Two years ago I met with the New Business Development Manager from Oolloo Farms, head office in Brisbane. Oolloo Farms have mango farms and packing facilities in Darwin and Katherine. The farms have young trees and the mango crop will increase significantly year on year over the next five years to full cropping.

Oolloo were well aware that both their current packing facilities and software were not going to cope with the mango avalanche.

Enter ABC Software.

After several months of talking and relationship building, we have been commissioned to build a Packhouse Management application. It will be deployed into their two existing pack houses and their three fruit receiving depots with the Brisbane head office having real-time visibility to the whole operation.

It is a large project with very tight deadlines. The Darwin packhouse starts late-September, right in the middle of the RWC. And Katherine pack house starts almost on Finals weekend. We won’t be forgetting this implementation in a hurry!

We are particularly excited about this project as it is for a large off-shore operation (and our 3rd packhouse in Australia). Bringing home export dollars is always good for king and country. ABC Software is starting to build a brand in the niche horticultural software, especially Packhouse and Supply Chain. We are currently talking with another large operator in Australia and if past history is anything to go by, we might get that one in the bag in 2012. I’ll keep you posted….

Says Natalie Bethell, a parent with children at Tamatea Intermediate:

“Lunchonline is such an easy option. I don’t need to have change, I know that whatever I order is going to be available and the food will be the same standard every time. I’ve volunteered at the canteen and I know the standard can vary widely, depending on who has volunteered. I can order and pay for lunches weeks in advance if I choose.”

Preparing lunch at home every school day is not always easy, but ordering via lunchonline is. Forget the old method of completing an order form, finding the correct amount of money, finding an envelope and then hoping the kids don’t lose it before they get to school (or spend it elsewhere).

Furthermore, all the administration at school is eliminated, and the school earns funds through using the programme.

The application software and website was developed by local company ABC Software, who provides on-going support.

So, if you think this sounds like a good idea, get your school to visit www.lunchonline.co.nz to get the full story.

And what new ideas will we have that will become possible with this new improved access to the big wide world?

In addition to the Unison Fibre we are moving our internet business to FX Networks, because they too move fast and said Yes to UF. FX Networks take my internet traffic out from HB, like Telecom and Vodafone will also do when they get their connectivity sorted with Unison Fibre (corporates tend to move at a slower pace, a few more layers of managers to get through I suspect).

For ABC Software, fibre is another tool that will help us do our job better and give our people a better working experience. We should be up and running in the next few weeks so I'll let you know how if the reality meets my expectations. I bet it does.

This incident highlights the need for businesses to take stock of their own IT Disaster Recovery processes. Thinking you are doing the it right and testing and proving you are doing it right can be quite different outcomes. And waiting until you actually have an incident or an out-and-out disaster is too late.

When I was an IT Manager in the UK, once a year we did a full IT Disaster Recovery simulation where the entire computer system was recreated off site to ensure the business could be up and running in 24 hours from a technology stand point. This was an annual cost in having a 3^rd party company that would provide the technical hardware and support for this recreation. And it wasn’t cheap. It was an insurance policy in effect.

Practicing IT Disaster Recovery is something that all businesses can do and should do. It takes some planning and once the procedure is in place it should be tested regularly to ensure it is effective. In today’s age almost all businesses have a significant reliance on computer systems. If your computer system went off line and never came back, what would that mean for your business? Okay, so you have a backup procedure. When was the last time you proved it works. Perhaps you are too busy to test the backup. We all know car accidents happen to other people!

 So my question to you is  ‘How good is your Backup?’

Everyone who I have met in the HB ICT has been more through accident than design. And that, my subconscious decided at some point last night, is a problem and a mistake.

Here’s the thing. Right now, I want a particular skill that I can tap into as need and occasion arise. I don’t want to hire in this skill. I bet someone out there in the HB ICT has this skill and would sell me their time as and when I needed it. I get CV’s coming through my mailbox that I am not interested in because the skill set has no match to my needs or I am not recruiting. If it looks good I will suggest to the person some companies to try. But what if I could tell the ICT community? My business has peaks and troughs and sometimes in the peak some additional resource would really help. Maybe there is another company in a trough and would sell me some resource on a contract bases. There are sole-traders out there (I used to be one once upon a time). What if they can tap into our community?

With a presence, more is possible. We would be bigger than the sum of the individual parts. We can tell the mayor, companies, the world we exist. How many HB companies have sourced ICT skills outside of the Bay? With a presence we should be able to seriously stop some of that leakage. Ideally we would/should source work outside of the Bay and bring in home. With knowing each other and the skills and services we offer, joint ventures, or sub-contracting becomes an option. We can go after the big jobs.

We are competitors, sure. But I want to know who my competitors are. One day may see us going after the same account (and that is healthy and good) and the next day may see us collaborating on a project. Let’s get off the Anderson Park pond and start fishing in the big blue sea.

I propose we make a presence and the first way to do that is to meet. Let’s get everyone. Bring a profile and every company gets a 2 minute presentation. We should meet maybe once every 6 months. But we need a forum to pass information, post requests for resources and the like. Perhaps this could be a page inside Fruitbowl? This presence also needs to be the portal into the HB ICT community where companies or people wanting to make contact can do so.

Come guys, let’s do this. Let’s get visible.

Michelle's disablity is called Perthes. She was diagonised with Perthes 7 years ago. It is a disease that develops because the ball shaped end of the thigh bone has had its blood supply disturbed causing the bone to become soft and brittle. Most people diagonised with Perthes grow out of it, but Michelle has not. She has undergone several operations to no avail and has one leg significantly shorter than the other and also has frequent pain to bear.

Not that anyone would be aware of these things because Michelle is not going to let something like pain and disability keep her from achieving her goals.

She has three part-time jobs (2 paper runs and teaches at the her swimming club, Greendale) plus practices 8 times a week. The weekend just gone saw Michelle compete at the able-bodied Hawkes Bay and Poverty Bay Winter Champs held at Swim Heretaunga, Flaxmere where nine clubs from the North Island turned out.

Michelle competed in 7 races, made the finals in every race and set 7 personal best times!

In less than 4 weeks Michelle is off to Melbourne to take part in her hardest competition yet. Whichever way the results go, Michelle is a winner in my book. The tenacity and fortitude she has shown to get this far is nothing short of outstanding.

There is a lot of truth in the saying that it is not the hand you are dealt but how you play the hand that makes the difference.

We wish you all the best Michelle. Watch this space for an update on Michelle's progress in Melbourne.