Tom Comerford

Today he is one of 1,200 staff, and even after the savage impact of the Nasdaq crash on share values, Baltimore Technology has a market capitalisation of $2bn.

'Are the shares a buy?' asked one observer in Dubai this week, and unless there is something nasty lurking beneath the surface of this bright, young software company, the answer must surely be 'yes'.

This week the Dublin company announced a deal with UAE telecoms giant Etisalat to roll out a secure e-commerce platform for its Comtrust subsidiary in partnership with Hewlett-Packard. This is just the latest in a string of deals around the globe, as Baltimore rushes to grab its target 25% share of a market that should be worth $160bn a year in five years' time.

'We are already the dominant player in Europe and the Asean countries, and see great opportunities in the Middle East,' says Comerford, Channels Director Middle East, who plans to move to Dubai in the New Year as part of the new regional headquarters, inevitably in the Dubai Internet City.

'This market has achieved the level of critical mass necessary for our Public Key Infrastructure. The usual indicators are a certain level of PC usage and Internet penetration. What accelerates the process is the willingness of Government to put the infrastructure for e-commerce into place. Once the infrastructure is there, people will use it'.

Baltimore Technologies' PKI software package provides everything necessary to facilitate e-commerce through the Internet. Data is handled in a kind of 'registered mail' that only designated individuals can unlock, and levels of certification assure that only the right person is handling e-commerce transactions in a company.

'Top priority is the creation of a market based on trust,' explains Comerford. 'We are starting in the UAE but expect to grow quickly in the more advanced markets such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. There is an encouraging level of enquiries and of course rising oil revenues are stimulating investment interest in infrastructure.

'We say that if the e-commerce platform is in place, people will use it to realise the enormous cost savings that are possible through the electronic sourcing of supplies. It is like installing a telephone system. People are then able to make calls, and they do so'.

But will Baltimore Technologies be able to handle such a massive expansion in such a short time? 'By working with our many partners we can keep pace with progress,' assures Comerford. 'And we have made no secret of our policy of mergers and acquisitions to maintain growth. It can not all be done by organic growth'.

Will the Nasdaq crash hinder progress, bearing in mind that Baltimore shares have oscillated wildly between $45 and $10 this year? 'I am not responsible for corporate matters, but I suppose it must slow us down a bit,' says Comerford.

Presumably he is referring to the ability to issue shares to fund acquisitions. But for a company that has come this far without an IPO, the future has to be very bright indeed provided that senior management can correctly bridge the gap between current trading losses and the immense future profit potential of software licensing.