D Donald, HCIMA, PgDip Business Manager |
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Mrs J Louise Finlayson BSc (Hons), MSc Product Development Manager j.l.finlayson@pinesoft.net |
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Dr James J Donald MB ChB Director j.j.donald@pinesoft.net |
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Mr Stephen C Donald BSc (Hons) Director s.c.donald@pinesoft.net
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Our customers are in the main university or college Placement Managers located at establishments throughout the United Kingdom. Often in localised clusters where the quality of the product has prompted “word of mouth” growth.
In a recent survey of PlaceNet, Business Studies Placement managers, over fifty percent of respondents were already users of the PineSoft Professional Training Database, many having been users of the application for over ten years