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15 Year Club – Nigel Babington – an original member - (Aus, NZ & UK)

Each issue of Advancements carries profiles of Team Members who have reached certain milestones with the company. In this edition we feature Nigel Babbington – an original member of the APS team and hence only the second member of the APS 15 Year Club!

Career Fact File

Qualifications / Background:
25+ years in the computer industry; prior to APS, I worked for a number of software houses delivering travel, commodity trading, stock-broking and inventory control applications.

Career high (so far!) – Biggest achievement
Probably the original delivery of our NZ tax and client database application within 6 months of its conception. Also it’s difficult not to include writing our first software application in 1994 which was a major development. We presented the application at the APS conference in 1995 – it was a real buzz, as we actually delivered on what we said we were going to deliver. Of course, this is something we continue to do at APS.

What has kept you at APS for so long?
When someone leaves a software development team, they get blamed for any ‘bugs’ in the software they’ve touched… so I can’t leave, I’d be setting myself up for too much blame!! Seriously though I’m still here because of the great people, the challenging development projects and the positive attitudes within the team.

My typical day
A 40 km commute, 6 cups of coffee, email deluge, write some software, discussions with Nigel Boland, 40 km home!

Memberships
Muriwai Golf Club, on Auckland’s West coast

For relaxation
Golf, walks, sport on TV, beer!

Best indulgence
Purchasing a brand spanking new set of golf clubs – without permission. An even better one was my mid-life crisis purchase – I bought a 2-door sports car, obviously I got over that because I don’t have the car now.

Personal philosophy
Work hard, play harder; and smile a lot!

Best advice
It is important to strive for career growth – but a company that can provide personal growth as well – that’s what won me over. And it’s the reason why I’m still at APS 15 years on.