Intergen's newsletter, Smarts, now available for online reading.
Intergen provides information technology solutions across Australia, New Zealand and the world based exclusively on Microsoft’s tools and technologies.
How to Troubleshoot Apps for the Modern Connected Worker
Intergen Smarts 18 (2008)
1. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 1
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
I S S U E E I G H T E E N>> T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E
MICROSOFT DYNAMICS >>
TECH.ED
USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN >>
>>
>>CRM & SHAREPOINT
RAPID RESULTS
>> HOT NEWS:
Announcements from Microsoft
Professional Developers Conference
Microsoft made numerous significant
announcements at its developers conference
held in Los Angeles in late October, including
Windows Azure and Office 14. Intergenites
Chris Auld and Mark Orange attended the
conference, and share their thoughts inside
– see page 3 for more.
Intergen still a Best Place to Work
We’ve come sixth a total of four times, and we’ve
made the JRA Unlimited Best Places to Work
top ten again… but the actual position has yet
to be announced. All shall be revealed in the
next instalment of SMARTS in the New Year.
MICROSOFT PDC >>
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
CASE STUDY >>
INTERGENITE NEWS >>
< Copyright 2008 Intergen Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of Intergen Limited >
Behind every door,
a new opportunity
We are extremely proud to have been
awarded Microsoft Partner of the Year
for 2008. Intergen (and prior to that
Glazier Systems) has been a dedicated
Microsoft partner since we started out
in the world in 1995. It was extremely
rewarding to be recognised by Microsoft
for our contribution to their success.
Microsoft has certainly played a big part
in our achievements over the past 13 years.
During this period, we’ve had a number of opportunities present themselves to
us that have made us what we are today. The challenge for any good business
is to seize upon the best of these opportunities when the proverbial door opens
and act on them in a timely manner. Our history and our track record have been
determined and shaped by the doors that have opened to us.
Glazier Systems was founded on the basis that smart business people could use
a high productivity tool like Microsoft Access to build clever business systems
without having to have a deep technical background. As the business grew, we
began to use Microsoft SQL Server to allow us to build larger scale systems and
we started to hire more technical staff. When Microsoft entered the web space
with Active Server Pages (ASP), we followed and began building browser-based
business applications, websites and intranets and established our hosting
capability. The business continued to grow, our projects became bigger and
more complex and our staff became more technically focused.
In 2001, .NET came along. We embraced it, and moved into a new world of
enterprise applications. At about the same time, we were introduced to a new
wave of application environments from Microsoft with the likes of Content
Management Server. We again stepped up, branched out and broadened the
scope of what we did.
More recently, as Microsoft has moved into the ERP and CRM markets we have
followed suit and added those solutions to our offerings. Microsoft now affords
us the opportunity to provide an extremely wide range of business solutions to
our clients. We have grown our business to support the increased breadth of
solutions and have supplemented our deep technical teams with a range of
business-focused people covering area such as ERP and CRM consulting, knowledge
strategy, architecture and business process design. Microsoft has been a great
partner for us, opening the door to a wealth of opportunities. And judging by the
exciting line-up of announcements at the recent Professional Developers Conference
in Los Angeles, there are plenty more opportunities on the horizon.
In uncertain economic times, it is important to have a partner that provides you
with great opportunity and one that recognises the value you bring to them.
We wish you a happy and safe Christmas and look forward to working with you
in 2009.
tony.stewart@intergen.co.nz
2. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 2
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
< S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E E I G H T E E N >>> I N T E R G E N I T E N E W S>>2
With more than 200 staff in
New Zealand and Australia, it’s
getting harder to keep tabs on
everybody. What we can report
– on good authority – is that
yellowness continues to spring
eternal. Here’s what’s been
happening in the past few
months.
The end of the year is in sight (and what a
year it has been) and it’s almost time to don
some yellow jandals, kick back in a deckchair,
reflect on ’08 and look forward to ’09.
So, in recent news…
Back in August we won the Microsoft
New Zealand Partner of the Year award.
This was an extremely significant occasion for
Intergen, and external recognition of our
exclusive commitment to Microsoft technology
since way back last century (well, only just
last century). It’s something we’re really proud
of and a real endorsement of what we live
and breathe every day.
We’ve also made it to the Best Places to Work
top 10 again. At time of writing this, the results
are still out in the ether. We’ve come sixth in
the awards four times now, so although we
don’t want to appear ungrateful, we’re aiming
to crack fifth or higher!
