Former Colombian software company owner and computer programming specialist Ricardo Santa was not too proud to go back to the drawing board and kick-start his learning when he migrated to Australia about 5 years ago, with his Aussie wife.

On arrival in Australia, he enrolled in TAFE, progressed to an IT degree and is now pursuing a Doctor of Business Research in the same field he once worked in - Enterprise Information Systems (EIS).

Ricardo and wife Janelle

Mr Santa and his brother built up an EIS consultancy that had already serviced around 1000 companies by the time Ricardo left for Australia (his brother still runs the business back home).

Ricardo's wife Janelle Knott, who was born in St George in rural Queensland, was living in Colombia where her parents are Christian missionaries, when they met.

They now have 2 children - one born in Colombia and the other in Australia.

"I had the chance to work and study in one of Australia's capital cities but I thought it would be easier to manage work and family life in a smaller city," says Ricardo, who lives in Rockhampton and studies at Central Queensland University, where he is also employed as a lecturer in operations management and e-commerce.

"I wanted to improve my English while broadening my knowledge beyond the situation in Colombia; I'm here for a better life."

Ricardo is now researching the organisational factors influencing the implementation of EIS in a range of different organisations in Australia and has launched on online survey at http://www.bus.cqu.edu.au/Effectiveness .

All people involved in using EIS are encouraged to fill in the 10-minute survey.