Gen-i brings together IT and telecommunications services to provide converged ICT solutions for businesses across New Zealand and Australia.  Market demand and new investment has expanded our regional office based in Napier which services Hawkes Bay and Gisborne clients. Already with a staff of 20+, our Napier office is again growing creating exciting new opportunities within our services team.

We have an opportunity for a Senior Systems Engineer who has mastered the server and virtualisation space, so is ready to take the next step in their IT engineering career.  You will have an extensive   all-round knowledge of IT solutions, first rate problem resolution abilities, along with ability to build great customer relationships through superior communication skills.  You'll feel very comfortable in a presales consultancy situation and have project management capabilities   All this while still finding time to enjoy the fine weather, outdoors and great lifestyle that is the Hawkes Bay.

Day to Day you’ll provide all levels of pre and post sales IT support, systems administration, server engineering and implementation services to a range of business clients with a huge variety of IT infrastructures. By exceeding customer expectations, you'll develop a key role in their organisation and become the customer’s trusted IT advisor.  Showcase your excellent judgement and problem solving abilities managing particularly tricky client issues as needed.

You'll possess strong inter-personal skills, and be proactive and energetic whilst taking ownership of issues.  You’ll enjoy sharing knowledge to benefit the wider team as well as mentoring other Engineers. You'll have an area of expertise in Microsoft Exchange, SANS, VMware or Citrix, or a combination of all of them. Couple this with an industry qualification i.e. MCSE, CCEA, CCNA and you'll be on your way.

As a member of the Telecom New Zealand Group, Gen-i has a team of energetic and passionate people in 17 locations.  We're proud of the reputation we have earned as one of Australasia's most preferred ICT services providers with clients that span 3,300 public and private sector organisations. We are totally committed to achieving outcomes for our clients.  Their success drives us. Their success is our success.

What are you waiting for? Take your career to the next level.  Apply today. www.seek.co.nz/Job/gen-i-senior-systems-engineer-napier/in/hawkes-bay-napier/21566826

I hope you all enjoyed your Holidays?

Last year I did some research for a few clients that wanted to send and receive text messages straight from your PC. I spent alot of time on this as we send commands to GPS Tracking devices for MonitorME , most of the solutions still charge a premium for messaging which I thought was wrong considering you can get 2500 text included on a  2degrees mobile plan.

Over the weekend I was cruising the Android App Market and found Mighty Text, this lets you send and recieve txts  from an extension to Chrome's browser.

It works Awesome! Its so easy and its free!

All you need is an Android Smart Phone, a Google Apps or Gmail account, Chrome Browser and your all go! Off course you'll need a mobile phone account (preferably from 2degrees).

I can show you how this works for free and if you want to Talkmore about Mobile Phone Plans from 2 degrees just ask.

Thanks for reading,

Ben Keehan

find us on facebook.com/talkmorenz

Here's the Air New Zealand flight schedule for next Thursday. I physically can't get there and back to do meetings. Unless maybe the meet was from 11am to 11:45am.

Air New Zealand must be managing it's loadings and operating on a reduced schedule.  Last weeks flights were horrendously priced.  Next week I'll have to drive and waste 8 hours.

Not a happy @FlyAirNZ customer so far this year.

We have decided to celebrate our success with Unison Fibre and for the next 3 days we have a limited offer, but as I have been told off by Matt for selfless promotion on Fruitbowl youll have to check it out at : http://www.talkmore.co.nz/index.php/ultra-fast-internet/

Unison Fibre has done an exceptional job building a state of the art network , they are extremely good to work with , far better than the larger telco's like Vodafone where I spent 3 years in the B2B sector and I know that we will be able to rely on them now and into the future.

I would like to say that Nigel and his team need a pat on the back for their efforts so keep up the good work.

So before I sign off, check out Talkmore.co.nz for our 3 day special and If  I dont see you in December (because you didnt sign up) have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Thanks

Ben Keehan

PS. I believe we are the only Hawkes Bay Retail ISP providing Fibre under $200 per month and SIP Trunking for any sized business!

Talkmore's price point is affordable at $279+gst  per month and in many cases those that have joined us to date have seen significant cost savings on their current spend. (upto 30%)

Most people we have seen have been a little confused about the many options that they now have, so this friday afternoon between 2pm and 5pm we are doing a Mini Roadshow at the HB Chamber of Commerce Board room.

