This document discusses several employees and the classic cars they own. Tony Stewart owns a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth that he raced in the past but now enjoys for sentimental reasons. Mark Trotter owns a Subaru WRX, his second car but first hot hatch, and is a fan of fast four-door cars like his father. John Jameson owns a Mitsubishi GTO, an unusual choice that stands out from the ordinary.

1. We are also continuing to see a strong trend towards the increasing use of Microsoft
server products as the basis for development rather than pure bespoke. Demand
for our services in relation to BizTalk and SharePoint is growing and we have now
completed more than 20 internet or intranet applications based on Microsoft
Content Management Server.
The past 12 months has seen continued growth in Intergen’s
business. Our Auckland office is approaching critical mass.
We have moved in to larger premises and have developed
relationships with a number of exciting clients. Wellington
has also experienced growth. We continue to maintain
a very diverse client base with a range of projects
that are increasingly large and complex. We have
one of the largest teams of Microsoft developers in
New Zealand with more than 30 experienced .NET
developers nationally.
Everyone at Intergen would like to wish you a Merry
Christmas and a prosperous New Year. We thank you for
your support this year and look forward to working with
you again in the New Year.
tony.stewart@intergen.co.nz
As another year draws to a close, we find ourselves in a
different market to that of the past two years. Organisations
are once again investing in information systems. In contrast
to Y2K and the Dot Com boom, information systems
investments are now being made in the name of
efficiency. E-Commerce is alive and well.
Free from the hype of a couple of years ago, many of our
clients are realising the benefits of engaging with their
customers online. We are developing systems that allow
customers to complete ‘online’ processes of increasing
complexity. This trend of ‘self service’ is having a big
impact on the levels of manual processing, and is
changing the nature of interactions that organisations
have with their customers.
During the past year we have seen Microsoft .NET Framework
become well and truly entrenched in the mainstream. Where
once we had to sell the benefits of .NET, it is now requested or
expected for most projects. We are also seeing increasing demand
for Web Services and Service-Oriented Architectures, and are working on
at least five large projects currently that include them.
I S S U E F I V E
>> HOT NEWS:
>> 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
< Copyright 2003 Intergen Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission of Intergen Limited >
MICROSOFT PDC 2003 >>
INTERFACE DESIGN >>
PROJECT SUCCESS >>
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS >>
INTERGEN PEOPLE >>
OFFICE 2003 UPDATE >>
INTERGEN NEWS >>
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
You may have noted that the
Wellington office building is
now called Intergen House.
Whilst 2003 has been a good year, it
wasn’t good enough for us to buy the
building. The tenant with the naming
rights moved on and we were able to
pick up the naming rights at a good rate.
A year of highs, as our clients continue to raise the bar
IntergenAucklandhasrecentlymoved
to larger premises to accommodate more
staff as the operation continues to grow.

2. >> M I C R O S O F T P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P E R S C O N F E R E N C E 2 0 0 3
They outlined a roadmap and suite of technologies which collectively will make
up Longhorn, which is due for release in 2006. With a three hour keynote that
unanimously wowed the massive audience, Longhorn was unveiled with an
endless stream of new features and initiatives that promise to provide a very
rich user experience for computer users when it is released.
Longhorn is built on four core blocks to ensure a rich user experience, and to
provide a stable and reliable platform.
>> Fundamentals: A ground up re-architecture of the operating system core
to ensure stability and security are key. A long term goal is to eliminate the
need for reboots from the operating system.
>> Presentation (Codename: Avalon): Longhorn presents a unified way for
programmers to access video hardware and allow users to take advantage
of modern graphics hardware.
>> Communication (Codename: Indigo): A communication stack that
provides seamless communication between service endpoints by utilizing
SOAP protocols.
>> Data (WinFS): A storage subsystem that enables users to more rapidly
locate and act on data within their computing environment. It allows
relationships to be made between data, and for information agents to
automatically act on data for you.
Why the Longhorn name?
Not just picked at random.
Remember Windows XP was code-
named Whistler under development,
then the next version of Windows
at the time was code-named
Blackcomb. Both are ski areas in
British Columbia close to Microsoft’s
headquarters. At the foot of the
Whistler Mountain there is a saloon
named Longhorn. So if you’re ever
in the British Columbia area,
stop in for a beer.
>>2
The Professional Developers Conference was an amazing experience both in the
energy from the participants and the raft of new technology on show. With an
estimated 9000 geeks in attendance, the conference set the Los Angeles
convention centre buzzing throughout the five days.
