Breaking Victoria’s IT fail cycle: What not to do
When almost every major IT project has broken its budget and its timeframe, and many have completely failed, after soaking up hundreds of millions of dollars of public money that could have been spent on health, education, cutting down crime or public transport, what happens now? Where does the Victorian State Governments and its technology workforce turn to?
What’s the best Australian streaming music service?
Which music streaming service should you choose? It'll depend on your specific technology setup, habits and how much you're willing to spend for what you use. But the good thing is the market for music streaming services in Australia is getting increasingly crowded; meaning more options for users and more competition.
Breaking Victoria’s IT fail cycle: First steps to take
With its IT governance reputation in tatters and all of its major projects late, over budget and in many cases having simply failed to deliver, what steps can the Victorian State Government take next to get things back on track? Where can it turn for inspiration?
Passion for Human Services: DHS CIO outlines vision
New Department of Human Services chief information officer Gary Sterrenberg gives a wide-ranging interview following his appointment and shows that the IT portfolio within DHS still has a powerful voice.
Mapping out the NBN Co IT paradigm
When it comes to selecting IT platforms and partners to support its business mission, the Federal Government-owned National Broadband Network Company faces a somewhat unique set of problems and opportunities.
Questions & answers: Oracle Australia MD Ian White
Long-serving Oracle Australia managing director Ian White is one of the most senior figures in Australia's technology industry, leading the local operations of a company which has been involved at some level in virtually every major Australian IT Project. In this interview, we asked White a series of questions about the company's local operations, the industry, and his time with the company.
Questions & answers: Zendesk Australia
Michael Hansen is the Asia-Pacific managing director of software as a service firm Zendesk, which offers a Web 2.0-style hosted helpdesk solution. Zendesk has recently expanded strongly in Australia, hiring staff and announcing that it has 1,000 Australian customers. In this interview, we ask Hansen about the company's local expansion plans.
Questions & answers: Microsoft Australia’s Dynamics chief on CRM
Thomas Gudman is Microsoft Australia's new director of its Dynamics Business. In this interview, Delimiter questions Gudman about Microsoft's Dynamics CRM business in Australia, which competes in the market for enterprise software with fellow industry titans like Oracle and Salesfore.com.
Why I don’t regret not waiting for the iPhone 5
Delimiter editor + publisher Renai LeMay is interviewed by comparison site WhistleOut on whether he regrets switching to a HTC One XL and not waiting for the iPhone 5 to be released instead.
Q+A: Oracle’s banking chief Ashwin Goyal
Delimiter recently conducted an interview with Ashwin Goyal, Oracle's global vice president & general manager, Financial Services.
Elders Real Estate deploys Gmail to 1,200
interview Last week Elders Real Estate revealed that it had this year deployed Google's Gmail email platform and its Sites website creation and sharing tool to some 1,200 staff located around Australia. In this interview, the company discusses the rollout, its rationale for it, and its attitude towards cloud computing services in general.
SHINING A LIGHT IN: Victoria’s major IT projects under review
Several of Victoria’s major government watchdogs and the new Coalition government itself have taken the first steps in bringing the state’s trouble-plagued technology projects to heel, putting one flagship project on ice and scheduling others for a series of reviews that will govern their future.
Why CIOs should be cloud brokers, not blockers
This is the transcript of a speech given by Australian Government chief technology officer John Sheridan to a conference entitled “Tomorrow Ready CIO” in Canberra. It covers the developing use of cloud computing by the Australian Government and the measures undertaken by the Department of Finance and Deregulation to provide guidance and procurement support for agencies using the cloud. Sheridan's major point is the need for CIOs to be brokers, not blockers, of cloud services.
Q+A: Warwick Hutton, Coca Cola Amatil CIO
This interview with Coca-Cola Amatil chief information officer (Australia) Warwick Hutton was conducted by Toby Bowers, Microsoft Australia Server and Tools Business Group Lead, on the sidelines of the Gartner Symposium on the Gold Coast this week.
Before this decade is OUT: What if the “giants of the web” designed government...
What have we learnt from the past decade of "government online"? And what could we learn from the giants of the web? This is an examination of how an understanding of complex systems, risk and common patterns can be applied in an economy-wide effort of breakthrough innovation to drive the digital transformation of government service delivery over the next decade.
Q+A: Hills CIO on the company’s “complete rip and replace”
Hills Limited is an Australian company that makes home, hardware and electronic products. We had a chance to catch-up with Derek Brown, CIO, at Hills to discuss how he and his IT team of 40 employees is transforming the company’s IT infrastructure and enabling flexible, cloud-based collaboration.