We will have on display a Virtual Desktop, Virtual Phone system, Softphone, smartphone software, IP Phone and a router with plain old telephone converter all connected to Unison Fibre.

Feel free to come on down and see what we can do for you.

lets talkmore.co.nz

It's taken way longer than expected, but is well worth the read.  The exec summary is below, with a link to the full report at the foot of the page.

To answer the obvious 'so what?' question on what happens to all these combined suggestions & priorities for our region's future, the report will be forwarded to all participants, who included:

• The Chamber of Commerce & newly formed Business Hawke's Bay Group
• Hawke's Bay's MP's
• Many active Fruitbowlers
• Key influencers in many HB businesses

The Hawke''s Bay HRINZ committee would like to publicly thank our Vice President, Sue Whiteley, for putting in the hours to compile such a diverse group of people's thoughts into one cohesive document, Unison Fibre for their sponsorship of the event & the Opera House for hosting us.

Executive Summary of Findings
In the full document, the method and detailed findings of the workshop are laid out, but by way of executive summary the key findings are as follows.

Human Capital
•    The further development of Literacy and Numeracy (including Computer Literacy) for school aged children must be a focus for all – not just for our educators
•    Local tertiary providers must align with Universities to provide specific degree programmes which genuinely support the needs of the local current and emerging industries/sectors
•    Continued development of  Centre’s of Educational Excellence should be aligned to these key industries and sectors
•    Industries must create developmental opportunities and career paths to retain talent in region
•    An understanding of the infrastructure requirements required to attract and retain young people in the region should be developed
•    The development of leadership and management capability is key to enhancing the productivity and engagement of the human resource
•    Policies and infrastructure to support and enable the aging population to continue their contribution to the region’s economy must be developed
•    Strategies should be developed to ensure that young people see the Bay as a vibrant, dynamic and attractive place to settle
•    Regional pay rates need to attract talent from out of region and retain talent within region – relying on a “lifestyle” and “cheapest is best” approach will stifle regional and organisational development

Regional Competitiveness
•    Greater and more visible integration and collaboration between the councils is required to enhance and develop the region as a whole
•    Regional strategies are required for business development, tourism and other economic development activities
•    Communities must work together for the good of the region.  Fragmented approaches waste energy – we must have a focused and visible approach to addressing issues which prevents such fragmentation – people should know how to and be encouraged to get involved
•    Organisations should seek opportunities to work together for mutual benefit
•    Out of region is not best - buy local.  To facilitate this local providers must ensure they are expert and competitive
•    Leverage what we do well – identify the top ten current and emerging industries in the region and focus development activity in these areas
•    Attract related industries to the region – provide incentives where possible
•    Conduct research into the perception of the region with businesses – why do businesses locate here and why do they choose elsewhere
•    Maximise the tourist spend
•    Ensure our events schedule is attractive to the younger generations not just Baby Boomers

Infrastructure
•    Seek ways to improve access to the region
•    Ensure the port is supported
•    Technology infrastructure is key
•    Improved space based planning is required to improve the ease of access to and aesthetic of our outdoor and shared purpose spaces
•    Cut the red tape required to do business

Social
•    Improve the support migrants to the region obtain
•    Improve the tolerance, acceptance and local perception of migrants
•    Promote success stories in Hawke’s Bay particularly in relation to success in business – tell the world what we do well
•    Seek to reduce the gap between the “have’s” and “have not’s” in the region
•    Improve consultation with and participation from lower socio economic groups in economic development activities
•    Execute with excellence – address the culture of mediocrity of service delivery and the “cheapest is best” mentality – replace it with the understanding that “Do it once, do it right…gives value for money”

Cultural Diversity
•    Continually work to celebrate our cultural diversity
•    Encourage pride in our cultural heritage

Environment
•    Protect our clean green image now
•    Eco Tourism should be encouraged
•    Ensure our water is used productively and is fairly available

See the full report here & click on the pdf for the August event

At the same time this news was being heralded, Hawke's Bay Regional Council this week started a six month trial for a bus service of their own (along with GoBay Busses) from the CBD to Ahuriri using a regular bus. I can start to see where the arguments for amalgamation can seem quite attractive here...