Other technologies on show were ‘Whidbey’ which encompasses the next version
of Visual Studio, and the .NET Framework and Yukon, the next version of SQL
Server. Both promise to be big upgrades and are due out in 2004.
Microsoft’s Longhorn is one smart animal…
The next version of the Windows operating system, known as “Longhorn”,
was introduced by Bill Gates and Jim Allchin to an audience of around
9000 people in Los Angeles in October.
jeremy.boyd@intergen.co.nz

3. < 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 F I V E >>> I N T E R F A C E D E S I G N >>3
>> INTERGENITE:
Navigation Prototyping:
A disciplined approach
to creativity
Over the past two years Intergen Creative Studio have been progressively
developing and refining a user interface design methodology now known as
Navigation Prototyping. The methodology grew out of a need to resolve the
complex navigational and functional aspects of designing interfaces for large
corporate and state sector intranets, internets and portals.
Simply put, the idea is to make visible to the client a preliminary step in the
visual design process – a brand neutral rough (or scamp) of the core website
structure, tools and components. It’s not a revolutionary concept, we were
attracted to it as an approach when it was first discussed in international usability
forums some time ago. Since then we have been applying and refining the model
to the point that it has become central to our website design methodology.
The rationale behind separating resolution of the navigation model from the
application of brand to the interface (look and feel), is to allow objectivity in
relation to option selection and user testing. Creating a Navigation Prototype
enables you to assess and test the suitability of the preferred navigation paradigm
without the distraction of subjective brand application.
Our pragmatic approach to user interface design is based on one simple and
fundamental fact: “The web is a navigational system”
Satisfying diverse user requirements successfully involves recognising and
exploiting the many methods of “navigating” from any point within a website
at any time. The primary concern is not merely resolving the main site “channels”.
Our methodology factors in all the navigation opportunities with search tools,
hyperlinking, hotlinks, mapping, and breadcrumbs all leveraged.
Recently we completed a total redesign of www.WellingtonNZ.com for Positively
Wellington Tourism (a Microsoft Content Management Server project). Shown
above are the three distinct phases of our approach, from concept to reality. The
process commences with a brainstorming session focussed specifically on exploring
navigational and structural requirements. From there the interface designer can
produce a series of possible navigational outcomes – the Navigation Prototype.
It is also possible at this early stage to conduct user focus testing as part of the
decision process. Only once a navigation model has been accepted do we proceed
to the traditional creative exploration of look & feel.
If you’d like to learn more about how the Integren Navigation
Prototype system can benefit your web project, contact our
Creative Director eamon.orourke@intergen.co.nz
Rebecca Cox
Rebecca provides extensive web
production experience to a range of
government, education and private
sector web projects.
What do you do?
Production Designer, Creative Studio.
I get to implement our designers’
“creative solution” for each project,
building the web page templates
from their designs.
How do you make a difference?
I look out for the key qualities of
each project, and apply whatever
approach will ensure a robust,
maintainable solution, and ensure
the integrity of the design and
branding throughout the site.
What do you love about your job?
I love getting a new project, and being
part of an organisation developing
its web presence over time – it’s an
area which changes quickly, and I
find it really exciting.
What do you do away from work?
I spend a bit of time learning new
web-related stuff. I like going to the
gym and go running to get away from
the computer screen.
BRAINSTORMING N AVIGATION PROTOT YPE LOOK & FEEL

4. < 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 F I V E >>>4 >> P R O J E C T S U C C E S S
One important way of ensuring the success of a project is
to use a rigorous methodology and experienced project
managers.
Intergen has a team of seven project mangers, who between
them have over 50 years of project management experience.
They have managed several hundred development projects
over their combined careers.
Intergen uses a project management methodology
that draws on industry-standard approaches to project
management. We have developed a recipe that has
proven successful again and again.
There are a number of principles that we apply to all of our projects.
They are an important part of our culture and reflect our focus on successful
delivery. For example:
>> No surprises. The key objective of our project management approach and
reporting methods is that there should be “no surprises” (for both you and us!)
about delivery or project progress.
>> Workshops and walkthroughs. We use focussed workshops to uncover the
requirements, and then feed back our understanding at all stages of the project,
explaining our understanding and demonstrating it in the deliverables we produce.
>> Breadth before depth. The breadth of the application is developed first so that
we can demonstrate how the overall solution will operate, before going down into
the full detail of the business rules that have to be delivered for a fully functioning
implementation.
>> Difficult before simple. We identify those areas that are either most challenging
or most critical to project success and focus on those first. This means that we
can change direction, if needed, early on in the project, before too much has been
invested in a specific approach.