The Wellington office got a face-lift (complete with padded yellow doors); the
Christchurch office turned four and Dunedin employed its very first member of
the fairer sex (see Intergenite profile page 8).
Then there was Tech.Ed. Every year the bar is lifted and this year the reports
were glowing. We were there in force (all 24 of us, going incognito in bright
yellow Huffer-designed T-shirts and the trusty old yellow camos). We also
sponsored the Hands on Labs and handed out 2500 cans of V and recovery
packs to make sure delegates’ blood sugar was kept at an appropriate level
and that they had earplugs, Panadol, screen wipes and massage therapists on
hand to get them through an intense three days of unadulterated geekiness.
Speaking of dressing up, our trusty Director, Paddy Payne (who has been known
for his occasional sartorial kookiness), represented Intergen at the annual
Women in Technology debate. Arguing that green technology has been overhyped,
Paddy and his team dressed up as flower children and brought peace and
tranquillity to their audience.
For the second year running, Intergen Wellington rocked out at the ever-popular
Rocktober event – the perfect opportunity to unwind and release our inner
bogans. The photos say it all, really (and there’s plenty more where these came
from), and another notable Director-in-costume mention must be made to Wayne
Forgesson, who, as master of ceremonies, made an extremely fetching Alice
Cooper – or, more correctly, a very convincing bogan.
We’ve had some excellent THINK events lately, including a Microsoft directions
session presented by Microsoft National Technology Officer, Brett Roberts.
And recognising the growing importance of social media, we brought Andreas
Stjernstrom of EPiServer Sweden out to New Zealand to run sessions on how
online communities can be harnessed to create real business benefit for
organisations.
We’ve had a new MVP join the ranks (Dave Roys – the first Microsoft Dynamics
NAV MVP in Australasia), bringing Intergen’s total to four; Craig Keenen was
appointed Subject Matter Expert for NAV, representing New Zealand; we’ve got
staff members writing and contributing to books; our wares have made it all the
way to the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (see page 3 for more on
this); Rob Stewart, one of our 2007 graduate intake, has been invited to present
at the Microsoft OfficeDev conference in Sydney; and we’re active as ever in
community groups and meetings around the country. We’ve had international
lunches, murder mystery parties, loud shirt days and our Dunedin office even did
some swashbuckling in honour of International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
We’ll be bedecked in yellow at the Special Children’s Christmas parties in Auckland,
Wellington and Christchurch. And if you see a flash of yellow pass you by when
you’re out and about this summer, it’s most likely an Intergenite in costume, as
you know how we love to dress up.
We’ll be back with another issue in March. For more information on any or more
of these goings-on, please email marketing@intergen.co.nz.
Whether it was rocking out at Rocktober, or debating important industry issues, Intergen contributed
its unique flavour to proceedings.
Recent adventures of intrepid Intergenites
3. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 3
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
>>3>> M I C R O S O F T P D C < S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E E I G H T E E N >
Along with a handful of other New Zealanders, Chris Auld and Mark Orange
represented Intergen at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los
Angeles from 26th to the 30th October. PDC is arguably the most important
Microsoft conference held anywhere in the world, as it is the place where all the
new and important technology, product and strategy announcements for the
next 12 to 36 months are made public to the market.
Despite a crowd of over 6,000 geeks from all around the world, for some reason
we still found it easy to stand out in the crowd. Having content built by Intergen
presented during a number of conference sessions, including a keynote, certainly
helped give us visibility. The opportunity to get up close with the upcoming
Microsoft technologies and products was almost as important as the opportunity
for us to meet and build connections with the Microsoft people and community
experts who actually design, build and evangelise these technologies and products.
From the well known products, such as Office 14 and Visual Studio 2010, to the
evolution of Live Services, to the revolution of Surface and Windows Azure, it was
full steam ahead for five days of geek paradise.
Here are some highlights from the action-packed line-up:
Silverlight 2.0
There are many significant enhancements to version 2.0 of Silverlight, but the
most important is the cut down version of the .NET 3.5 Common Language Runtime
that is now embedded in the Silverlight client. Finally we can run managed code
directly on the client and provide a truly rich user experience through the browser.
