Majority of businesses rate IT an essential investment

The inaugural SAP/EMA Innovation for Growth Survey has revealed the importance of IT to the success of New Zealand businesses. Sixty-five percent of respondents see IT as an investment that actively supports their business success. The survey was commissioned by SAP and conducted by the Employers and Manufacturers Association Northern (EMA) in September as the global financial crisis was starting to unfold. Fifty-three percent of respondents describe IT as essential for the smooth functioning of their business; 29 percent see it as essential to gaining and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage; and 22 percent regard it as a primary plank in their growth strategy.

Meanwhile, IT research firm IBRS believes the impact of the global economic crisis will result in businesses focusing their 2009 IT spend on technologies that increase productivity or save costs. IBRS says as a result, investment in technologies or applications such as web-oriented architectures, social software and social networking will stop. “These may not come back until 2010 depending on the depth of the slowdown,” IBRS says. “When the economy takes a hit, IT departments tend to avoid 'risky' or unproven technologies. Cloud computing, enterprise mash-ups, web 2.0 and collaborative applications will be put into the 'too risky' basket.”

StayinFront wins Rugby Union

CRM vendor StayinFront has won a contract to develop a new CRM solution for the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). The NZRU is rugby’s national body, supporting 150,000 players, coaches, referees and administrators who participate in the game. It says it chose StayinFront for its integrated CRM functionality, ease of use and flexibility, which allows the NZRU to tailor the solution to exactly match its business models and processes.

NZX-listed software company Diligent Board Member Services says it has signed a deal with the parent company of international fast food chain Burger King to use its web-based Diligent Boardbooks service, which is designed to simplify and centralise the management and delivery of board meeting materials.

Marshal merges with 8e6 Technologies

New Zealand-founded security company Marshal has merged with 8e6 Technologies, a US-based specialist in web filtering appliances and technology, to form a new company, Marshal8e6. Marshal and 8e6 say the combination creates the only independent software company capable of securing all forms of Internet-based communication streams – including internal corporate emails, internet-based email services, websites and instant messaging.

Gen-i has acquired the business of Real Time Computing, the Gen-i franchise group operating in the Manawatu, Wanganui and Taranaki areas. Steve Mills, Gen-i’s general manager of New Zealand corporate sales, said the merger was a logical extension of the existing relationship between the two teams in the region.

Microsoft offers start-ups free software and support

Microsoft has launched a global program designed to help accelerate the success of entrepreneurs and early stage start-ups. Under the programme, called BizSpark, Microsoft provides entrepreneurs fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools and production licenses of server products with no upfront costs and minimal requirements. BizSpark also provides technical support and market visibility.

Meanwhile, Microsoft Financing has announced it will offer a zero-interest deal over 36 months for new purchasers of selected Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM software solutions. The offer is valid between November 19 and March 20 next year, for credit approved customers on purchases between $34,000 and $1.7 million.

Lawson Software has released Lawson QuickStep Manufacturing, a pre-configured ERP software package aimed at addressing manufacturers’ industry-specific business needs, including visibility across global supply chains and the ability to manage a diverse range of products.

FrontRange Solutions has launched SAM Essentials Optimization Edition, a solution designed to guide organisations through the process of creating and managing a successful software asset management (SAM) initiative.  

Sun Microsystems has unveiled its Sun Startup Essentials Program, offering free and heavily discounted Sun products and services to newly established businesses. Sun says the program aims to provide organisations with the technology infrastructure to help them kick-start and grow their business in an ever-competitive market place. It will target eligible start-up companies, such as those in the fast growing Web 2.0 space, that require sophisticated and scalable technology solutions to power their business.

Enterprise systems management vendor Quest Software has extended its Quest One Identity Solution to include Quest Access Manager, allowing organisations to identify and manage user and group access to corporate data across the enterprise. Quest says its patent-pending technology provides a real-time security map that bridges the gap between Active Directory security and enterprise access.

ComOps, an Australasian provider of business software products and services, has launched offices in New Zealand citing robust opportunity for its suite of business software solutions among both local public and private sector organisations. The company has appointed Mark Heard as sales manager based in Auckland.

Auckland-based retail software specialist Triquestra International has appointed Nicole McKenzie as head of global sales. She has held senior management and sales positions for technology companies as well as acquiring and growing her own business, Trinity Design.