The Australian Cloud: How are Australians using it?
This week and next week, Delimiter will take a closer took at cloud computing use in Australia with a series of two feature articles. The first -- this one -- will take a closer look at what classes of cloud computing services are proving most attractive to large Australian enterprises, and how they are being used. And the second piece, to be published next week, will examine whether cloud computing as a phenomenon is delivering on its promises of cutting costs and delivering more flexibility and scalability to Australian organisations.
The Australian Cloud: Is it delivering on its promises?
Half a decade ago, cloud computing was hyped to the max as a new class of technologies that would deliver radical improvements to the flexibility and agility of both private sector businesses and governments. But a few years down the track, is it delivering on those promises in Australia? We investigate in this extensive feature article.
“Criminal”: MyRepublic CEO mourns loss of Australia’s “marvellous” NBN vision
feature The chief executive officer of upstart telco MyRepublic has described the Coalition’s move to significantly water down Labor’s National Broadband Network vision as...
The Friday CIO: Bill Robertson
Every Friday Delimiter features an Australian chief information officer, IT director or IT manager. This week's profile is of Bill Robertson, the CIO/IT manager of De Bortoli Wines.
Microsoft Ignite 2015 (Gold Coast): Photo gallery
Several thousand Australian technologists are currently on the Gold Coast attending one of Australia's technology conferences -- Microsoft's Ignite conference. If you want to get a feel for what you're missing out on, we recommend you check out some of these great photos taken at the event :)
Cisco Live 2016 in Melbourne: Photo gallery
Your writer is down in Melbourne attending Cisco Live 2016. We had a fantastic time yesterday and will be posting quite a few stories today from the event. Here's a bit of a window into this huge tech conference with a few photos of what's going on.
Photos: Nodes Behaving Badly (when FTTN placement goes wrong)
Today, Delimiter is proud to present a photo gallery entitled Nodes Behaving Badly, in which we highlight some of the worst Fibre to the Node infrastructure placement that Australia has to offer.
The Frustrated State: The Change Agent
Vladimir Lasky would be the first to admit that he hasn’t had a stereotypical, easy to predict career.
The Frustrated State: The Tree Changer
Rohan Latimer describes himself as a “Web Dev Magician”. “I’ve been a freelance developer my whole life,” he says.
The Frustrated State: Thank you to key supporters
The publication of The Frustrated State would not have been possible without the following individuals and organisations, who directly contributed $75 or more each to the book during its successful Kickstarter campaign.
Monday startup: Adioso
Adioso came into existence through a combination of persistence, willingness to abandon bad ideas, and naivete.
After 16 years, Michael Malone is still excited
In the end it's his positivity that characterises iiNet chief Michael Malone. That and a relentless energy to drive change and make things better.
Friday Five: HP’s Richard Bailey
Richard Bailey is HP's vice president of its Imaging and Printing Group at HP for the South Pacific region -- but he wasn't always. At one stage his job was working on the family farm. Just don't ask him his footy team, the West Coast Eagles -- he'll probably talk your ears off!
How Jeff Smith keeps Suncorp’s IT nimble
Suncorp chief information officer Jeff Smith talks about huge banking development efforts with the excitement of an entrepreneur who's involved in their first startup company.
Will wireless broadband kill the NBN?
Will the amazingly fast uptake of mobile broadband and other wireless services kill the National Broadband Network before it's even built?
Change agent: Senator Scott Ludlam
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has emerged as a major policy player in the telecommunications industry.
CIO outside the box: De Bortoli’s Bill Robertson
De Bortoli Wines IT manager Bill Robertson lays out the history behind his radical technological thinking.
Monday Startup: Pouncer
Pouncer is a Sydney startup created to provide an Australian version of the Penny Auction sites that have been so popular overseas, inspired by German pioneer Swoopo.
Correctional facility: Victoria Police’s Vanderheide
Victoria Police chief information officer outlines his priorities and strategy in the force's troubled IT department -- and tells us why he loves his new life in Melbourne.
Friday Five: IFS’s Rob Stummer
Rob Stummer is the local managing director of enterprise applications group IFS. But he wasn't always -- it's a little known fact that he used to be a PE teacher at Scotch College. We're not sure yet which job is harder -- but in any case, he's this week's guest on the Friday Five.
Amazon Kindle store + device: The Australian difference
Amazon might have started selling its Kindle range of eBook readers in Australia late last year, but there is a world of difference between the performance of the device and range of the Kindle bookstore in Australia compared with Amazon's home country of the US.