Microsoft has worked very hard to keep the Silverlight download below 4mb to
ensure a low barrier to adoption; so we’re going to be seeing a lot more Silverlight
applications appearing over the next 18 months.
Make way for the future – Microsoft Professional Developers Conference
Windows Azure
Intergen has been working with some of the technologies that make up Azure for
about 18 months now but it was still super exciting for us to see the covers come
off the fully branded version. Azure is the long awaited ‘Operating System for the
Internet’ that Microsoft has been talking about. It provides an abstraction above
both the hardware and the underlying Windows Operating system that allows the
deployment of massively scalable cloud hosted applications. Intergen will be hosting
some of the first Azure events in the world throughout New Zealand in early 2009.
Windows 7
On day two, Windows 7 was unveiled, the next release of the Windows operating
system that will supersede Vista. The initial challenges with the introduction of
Vista have been overcome. Now that the PC ecosystem (operating system, software,
hardware) properly supports Vista, we’re ready for the evolution to the Windows
7 operating system. In particular, this prepares the way for the new wave of multi-
touch computing or NUI – Natural User Interface. NUI is the next evolution from
GUI (Graphical User Interface) which has been with us since the late 1980s. It’s
all about ditching the keyboard and mouse for many applications and using
multiple fingers to touch the screen and interact with the application. Not only
is this a leap in technology but there is now going to be an inevitable leap in
interactive design and user interface design to match. Don’t think dumb kiosk with
a touch screen where a single finger replaces the mouse, think multiple fingers
and multiple people interacting with a whole new world of solutions and experiences.
Oslo, Dublin and the M Language
‘Oslo’ is the forthcoming modeling platform from Microsoft. Intergen has been
involved as one of the external ‘advisors’ for Oslo since June 2007. The business
goal behind Oslo is to break down the silos in enterprise IT by providing a model-
based toolset for expressing and executing complex business applications. Oslo
will provide visual modelling tools to cover the entire application lifecycle and
ultimately these models will be executed in ‘Dublin,’ the new application process
server being built into Windows. Oslo models are expressed in a new modelling
language called ‘M,’ a language for textually describing domain models.
Office 14 plus Live Mesh – The More
Connected Office
Have you ever wanted to have multiple
people collaborate inside the same document
by editing different sections? What if one of
those users was working through a browser
from the other side of the planet? Well, that
is exactly what Microsoft demonstrated with
the new Office 14 versions of Word,
PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote and the Live
Mesh platform, all planned for release late
next year. Leveraging Silverlight 2.0, through
the browser, Microsoft delivers a rich viewing,
editing and collaboration experience for
these core Office applications without
requiring the full client applications to be
installed on the user’s computer. Live Mesh
provides a reliable storage platform in the
cloud that can store these documents and
automatically keep them in sync across all
your different devices including PCs, Macs
and mobile phones.
As always, we’d love to hear from you and
we’re always happy to provide a detailed
briefing on any of the current or future
Microsoft platform components that we cover.
And look out for Intergen Twilights on Azure,
Oslo, M and Dublin in the New Year. Email
us at strategyandinnovation@intergen.co.nz.
4. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 4
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
come down to what you can’t see when you
look at the Microsoft CRM application.
Most (custom) development projects start by
building the plumbing – the framework and
fundamental aspects of the system, including
security models, data models and, of course,
the user interface – and later focus on the functionality required to support
the business processes. Often this means you are spending up to 75% of the
project effort on the bits below the surface, the bits that you can’t see. Microsoft
CRM provides this for you in an extensible platform, framework and SDK (Software
Development Kit).
You might think that this is standard practice by CRM and ERP vendors, but the
difference is that Microsoft CRM was built as a platform, not an application,
and 100% of the framework is provided to you through the SDK. This means
that, unlike typical commercial software packages which normally allow you to
extend only 20 to 30% of the application, Microsoft CRM provides you with
exactly the same SDK and open framework it provides its own developers, the
developers who built and continue to extend Microsoft CRM, the application.
Because of the broad extensive range of entity-based LOB (line of business)
applications that are now being developed using the Microsoft CRM platform,
the term ‘xRM’ is being used to better describe these applications. Intergen has
a large team of professionals highly skilled in xRM application development
using the Microsoft CRM platform.
If you are keen to talk to us about this article or your business needs, please
contact Simon Bright at simon.bright@intergen.co.nz or on 04 472 2021.