Transpower plugs into TelstraClear’s network

TelstraClear has signed a 10 year contract with Transpower for enhanced fibre services from its Next IP Network. Key to the deal, worth in excess of $20 million, was TelstraClear’s recently completed South Island fibre ring, a 950km ring connecting all of the South Island’s main cities and centres.

Global spam cut after botnet host shut-down

The volume of spam around the world fell by as much as 70 percent after the shutdown of a major spam hosting network, McColo. McColo was shut down by its ISP after an investigative journalist made enquiries about the web hosting company’s illicit activities. McColo was hosting the command and control infrastructure for three of the world’s most prolific spam botnets: Srizbi, Mega-D and Rustock. When McColo was shut down, the spammers were disconnected from the networks of spam-sending bot computers under their control. The bad news, however, says security vendor Marshal8e6, is that it is likely spam levels will eventually return to their previous high levels.

Five out of 10 New Zealanders are extremely or very concerned about the security of their financial transactions, up sharply according to the latest Unisys Security Index. As a result, New Zealanders strongly support the introduction of new technologies to provide greater security for consumers’ data and finances. In fact, more New Zealanders say they would be happy to use a fingerprint to enhance the security and protection against identity theft and financial fraud than a password or PIN. “The level of concern about identity theft and financial fraud continues to rise in New Zealand,” said Mike Webber, enterprise security manager for Unisys.

Ricoh claims carbon offset first

Copier and printer company Ricoh says it is the first supplier in the New Zealand office equipment market to achieve a carbon neutrality rating through the carboNZero programme. Ricoh says as well as offsetting emissions from its own business operations, it has gone a step further and also offset greenhouse gases emitted as a result of customers using its copiers and printers.

Unisys has completed the expansion of its Kapiti data centre, near Wellington. The company says the expansion project adopted many of the latest energy efficiency practices including a modular design and “free cooling” techniques which use external cold air, to greatly reduce its carbon footprint and power consumption.

Bailey heads up HP’s printing business

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has appointed Richard Bailey as vice president of the HP South Pacific Imaging & Printing Group (IPG). Bailey moves to the role from HP’s Financial Services Division, where he served as vice president of Asia Pacific & Japan.  In his new role, he will be responsible for driving the imaging and printing business, products, supplies and business printing solutions across consumer, small to medium business through to enterprise and graphic arts segments for Australia and New Zealand.

IDC New Zealand has appointed Peter Macaulay as the new lead to manage and refresh its ICT end-user practice including the InTEP forum. Macaulay is currently president of InternetNZ.

Business technology solutions company RHE Group has announced key executive appointments it says will enable it to manage strong growth it is achieving across its operations: David Oakes as group general manager services, Peter Roberts as group general manager sales, Nikki Pye as group general manager marketing and communication, and Simeon Wright as chief financial officer.

Matt Cowie, formerly with Reachmedia (Deltarg), has joined boutique data based research company, Datamine, in the role of general manager, retail solutions, where he will be developing a range of data-driven solutions for retailers, specialising in the use of data for marketing strategy.

Analyst and consulting company Ovum has appointed Jens Butler as principal analyst, IT services, in its Asia-Pacific team. He has previously held senior positions at Gartner, META Group and IDC covering the services, sourcing and benchmarking markets.

Software services specialist Simpl New Zealand has appointed Beverley Mayle as marketing manager. Mayle joins Simpl from the UK and has a background working in marketing and communications for a number of software companies and agencies. Simpl has also appointed Alfred Flokstra as account director for the Northern region. He was previously sales manager at Avanti Solutions.

Data warehousing and business intelligence consultancy WhereScape has appointed Dave Thompson as general manager. Before joining WhereScape he co-founded and worked as a director of IT services company nth degree, and previously spent 12 years with Microsoft New Zealand.

Telecommunications company Orcon has made three appointments. David Joyce has been appointed head of sales and marketing. He was most recently with Vodafone where he was GM marketing at iHug. Audrey Watts is Orcon’s new head of customer experience. She was preveviously at Westpac Bank where she was head of call centres. Taryn Hamilton joins Orcon as head of products. He was previously head of consumer products for Australian ISP iiNet, based in Perth.

FrontRange boosts local channel presence

FrontRange Solutions says it has strengthened its channel presence in New Zealand by expanding its relationship with its premier partner, Focus on Business. Focus on Business will now offer management consultancy and support services to customers in New Zealand wishing to buy products from FrontRange’s expanded suite of infrastructure management solutions.