Re Licensing, there was a very interesting article in one of the safety magazines, about 18 months ago, written by a retired Flight Ops Inspector. He was making the suggestion that Crewing/Rostering personnel should be licensed due to the very complex nature of the job. He made some very interesting suggestions, one of which was that ALL airlines should follow the same crewing levels. He even suggested that this formula be made law as part of CAP 371 or JAR-Ops part Q.
On the subject of computer systems, my ex-employer, had a program written for them. Although no where near as comprehensive as the ready made systems, nor as expensive, it did its intended job. The rostering/crewing data was still entered in manually, but you had the basic ability of checking hours, restrictions etc. The roster prints were well liked by the crews, which gave them very comprehensive details of their duties, which mean't no need for timetables, etc. Although over six years old, it is still going strong and other related ops and crew records programs have been made because of it.
Totally off-topic, I think Danny should be well congratulated on giving the ground bods there own forum. Although no longer employed in aviation, I still keep tabs on the industry.
Having spent six years in the crewing/rostering/ops side of the business, I know the frustration we ALL feel at times. This forum may even show the pilots that we aren't all "18 year old school leavers"!!!!