< S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E E I G H T E E N >>>4 >> M I C R O S O F T D Y N A M I C S
>> INTERGENITE:
Simon Bright
What do you do?
I wear two hats. As the Dynamics Practice
Principal at Intergen I am responsible for
the overall quality of the projects and people
Intergen provides to our clients; as Chief
Solutions Architect I am responsible for the
quality of the overall solution we deliver
for our clients using the Dynamics (ERP
and CRM) platforms.
How do I make a difference?
By removing any roadblocks that hinder or
prevent our teams from delivering the best
solutions we can for our clients in the areas
of Financial Management, Enterprise
Resource Planning and Customer
Relationship Management. I have more
than 15 years’ experience in the packaged
application business and understand how
to take a business problem and solve it
through a combination of our team’s skills
and the applications we work with.
What do I love about my job?
Intergen is made up of intelligent extroverts
who are the best at what they do. I love
the fact that every way I turn I see talented
people excelling at what they do and
absolutely loving it.
A bit about yourself...
I was born in Liverpool, moved around a
lot, as my dad was in the forces, was shipped
off to boarding school in Winchester and
then landed in the place I now call home:
Wellington. Before my induction as an
Intergenite, I spent a large portion of my
working career with Ernst & Young,
CGNZ and HP.
More and more New Zealand-based organisations
are turning to Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Microsoft
CRM) to build line of business applications – why?
Before we consider this question head on, let’s
consider how we got here.
At the start of the decade, Microsoft set out to build an extensible and flexible
development platform that could be used by its partners and customers to
rapidly build business or industry specific applications. Their vision was to
provide the building blocks that support rapid application development and
not to build (at that time) a specific product. The situation changed, Microsoft
decided to build an application to showcase the platform, and Microsoft CRM
1.0 was born!
So, what is Microsoft CRM? It is as much a platform and framework as it is a
business application. For a developer, each part of the application is an entity
that displays certain characteristics and relationships depending on its role in
the application. The easy way for us to look at this is to say the most commonly
used entity, the ‘accounts’ entity, could just as well be a generic entity that each
different organisation names and uses to suit its own purpose. For instance
ERMA NZ uses the entities and workflows in Microsoft CRM to track and report
on applications relating to hazardous substances and new organisms, supporting
its role in managing the requirements under the Hazardous Substances and
New Organisms Act 1996. Similarly, the Charities Commission uses Microsoft
CRM to track communications, information and activities relating to the
application and management of grants.
To answer the questions: Why are so many organisations turning to Microsoft
CRM as a framework for building multiple business applications? While Microsoft
CRM was built with this in mind, what makes it fit for purpose? The answers
It’s not always about what you can see!
The origins of Microsoft Dynamics CRM
5. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 5
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
>>5>> C A S E S T U D Y < S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E E I G H T E E N >
management, procurement, production
and business processes, right through to
inventory management.
Intergen’s Richard Malloch explains:
“Dynamics provides an excellent foundation
to support the core business processes.
Dynamics NAV manages the unique supply
chain planning requirements of the dairy
industry. It has been integrated with export
documentation, treasury management,
pallet tracking, Dynamics CRM and Business
Intelligence systems to provide fully
integrated business processes. Dynamics
CRM is the foundation to support customers,
suppliers and employers.”
Clear business outcomes have been
delivered in a concise timeframe.
By leveraging the Microsoft stack of
technologies, Westland Milk Products now
has the foundations for a series of integrated
business systems that deliver new efficiencies,
knowledge and the end-to-end visibility
needed to support their total value chain.
The benefits of this have been very evident.
Last year Westland saw increased
performance, providing a high milk payout
to its farmer shareholders.
And Intergen didn’t go unrecognised.
Microsoft awarded Intergen membership
to the exclusive Presidents Club, an honour
reserved for the top 5% of Microsoft
Dynamics partners worldwide.
Westland Milk Products is an independent New Zealand
co-operative dairy company producing a diverse range of
products for nutritional, food and beverage applications,
including milk powders, milk fats and milk protein products.
With a 70-year history behind them, when the dairy industry was deregulated
and most New Zealand dairy companies amalgamated into Fonterra, Westland
was determined to remain independent, with a vision to deliver better value to
local farm supplier shareholders.
This necessitated a change in business model, from being a producer only to
a full value chain model that would give them a competitive advantage
to perform successfully in the New Zealand and global markets.
