advantage of the slump in the world markets by offering companies the chance to focus on their core business.

Ignition's founders said that the new business will be a money-saving tool for local and overseas companies who can out-source their computer needs through the new venture.

And the company claims to have enough capacity to serve all the businesses in Bermuda -- an estimated 14,000 computers -- and will cut their IT bills by between 15 and 40 percent.

Ignition, which is currently recruiting for 12 job vacancies, says it is a management service provider and can provide a 24/7 service which spans everything from providing a help line to providing out-sourcing all information technology needs.

Paul Bullock, vice president of sales and marketing said: "There is no difference between us and BELCO. You would not dream of building your own power plant to serve your company, so why take on the complicated task of building up your system. It is very cost effective.'' The company, which is based in the high-tech Zurich Centre on Pitts Bay Road, has as its first clients Ernst & Young. Last week the accounting firm announced 23 redundancies after out sourcing its technology department.

Ignition will serve more than 200 users in Ernst & Young. Mr. Bullock said: "We will buy all the equipment, take all the staff, put in the new equipment and provide a level of service which is very high at a reasonable cost.'' He added the service agreement included financial penalties for being off-line for more than 14 minutes in a day, and if there were larger glitches, then the higher the rebate Ignition has to give back to their customer.

Graham Pearson, Chief Executive Officer and founder, said: "I bet your IT people don't pay you money when the system goes down.'' But he said it was the financial benefits that were attracting customers to the start-up company.

He said: "We will charge the customer a fee for the service. So it will be a fixed cost per user per month to support their complete IT needs. Instead of having your own 24 hour a day back up which will be operational 365 days a year, you have us. They get predictable costs and get guaranteed performance.

If we don't perform then there are financial benefits.'' The company is currently looking at the global market as an application service provider and a data centre.

The company will also be using the encryption services for certificates developed by incubator company Quo Vadis, which is also based in the Zurich Centre.

Mr. Pearson said: "It is a great model for a softened market. You can keep control of your budgeting and expenditure. You have predictable cost and expensed and have a huge level of expertise at your service. By doing this you can keep an eye on your core business without having to worry about your technology.

"We are like the telephone company or the electricity -- we come in and hook you up, and you don't have to worry about it.''