>> Project trade-offs. All projects have conflicting pressures exerted on them.
The ideal is to have a project deliver maximum functionality, in minimum time,
at minimum cost. Usually there needs to be some prioritisation of these three
dimensions (time, resources and functionality) and some trade off between them.
The table below illustrates the priorities and tradeoffs for a project. It shows that
the budget is fixed (resources optimised), the functionality may be reduced to fit
within the budget (functionality constrained) and the delivery date may move
out if that will enable the project to stay within budget (time accepted).
At Intergen, our project managers have the skills, methodology and experience
to work with your team to make your project successful.
paddy.payne@intergen.co.nz
Ensuring Project Success
Everyone wants their project to be successful – to come in on time, on budget, and
to deliver exactly what everyone wanted. But with so many factors that can impact
projects – delays in gaining approval, inadequate budgets, competition for resources,
internal politics – it can be very hard to ensure that projects are 100% successful.
OPTIMISE CONSTRAIN ACCEPT
RESOURCES
FUNCTIONALITY
TIME
The methodology:
>> is based on the Microsoft Solution Framework – which is used by Microsoft for all of its projects
>> draws extensively on the Project Management Institute’s “Project Management Body of Knowledge” (PMBOK), which is recognised
throughout the world
>> is tempered with pragmatic experience, based on lessons learned in managing hundreds of projects.
The Microsoft Solution Framework (see above) arranges development into four phases, four major milestones, and a variety of
deliverables. The four phases are Envisioning, Planning, Developing and Stabilising, as shown in the diagram above.

5. >> INTERGENITE:
>> B U S I N E S S S O L U T I O N S >>5
Nigel Parker
What do you do?
I am an Auckland based developer
with the Development and
Integration team.
How do you make a difference?
I listen to people; I observe business
processes; I understand technology;
I design and implement software
solutions that save people time and
produce results.
What do you love about your job?
Confronting what I don’t know
on a daily basis. Learning it and
passing it on. I love the diversity of
projects at Intergen. I love the speed
of adoption. More than anything else
I love that there is always someone
in the team, linked by camera to
your desktop, who has a wealth of
experience in exactly what you’ve
been stumped on for the past
10 minutes!
A bit about yourself?
I need to be constantly creating my
life, I’m not interested in watching
replays. Downtime is an opportunity
to plan my next adventure.
< 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 F I V E >
Web services are becoming more and more
commonplace as organisations seek to connect systems
both internally and externally. However, integration
remains complex, expensive and risky. Web services go
a long to way mitigate these issues, as they enable a
new approach to integration. Service-Oriented
Architectures (SOA) leverage web services to reduce
the complexity, cost and risk of integration.
Web services are used as convenient entry points to systems that are very complex
or difficult to access such as ERP systems or legacy platforms. A Service-Oriented
Architecture is essentially a collection of web services that communicate with
each other. SOA takes the existing software components residing on the network
and plugs all these services into a single information bus.
SOA allows a software programmer to model a business process by combining
together a series of web services that exist within the organisation. Business processes
are able to span systems and time, as an SOA allows a single process to hook
together disparate applications in transactions that can take days or weeks to
complete, such as insurance claims.
Integration is now more about assembling components than hand crafting code.
Third party adapters are available as plug-in components to abstract the
complexity of the underlying ERP systems such as JDE and SAP. Adapters
provide a web service interface that responds to events and processes data sent
to them. Middleware software manages the transport of data between the
services, providing business process logic and guaranteeing delivery. Universal
Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) Services provide a corporate
directory of available web services and consolidate the management of corporate
web service locations in one place.
K E Y R E Q U I R E M E N T S F O R A N S O A :
>> Standards based – HTTP, UDDI, web services, XML, SOAP
>> Use off-the-shelf software, thus reducing bespoke development
>> Message queues – managing guaranteed and sequenced delivery of data
>> Comprehensive real time performance monitoring
>> Automation of error handling and notifications
paul.quirk@intergen.co.nz
SOA is your ticket to riding the Information Bus
I N F O R M A T I O N B U S

6. TONY STEWART - FORD SIERRA RS COSWORTH
Tony grew up thinking every child spent their holidays following their father
around on the summer race series from track to track. Both he and his brother
caught the bug, bad. There simply isn’t space here to adequately describe just
how deep this obsession runs for Tony. He bought the “Cossie” when he got his
first real job, raced it at one stage, but now enjoys it for sentimental reasons.
