We were surprised and pleased to learn that Peter Batty has joined Intergraph Corporation as the Chief Technology Office, reporting directly to CEO Halsey Wise. Batty's long experience in the geospatial technology sector will be a strong asset for INGR, especially in the utilities sector where it has often stumbled on its execution of software enhancements to remain competitive. Batty needs to jump start an organization that has, at times, seem mired in an "engineering mindset" where market awareness was lacking. Batty's entreprenuerial experience and vision on technological developments should serve to envigorate the software development team at the company. Let's hope they listen to him. It's a smart move by Wise and we've been waiting for him to bring in outside talent that does not have the parochial views that have sometimes hampered Intergraph's competitive position.

Intergraph had been seeking a CTO for some time. Interesting that they selected a geospatial expert, but I suspect that Batty's recent experience with location-determination solutions (microwave, RFID, etc.) with Ubisense, will allow him to offer advice in Intergraph's other sectors in Power and Process. But perhaps, Batty's greatest asset will be to act as the "Bill Gates" (in the CTO sense, of course) of Intergraph to see well beyond the cotton fields surrounding the company headquarters.