Westland needed to integrate and discover synergies between diverse
areas of its business, including milk collection, manufacturing, research
and development, transport, export shipping, in-market and
international marketing, sales and logistics.
With a number of disjointed processes operating across disparate
systems, Westland decided upon a cohesive IT strategy to support
their business vision, and one that leveraged exclusively Microsoft
technologies right across the Microsoft stack.
To help them do this, they decided to form a long-term partnership
with Intergen, embarking on a significant programme of work.
Westland’s CIO, Darren Wilson says: “We undertook a rigorous
search for the right partner who could demonstrate proven
competencies with Microsoft technologies. In particular, I
was looking for a depth of knowledge in Dynamics NAV.
We needed a partner to support our vision, and Intergen
with its Gold Certified Partner status was the best
company to integrate all the components into a cohesive
whole. Intergen showed they understood how to apply
technology to business processes and business processes
to technology.”
Integrated technology pays out
The way forward was based on the following technologies:
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV for ERP and supply chain planning
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM to support customers, suppliers and employees
• WhereScape RED to create a SQL Server Analysis Services data warehouse
for Business Intelligence
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) to provide a common knowledge
management framework and an intranet
• Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Exchange 2003 for desktop productivity
A core element and critical milestone in the strategy was Westland’s upgrade
to Dynamics NAV from Navision (an early
version of Dynamics NAV).
By instituting a solid
platform, Westland could
turn their existing financial
systems from sales
order-led tasks into
a full enterprise
resource planning
system that
would provide
tools for
invoicing,
6. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 6
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
>> INTERGENITE:
Steve Scarbrough
What do you do?
I’m a Business Development Manager
specialising in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, AX
and CRM. My primary objective is to support
clientsintheirpurchasingdecisionandensure
we actively work to help them realise benefit
from their new business solution.
How do you make a difference?
I listen and act in the best interests of my
clients – no two companies are the same.
My background is in accounting and
business consulting; having hands on
experience can make a big difference to
my clients. I spent many years helping
clients select ERP/FMIS and CRM
solutions, so I appreciate just how
important and difficult it is to make the
right decision.
What do you love about your job?
The challenge of getting it right for my
clients! I’m happy to have the hard
conversations, and challenge them to get
the best outcome from current and future
technology investments.
A bit about yourself…
I live in Albany on a five-acre bush block
which is a little piece of paradise – two
young kids keep my wife and I busy! I love
sport and play basketball, golf and frisbee
golf when I find time. I’ve had some success
gaining national titles in both basketball
and frisbee golf (yes it is a real sport!) – so
I’m very happy being part of another
Champion Team at Intergen.
< S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E E I G H T E E N >>> T E C H . E D>>6
Each year, hundreds of Microsoft aficionados converge on
Auckland for New Zealand’s largest technology conference:
Microsoft Tech·Ed.
Primarily a conference for developers, Tech·Ed is the best local opportunity to hear
Microsoft and its partners talk about Microsoft technologies. The majority of the
speakers are Microsoft employees, with most of those brought in from overseas
especially for the event; the remainder comprise local in-country experts, from
respected partners such as Intergen.
Held in September, this year was no different, and was bigger than ever. With 140
sessions across 11 tracks, involving more than 100 speakers over three days there
was an intense amount of information to take in, absorb and apply.
With few exceptions, the focus of Tech·Ed is on Microsoft technologies that are
being shipped today. Depending on the year, and the products that have been
released, the focus of the event can shift from talking about products that have
been here a while, to talking about products and services on the horizon. For
example, this year there were a couple of roundtable sessions on cloud computing,
a rapidly-evolving area for Microsoft.
Of those who went to Tech·Ed this year, there were three key themes they reported
back on, which have been consistent with recent market thrusts from Redmond:
• Virtualisation. With the movement to improve manageability and the use of
fewer resources, virtualisation has been a significant focus for the industry
in the past 12 months. Microsoft’s offering, with Hyper-V for Microsoft Windows
Server 2008, has proven to be more than competitive with the industry leaders.
• Cloud Services. While Microsoft will make some major announcements at the
PDC, discussion and speculation around what has been revealed so far has started.
• Key Microsoft platform components. .NET 3.5, Vista and SQL 2008 – all
received significant attention at this event.
