Sierra Systems' CEO Grant Gisel on high technology alliances.

Grant Gisel has been president and CEO of Sierra Systems Consultants Inc. since 1973, shortly after he and a partner purchased the company. In 1998, Sierra Systems ranked in the top ten of Canada's 100 information technology service companies, according to a recent Financial Post survey. The firm provides information technology consulting services for administrative and operational systems, and has partnerships with vendors of mainstream applications including PeopleSoft, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems. Sierra works with these vendors' service staffs to implement financial, human resources, and other information systems for clients including PageNet, Cessna Aircraft, Algoma Steel, and government agencies. Sierra has offices in major cities throughout Canada and the United States. Mr. Gisel is active in the computing community as a past director of the Data Processing Management Association and past president of the Canadian Information Processing Society. He has also served as the director of the Information Technology Association of Canada, and chairman of the British Columbia Advanced Systems Institute. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba. In this interview, he discusses the importance of high technology alliances as an integral part of Sierra Systems' strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]