MARK TROTTER - SUBARU WRX
Mark is the youngest in our line-up and typical of his generation is a “Fast Four”
fanatic. The “Rex” is only the second car he’s owned, but the first one was a hot
hatch too. Mark got the bug early on, largely thanks to his father’s similar
interest, although he dismisses him as being into “that old school stuff”.
Differences aside, they are avid followers of the Formula One season together.
JOHN JAMESON - MITSUBISHI GTO
JJ is an understated character but prefers that his choice of car is far from
ordinary. As he says “anyone can go and buy a white Toyota” but it takes a bit
of personality to proudly own something with real style. His GTO is an interesting
choice, of Japanese manufacture, but unashamedly American in it’s design
inspiration. An Oriental Mustang perhaps?!
FULTON HARGREAVES - DUCATI 900SS
Fulton’s a bike nut. There’s at least one in every bunch! Apparently it all stems
from a youth spent in Dunedin riding something he describes as a “two stroke
gruntless wonder” in sub zero temperatures. He insists it is a passion (we’re not
so sure) and attributes his old Honda CBR to attracting his now wife, not his
charm and stunning good looks!
STEVE BROOKES - SUBARU WRX
Steve openly admits to being quite excited by horsepower, pure and simple –
thus his wildly over-specified Subaru WRX. But he hasn’t always been so blessed,
from humble beginnings in Britain’s finest, a Mini, he graduated to Britain’s not-
so-finest, a Chevette, which came to an untimely demise at his hands over a
hump backed bridge...
EAMON O’ROURKE - VALIANT CHARGER
When you grow up with three sisters in a yachting mad family, holiday trips are
crowded and slow with a boat in tow. Eamon spent many years wistfully admiring
the Seventies muscle cars pulling out to pass and has since invested much time
and effort into owning those very iconic cars. This is the third Charger to grace
his driveway and he claims he has only owned a four door car once, briefly!
DAVE BROWN - FORD FALCON XR6
Dave is a Ford loyalist, “just like his Dad”. He’s owned most of the classic models
– Escort, Cortina and this is his fourth Falcon. He is prepared to admit they’re
not infallible though, recounting a blown head gasket story involving the Escort
and infamous Rimutaka Hill (the car was sold the week following!).
ROBERT INGLEDEW - FORD EXPLORER
According to Rob, when he was about seven years old his uncle turned up in
a Mustang and he’s never been the same since. From that moment he’s liked
his cars big, as in Chevrolet Impala BIG! Although Rob rates the Explorer as
“the most unremarkable car I have ever owned”, by anyone else’s standards it’s
a serious piece of machinery.
Automotive obsession?
We’re not sure why, but the Intergen team seems to have more than it’s fair
share of self-confessed car junkies. A few might even admit to being petrolheads!
It’s true that our clothes, home and
career choice all speak volumes about
our personality. So what if we put a
few Intergenites under the microscope
and ask them about their car?
We were curious to know the origins
of their individual fixations and the
form of their current indulgence.
>> I N T E R G E N P E O P L E>>6 < 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 F I V E >

7. >> O F F I C E 2 0 0 3 U P D A T E < 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 F I V E > >>7
Office 2003, for the average user delivers all the benefits
of the existing Office product but with a myriad of
subtle enhancements for usability. Outlook in Office
2003 stands out as an application that has gained
several key improvements.
The ability to show the reading pane (preview pane) with
a vertical layout allows more of the currently selected
email to be viewed and more of the email in your inbox
to be listed without having to scroll. I prefer it now over
the traditional horizontal layout but if you don’t like
it, no worries, turn it off or change it back to horizontal.
In fact with Outlook 2003 an increased ability to customise
the user interface, turning on great features and switching
off others, is a core benefit. Steve Brookes
I was impressed with the feature that provided the ability
to launch the calendar in its own window while setting
up a meeting request. This rather useful feature provides
the ability to both evaluate and schedule the meeting
request at the same time. Andrew Jamieson
The greatly improved Outlook user interface makes
it far easier to manage the deluge of emails that
arrive in your mailbox every day. For example, being
able to define active ‘Search Folders’ makes it possible
to bring together all emails, from say one person,
into a single view even though the emails are stored
in different folders. Office comes with many pre-defined
Search Folders, such as Unread Messages, Large
Messages, Old Messages, and Flagged Messages,
which makes it quick to get up and running with
this new feature. Paddy Payne
Welcome improvements in Office 2003. Outlook, in
particular, is re-invigorated with the new three-pane
vertical interface which significantly speeds up the
dreary task of going through your received mail.
The leftmost pane is the familiar list of folders, such
as Inbox, Unread Mail, Sent Items and Deleted Items.