There is no doubt that some form of transport link between Ahuriri and Napier has been long overdue in recent years, especially with the boost in population Ahuriri as seen with all its little apartments. There had previously been tram (a long, LONG time ago i.e. pre-1931 earthquake) and bus services between the two areas that died off due to lack of patronage. But I think spending $1.5 million on two busses (presumably, this is just the cost of the vehicles themselves, never mind the running costs - we haven't been told that as yet) is a little excessive, when a regular bus service will do and, you would hope, cost ratepayers a lot less.

Personally, I'm a big walker. I walk into town from Marewa at least once a week and to Ahuriri from Marewa almost as often. Every once and a while I'll even walk from town to Ahuriri and vice versa. But with older residents and tourists carrying bags and other travel-based flotsam and jetsam the walk from town to Ahuriri (where a number of hotels and motels are now based) is a bit too far to stagger, especially in the midst of a Hawke's Bay summer. But does it matter HOW they get there?

When I go to Wellington I love to commute on the trains and busses. When I go to Melbourne, the trams are an excellent and regular form of transport. Do I care if they are specially designed or look unique? No. So what's the big deal with these busses being "Art Deco" busses? Other than the CDB, there really aren't many AD-style buildings on the vaguely-proposed route. Is this another attempt at "quirkiness" by local government, like the giant, grass rugby ball that was to adorn Marine Parade for the World Cup was supposed to be?

I talked with Airnet’s Ben Deller about this at a Tweetup (a gathering of local Twitter users, for the uninitiated - and well worth attending!) last Friday and he suggested I write something on the matter for Fruitbowl, so here it is!

So I'd like to hear the thoughts of fellow Fruitbowlers on the issue: How do you think the council(s) has handled this? Does it matter how you get to where you're going, so long as you get there? Was there a better alternative NCC could have looked at? Is $1.5 million excessive? Shouldn’t there have been more public consultation? What is the point of such a tourist-based service starting after the majority of Napier’s tourists have been and gone? Should they have used local HB industry rather than overseas companies? Is there more to Napier than just Art Deco and if so, how do we get the message out to the rest of the world?

The communications infrastructure is but one great aspect of the Park which also has stunning natural beauty and vistas of Te Mata Peak ranges and un-obstructed views down the Tukituki river valley.
Airnet Sales Manager Ben Deller says “The developers took a no compromise approach to the communications infrastructure for the park; opting for best of breed throughout. They knew access to ultra-fast broadband was going to be a key part of any prospective property owner’s decision to relocate to the rural development so they came to Airnet for a turn key solution”.

Airnet worked with the developers from the earliest stages, providing consultancy, design and final implementation of the fibre optic network design to best deliver Airnet’s range of broadband and calling services.

Sections at Matarua Farm Park are being marketed by local agents Tremains Real Estate

.

We connect you to the world for and let you do alot more generally for alot less per month than those other people.

Mates Rates Fixed pricing gets you the best price per month for calling to National and International Landlines with easy fixed billing  payable on the 7th day of each month by direct debit , mastercard or visa.

We have been providing voice services to other small HB business for over 12 months and now we can expand our client base because of the reliable infrastructure Unison Fibre & VIP can provide.

Our Ultra Fast Internet using Unison Fibre and VIP, with no data caps or limits, 10mb speed up/down lets you do far more than you could before. Real-time backups, Cloud Computing , Offsite Storage and VoIP can be deployed without the constraints of old fashioned ADSL provided by traditional telcos on the old shared Chorus/ Telecom network.

Talkmore can provide you with a really great starting point. From here we are only limited by your imagination , not by the networks.

So where to from here?

Lets get to know you and your business.

Lets see if we can do things better.

Lets discuss your options and how we can save you money.

Lets see when you can get connected

Lets make sure we can get you on it with a Free Connection from Unison @ Mates Rates  for $249+gst monthly  before the special free connection runs out.

Call us on 06 9299940.

Yesterday saw an article published in the HB Today about me Talking up the value of Fibre.  It must have really done the trick as by mid afternoon my website had crashed from the level of enquiry.

So just a quick apology to those people who wanted to register for our deal, the page is back online today and here is the link to secure a really great deal for Talkmore and Unison Fibre.

http://www.talkmore.co.nz/index.php/ultra-fast-internet/.

Thanks again,

Ben Keehan