For Intergen, Tech·Ed always represents both a significant opportunity and
investment. On any given year, we typically provide around half a dozen speakers
to Tech·Ed, giving these individuals an opportunity to showcase their talents to
a high profile audience.
Tech.Ed: Bigger than ever
For the past few years, we have also been responsible for the ‘Hands on Labs’ – a
classroom-style environment comprising dozens of PCs with hours of training and
interactive lessons. Preparation for all of this takes a significant amount of time
and effort, and is well appreciated by those who hear the speakers and participate
in the Labs.
As a strong supporter of the Microsoft development community, Intergen encourages
members of the community to get involved: people learn best from people. By
contributing to the community, experts can showcase their skills, raise their profile,
and generally give back to other developers and experts. For those people active
in the Microsoft space, Tech·Ed represents a great opportunity to pass on your
experience to others, either as a speaker, or as part of the contingent helping out
at the Hands on Labs. Such contributions need not only be made by Microsoft or
partners such as Intergen, though. Customers are welcome to participate in the
Voice of the Customer sessions which highlight how these technologies have been
applied in the real world, and the benefits that have accrued.
Intergen regularly runs Twilight seminars immediately following events such
as Tech·Ed in order to distribute the knowledge and themes of the event to those
who were unable to attend. To subscribe to our events list, contact
events@intergen.co.nz.
When the going gets tough, the tough get yellow.
7. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 7
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
>> U S E R E X P E R I E N C E D E S I G N >>7< SMART S - TH E IN TELLIGEN T B U SIN ESS MAG AZIN E . ISSU E EIG HTTEE N >
>> CREATIVES & CODERS
IN HARMONY
Although a relatively new set of Microsoft
tools, the Expression Studio suite has already
become an impressive addition to our Intergen
arsenal. Picking on one product in particular
(close to this author’s heart), Microsoft
Expression Blend focuses on Windows
Presentation Foundation desktop applications
and Silverlight web applications, and tackles
collaboration between creative designers and
our code-based developers. Forever a hot issue
for project managers across the globe... this
product/tool looks to manage it very
impressively.
In brief technical terms, all the visual elements
created using Expression Blend are fully
accessible as ‘XAML’ code and so can be easily
integrated with the developer’s workflow (even
directly with Visual Studio). In brief practical
terms, this allows designers significant and
even direct control over the visual and
interactive experience throughout a project,
without imposing on developer’s technical
and database requirements.
In terms of designers and developers working
in harmony, this is by far the best solution we
(as designers and developers) have seen to
date, as it cleanly allows both facets of design
and production to focus on what they know,
smoothly integrating to provide a higher quality
solution and user experience.
in the Web Futures panel and Usability talks as a shining example of getting
user experience right.
In fact, there was an unusual amount of acceptance of Apple products, with the
pointed use of a MacBook Pro laptop in the big screen Live Mesh video which
set the stage for the keynote speech to start with. Plus Microsoft’s General
Manager, along with a notable number of senior Microsoft staff, commenting
candidly on stage about how they owned and used various Apple products, as
well as their prized PC goods. There were a few gasps from the lingering die-
hards in the audience, but being a jolly user of both PCs and Macs, I just felt a
warm glow.
So, having expected a stonewall response to ‘competitors’ and
certainly not expecting a decent UX push, this conference
opened my eyes to a Microsoft which openly professes
an understanding that our web future needs a broad
outlook to match user expectation. The modern
Software + Services focus is moving well beyond
the mentality of closed fence environments to
secure customers, with interconnectivity,
interoperability, openness, standards and partner
community all being specifically labelled as key
to the Microsoft ecosystem.
All very, very good to hear, and, as ever,
Intergen likes to get stuck right in to making
it all happen now.
So we sent a spy to Tech.Ed
It’s likely that by now you will have heard a fair amount
about Microsoft’s impressive Tech.Ed 2008 conference
in Auckland. The largest conference in NZ, apparently!
If not, we recommend you take a look through our
blog to see how successful Intergen has been in
providing numerous key speakers as well as hosting
all of the official ‘Hands on Labs’ (Microsoft’s
mini training sessions).
While typically a priority platform for our technologists and
developers, Intergen’s investment in Tech.Ed was such that it
allowed for a ‘creative’ such as me to join the attendant Yellow
Horde! Go me! I went specifically to see whether the Microsoft
SharePoint and Microsoft Expression Suite sessions there
would be beneficial for a creative/usability chap such as me,
or whether they would be mostly code-focused. That a Tech.Ed
ticket also meant a free ticket to see Op Shop play at the closing
party had nothing to do with it (cough).
