| March 5, 2010
Wales a springboard to Europe for Aussie
Enex TestLab, an Australian provider of testing and reporting services that was a spin-off from RMIT University in Melbourne, plans to open a facility in Wales from which it will orchestrate an expansion into the UK and European markets. The facility at the Technium Springboard innovation centre in Cwmbran will focus on security, software, broadband, and hardware procurement testing, review, and evaluation across all ICT products and services, explained Matt Tett, managing director of Enex.
Tett said that Cwmbran was an ideal location for the company's expansion. "The area has a good cluster of technology-related organisations, including Cardiff University, the University of Glamorgan's IT campus, and Newport University, which is excellent for recruiting purposes and offers potential for carrying out collaborative research in the future."
Enex was supported in its search for the new location by International Business Wales, the inward investment agency of the Welsh Assembly Government (www.ibwales.com). "The UK and Europe offer us significant new business opportunities and we look forward to growing our business here. The support of the Welsh Assembly Government has been extremely helpful," Tett said. www.testlab.com.au
Aussie debuggers win US support
The work of researchers at Monash University's eScience and Grid Engineering Lab has attracted the interest of -- and funding from -- the US Department of Energy as well as a commercialisation agreement with supercomputer company Cray.
The funds will be used to further the researchers' work on debugging software capable of dealing with the large and complex data sets required for parallel distributed supercomputers. Professor David Abramson, director of the lab, said that because of the complexity and size of supercomputer programs, previous approaches to debugging, which had been developed with smaller systems in mind, were ineffective. www.monash.edu.au
Intelledox sets sights on China
Australian document creation specialist Intelledox has opened an office in Singapore as the launch pad for an aggressive expansion into Asia. The company will target government and corporate organisations using as a reference the recent high-profile installation at Tradelink Electronic Commerce in Hong Kong (Rust Report, Oct 16 2009, p1). "We look forward to firmly establishing Intelledox within the Asian region," said Peter Kazacos, chairman of Intelledox.
The new operation will be headed by BK Heng, who has been appointed Intelledox vice president for Asia. He was previously the Asian region director for FAST Search and Transfer. www.intelledox.com
iSoft readies push into US market
Australian health systems developer iSoft is preparing for a full scale launch of its suite of solutions in the US. The path to the launch was paved last year when iSoft acquired US developer BridgeForward Software.
Gary Cohen, executive chairman of iSoft, said he expects to do well in the vital US market because the company is one of the few global health IT companies with solutions meeting the requirements for interoperability across the full spectrum of healthcare environments. "The US market makes up about half of the total global spending on health IT, which will balloon further as the government's stimulus package kicks in," he noted. www.isofthealth.com
Iress links to another Canadian
The Canadian subsidiary of Australian trading platform provider Iress Market Technology has agreed to a co-location agreement with Chi-X Canada, an alternative trading system for senior equities listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. "By co-locating within this facility, which will also serve as the hub for Chi-X Canada's new ultra-low-latency trading system, Iress customers are ensured even lower-latency door step access to Chi-X Canada's core matching engine," said Michael Harrison, VP of sales for Iress Canada.
Last month Iress announced it had entered a co-location agreement with TMX Group, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange (Rust Report, Jan 15, p4). www.iress.com.au
Entellect plans global expansion
In a flurry of announcements Australian company Entellect -- a developer of student management systems that was formerly known as MXL -- has informed investors it plans a share placement to raise $A25 million; it has taken an international licence to CSG's Learner Enterprise and Learner Analytics software; and it has bought the holding companies of Canadian educational software specialist The Administrative Assistants.
"Following completion of these transactions the company will have a global distribution footprint, an established and geographically spread customer base, a complementary set of products covering the K-12 education market, and a range of further business opportunities," claimed Jeff Bennett, Entellect's chairman. www.entellectsolutions.com
MapData Sciences acquired by ESRI
Australian digital mapping and hosting company MapData Sciences (www.mapds.com) has been acquired by ESRI Australia, the subsidiary of US location intelligence specialist ESRI.
In the wake of the deal the two companies will continue to operate as separate entities, with no immediate plans for any major changes to MDS's structure or business, said Brett Bundock, managing director of ESRI Australia. "MDS will become ESRI Australia's preferred partner for digital data, representing an exciting opportunity for the expansion of ESRI Australia's location intelligence solution offerings," Bundock added. www.esriaustralia.com.au
Markinson follows acquisition trail
Queensland-based software provider Markinson has made its second acquisition this financial year with the purchase of the CRM arm of sales training company Acuere. The deal extends Markinson's reach into South Australia with the addition of an office in Adelaide, said Ian Whiting, CEO of Markinson. Greg Simmons, one of the founders of Acuere, will take up a management role within Markinson.
Last year Markinson acquired Australasian developer Adexia (Rust Report, Nov 13 2009, p4) and Whiting noted that further acquisitions may be in the offing. "Acquisitions will play a pivotal role in our growth strategy as we look to aggressively increase scale and deepen our solutions suite," he admitted. www.markinson.com.au
Feds to appoint ICT advocate
The Federal Government is to appoint an IT supplier advocate to work as a broker and spokesperson, particularly for SMBs, in the ICT sector. Details at www.innovation.gov.au
ASG buys Melbourne group
Perth-based services provider ASG Group has acquired Melbourne consulting firm Dowling Consulting, which includes on its client list Australia Post, National Australia Bank, Victoria Police, Melbourne University, and Adelaide University.
Geoff Lewis, CEO of ASG, said the deal significantly enhances ASG's presence on the east coast and increases its capabilities nationally in providing high-end consulting services. He added that other potential acquisitions are being assessed. "We see a number of outstanding opportunities that fit ASG's strict criteria," Lewis claimed. www.asggroup.com.au
NICTA forges German connection
Australian research centre NICTA has formed a five-year alliance with Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering to set up the Fraunhofer Project Group on Transport and Logistics at NICTA's Sydney laboratory. The two organisations have agreed to invest more than $A11 million in the new group. "Australia must be part of the global innovation system to build competitive advantage in technology and the broader economy and this is a major step in that direction," claimed Dr David Skellern, CEO of NICTA. www.nicta.com.au
* UK-headquartered global mobile operator Truphone has entered the Australian market with a flourish, buying telecommunications provider Startel and negotiating a wholesale agreement with Optus. www.truphone.com
* Swerdlove (www.swerdlove.net), a specialist IT consulting group, has been appointed the New Zealand reseller of software from Australian developer Caseflow, which specialises in case management systems for law firms and corporate legal groups. www.caseflow.com.au
* Web solutions builder Devnet has been appointed a distributor for Offisync (www.offisync.com), a provider of products that allow Microsoft Office users to manage documents and collaborate via Google Docs. www.devnet.com.au
* Photo-Me Australia (www.photo-me.com.au) has completed the acquisition of the Patloc prepaid Internet cards and kiosk business from ETT subsidiary Ultimate Transactions. www.ettlimited.com.au
* Australasian consulting firm Solution Minds (www.solutionminds.com.au) has been appointed a preferred partner of Canadian company Technology Evaluation Centres. TEC has developed a software selection methodology and decision support technology to help users find best-fit software solutions. www.technologyevaluation.com
* iCash Systems has completed the acquisition of Pulse International, which provides transaction switching and processing services. www.icashpayments.com.au
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