Friday Five: Red Hat’s Max McLaren
Every Friday we’ll profile a prominent figure from Australia’s IT, telecommunications or video gaming industries in the Friday Five.
Filter fighter + Liberal young gun: Jamie Briggs
You can see Mayo MP Jamie Briggs' understanding of technology wound throughout his political career and the issues he has engaged on.
Friday Five: Internode’s John Lindsay
John Lindsay is one of Australia's best-known telecommunications executives. He's currently Internode's general manager of regulatory and corporate affairs, a high-profile role which sees him quoted everywhere. But he's also worked at iiNet and even Chariot. His secret hobby? He solves problems in Perl for fun :)
Are Australians buying 3D TVs or not?
With nobody prepared to release hard numbers about 3D TV sales in Australia, it is hard to know what impact the new technology is really having on the local market. But one thing is for certain: Everybody and his dog wants to make sure the consumer knows the technology is out there, and at this stage positive vibes are emanating from every player in the market.
Monday Startup: expanz
We profile Manly-based software startup expanz.
Startup nation: Is Labor’s NBN focus a little myopic?
But is it dangerous to view the development of Australia's entire technology sector through the lens of the infrastructure-bsaed NBN? Following last week's announcement, we asked two innovative technology companies -- one big and one small -- what they thought.
The Australian private cloud: How do you define it?
Everyone's talking about private cloud – but what does it mean – especially in the Australian context? Who is providing private cloud services in Australia – and who is adopting them? What is the future of these services likely to look like?
The Australian private cloud: Whitepaper repository
A collection of whitepapers on cloud computing, with a particular focus on private cloud in the Australian context.
The Australian private cloud: Who’s using it, and how?
When we set out several months ago to find large Australian organisations who had started to use private cloud computing services or who had started to examine business cases to do so, we didn't have to go far.
Stephen Tame’s next IT revolution:Deleting the desktop phone
Sitting across the table from Stephen Tame at lunch is a bit like dining with a tiger (if the Jetstar chief information officer will permit us a small airline industry pun).
The transformation journey: Why CIOs take it on
Like any other IT professional, chief information officers daily face the challenge of keeping up with change. But there is one difference between the CIO and the average IT profession: Higher level responsibilities are also responsible for managing the risk associated with the introduction of new technologies into their business.
Friday Five: Avaya’s Rob Wells
Rob Wells is the managing director for Avaya in Australia and New Zealand. But he’s also well known to the local industry for his previous roles, including as managing director of SAP subsidiary Business Objects. The executive also had a long stint at PeopleSoft culminating in a position of vice president of product sales in the Asia-Pacific region, and he was also the MD of Sequent Computer Systems for some time. Wells is our guest this week on the Friday Five.
Soothing the savage beast: Caspari and mastering EDS
It's safe to say David Caspari (pictured) had a bit of a rough ride when he took the local reins of EDS in October 2008 scant monts after his employer of just one year -- HP -- bought the Texan IT services giant.
Learning to grin and bear it: Vodafone’s bad month
Like the problems suffered by Optus throughout the second half of 2008, Vodafone’s problems over the past few months appear to have come on the company one by one, like a slowly building avalanche.
The troublesome case of the red-faced bank
NAB’s problem came at a time when Australia’s major banks have been the target of considerable market resentment as they post substantial profits while simultaneously elevating interest rates. The press was ready to tear to pieces any bank that gave its customers grief, and by the time the problem was 24 hours old, the bank was not only dealing with an IT problem -- it was also in the midst of a public relations crisis of significant proportions.
The eBook executive with the Google tattoo
When you ask Google's Mark Tanner what books he's been reading recently, you had better have a few minutes to discuss the subject, because the enthusiasm bursts out of him wholesale.
Friday Five: Sqware Peg’s Adrian Jones
Sqware Peg's Australian country manager Adrian Jones might focus on cloud computing these days, but he didn't always. A few decades ago he was all about green screens. Let's hope you never have to deal with one of those terminal babies every again, Adrian! In the meantime, Jones is this week's guest on the Friday Five.
Monday startup: Trunk.ly
Local social bookmarking startup Trunk.ly suffered a trial by fire when it soft-launched in December 2010, as rumours swirled that Yahoo would shut down its dominant Delicious site. In this profile, the company's founders Tim Bull and Alex Dong talk about the current state of their startup, and the likely future.
Senator Mary Jo Fisher on life, the NBN and everything
A lawyer with a strong background in dealing with farmers’ workplace issues, South Australian Senator Mary Jo Fisher probably never expected to become so involved in the highly technical world of information technology and telecommunications.