Something I happily noted right off the bat was a concerted push
by Microsoft to highlight the value of user experience (UX) in the
whole Software + Service approach. This was particularly impressive,
I thought, given the focused developer-filled audience, typically a
very UX-sceptical crowd. However, Microsoft minced no words
in trying to underline the ‘Power of Choice’ for the user
and the need to make that choice as easy and
intuitive as possible. The Microsoft folks
showed a frank, healthy interest in
existing market successes and the
iPhone was highlighted
DAVE KEYES - Interactive Designer
8. INT SMARTS_18_FA 11/18/08 1:30 PM Page 8
Composite
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
+64 9 966 3070
+64 4 472 2021
+64 3 964 0017
+64 3 477 5648
+61 2 9969 0088
+61 434 122 880
Intergen has recently
launched a series of new
offerings designed to help
organisations implement
key CRM and SharePoint
solutions quickly and
inexpensively.
Called Rapid Results, we are
launching these for two key
strategic solutions: Microsoft
Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server (MOSS), with other
solutions planned for 2009.
While the specifics of these offerings
are different, the goals are the same:
to provide a repeatable solution that can
be implemented quickly, delivering a core
set of functionality, within a fixed timeframe
and at a fixed price.
So, what’s the problem we’re solving? Many
organisations – large and small – want to take
advantage of the capabilities of leading
solutionssuchasDynamicsCRMandSharePoint,
butdon’tnecessarilywanttoinvestinsignificant
projects – at least not immediately.
Similarly, they may not know exactly what they want, or they want to dip a toe in
the water to gauge how they could use those solutions – either within a department
or even across the whole organisation – and understand more about how they can
be used and what benefits can be delivered.
The Rapid Results offerings are designed for these situations: we provide a core
set of functionality, implemented in a fixed timeframe for a fixed fee. This is
ideal for smaller organisations who want to take
advantage of industry-leading products;
and for teams or departments
within larger organisations
who want to get started with
CRM or MOSS without going
through a lengthy
requirements and selection process.
And for those organisations that have
unique requirements – and most of us
do – then these offerings provide you with
a solid platform upon which you can add
your own capabilities. Intergen can
implement the core offering that comes as part of
the Rapid Results solution, and work with you to evolve these
features to meet your more specific requirements. In other words, think of these
solutions as the foundation, and then – as time, budget, or requirements permit
– add more capability – just like building a house.
Fast, easy and cost effective – what more could you want? To find out more,
contact rapidresults@intergen.co.nz or talk to your Intergen Business
Development Manager.
>> INTERGENITE:
Diana Hennessy
What do you do?
I am the Solution Manager with Intergen
Dunedin. My main roles are project
management, business analysis and
ensuring our clients get great quality
solutions and service across the board.
How do you make a difference?
I think I make the most difference in
‘gaining forward momentum.’ I love to
get things moving and growing, and am
usually the first to volunteer to try new
things. I am really enjoying implementing
the new PMO structure within our office,
which will increase productivity and make
for easier/faster/better delivery of
solutions to our clients.
What do you love about your job?
I really enjoy the variety of roles I play
within our team environment – I
definitely never get bored! It’s also
rewarding to know your opinion is valued
at all levels within Intergen, and you are
given the opportunity to influence
changes within the company as a whole.
I also enjoy playing with cool new
software as it becomes available –
I am a closet techie!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT INTERGEN:
Auckland:
Wellington:
Christchurch:
Dunedin
Sydney:
Perth:
info@intergen.co.nz
www.intergen.co.nz
www.intergen.com.au
A bit about yourself…
I have a varied professional background,
mainly in Marketing and Business
Management roles. I owned my own
business for several years, and I am also
a qualified freelance makeup artist.
I enjoy spending time at our crib (bach
for anyone who isn’t from the south) in
Warrington, 20 minutes out of Dunedin,
where you will find me most weekends
with my partner and 15 year-old daughter.
I was born in South Otago and have
always considered Dunedin my home city
– as the advert says: ‘It’s all right here’
(but with a lot less traffic!).
New out of the box offerings deliver
>> C R M A N D S H A R E P O I N T < S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E E I G H T E E N >