IRISH CONTENT management system (CMS) provider pTools has opened an office in Canada in an attempt to expand its presence in North America. The company’s office is in Toronto and will be headed by their new general manager for Canada, Dee Allott.

The company already has a number of clients in Canada but pTools chief executive Keith Wood said this office would help it establish a firmer presence there and in the US.

“Technology can take you so far but people want to meet and have a coffee; that’s where the deal is done,” he said. “By having a physical presence here we’re meeting partners every day who are looking to go out there and resell our products.”

Mr Wood said that having Mr Allott on board has been a huge help as he “opens doors that would have been shut otherwise”. Mr Allott is the former president of Lexmark Canada and former general manager of Lexmark Europe.

Mr Allott is currently the only member of pTools based in Toronto but the company hopes to hire additional sales and development staff soon. However, most of the development will still be driven from Dublin.

“We’re talking to a couple of clients and hope to announce a few deals in the next quarter,” he said. “We’re also looking at other development companies to leverage our products into their clients.”

In Ireland, the pTools client list includes the Department of the Taoiseach, Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Stock Exchange.