The centre pane lists the contents of whichever folder
you have selected. The right pane displays the message.
These top-to-bottom panes make it much easier to see
what's in a folder and to read an individual message,
compared with the old version which used horizontal
windows to show the contents of the folder and the
individual message. Elaine Whelan
>> INTERGENITE:
We have all heard of Microsoft’s Office System, Office 2003. There is lots of
promotional material available (including a small brochure with this edition
of Smarts). As a Gold Certified Partner Intergen has been trialling Office 2003
for the last eight months. So we thought that we would share our impressions
of using Office 2003 with you. Here are a few short reviews of what we found.
What’s with Office 2003?
T O F I N D O U T M O R E C O N T A C T U S O R C H E C K T H E M I C R O S O F T W E B S I T E .
A few final impressions of Outlook 2003:
>> Love the unread email folder, instantly able to
view current emails from all folders without
having to trawl through them.
>> Also the rules wizard has been revamped and
works well, with the ability to right click a new
email and develop a scheme using a wide variety
of easily identifiable profiles.
>> Date breaks in the inbox make it easier to
distinguish between days and weeks of when
emails were received.
>> Presentation-wise it is easily accessible and
required items are instantly identifiable, definitely
for a new user.
>> The calendar view has been streamlined,
with easy access buttons to view the required
date range.
>> Scheduling meetings and appointments is easier
and far more understandable. Daniel Reed
Paul Murray
What do you do?
Business development manager for
Intergen. Therefore, I find opportunities
for the real workers to get stuck into.
How do you make a difference?
I believe in my ability to look a bit
further out, in trying to build a quality
sales funnel. I feel many organisations
fail because they think too short term.
I also try to build strong relationships,
so customers have a point of contact
within Intergen to help them meet
their desired business outcomes.
Share one thing about your job?
This job gives me the opportunity to
work with creative people to build
leading edge applications for our
customers. This is what I believe the IT
industry should be all about – providing
a positive outcome for our clients.
A bit about yourself?
Outside of work I do lots of stuff with
my young family and love to play
about on the sea – sailing, fishing
and diving. I have always found being
near the sea a great way to relax.

8. < 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 F I V E >>> I N T E R G E N N E W S
This was the first time Microsoft had combined its Microsoft Business Solutions
and general partner conferences and the result was a four day event with
approximately 5400 attendees, 200+ exhibitors, 300 networked PCs, a wireless
network covering several football fields, and military-like organisation (just try
and get a beer five minutes before the bar officially opens!).
My summary of the event…… awesome, fantastic and worth every minute of the
approximately 50 hours of travel time getting there and back (including plenty
of time getting to know LAX terminals). The New Zealanders were suitably attired
in All Black jerseys with a surprising number of people knowing what these were
and having some awareness of the World Cup (even if we couldn’t find a bar in
New Orleans that was actually showing any games – and we tried plenty!)
We were hosted by Microsoft New Zealand’s Partner Account Manager Bryce
Scanlen who did a wonderful job of keeping an eye on 23 people who all
wanted to do their own thing. Not an easy task in a city like New Orleans that
has more bars and nightlife on one street than most New Zealand cities can
claim to have in total.
Microsoft is fully committed to this conference as can be seen from the number,
and level of involvement, of Senior Microsoft representatives. From Steve Ballmer
(Microsoft CEO) down, the message was clear; Microsoft is fully committed to
the Partner channel and the implementation of its new Partner strategy.
This strategy is good news for Intergen as it recognises our continued success
in the delivery of solutions using Microsoft tools and technologies.
The Intergen Twilight Seminars
have finished for the year. We would
like to thank all attendees and
presenters. The sessions were well
attended and we will recommence
them in February. We’ll keep you
informed of the dates and topics.
Watch this space.
To be added to the Twilight Seminar
invitation list email
ginah@intergen.co.nz,
or call Gina on (04) 472 2021
Key messages for me from the conference included:
>> Microsoft’s commitment to the Partner channel
>> A focus on the ease of applying service packs and patches
>> Total cost of ownership as opposed to software licence costs.
In addition, there was the opportunity to hear industry and technology
experts present various topics from the future of web services through to the
ease of a NT4 to Windows 2003 Server upgrade. Unfortunately time was short
and before I knew it, it was time to go. However, not before the final celebration
where Duran Duran entertained us, followed by one last trip around the fantastic
nightlife of New Orleans – an essential ingredient to assist with sleeping on the
long flights back.
Next year Intergen will be back at this prestigious event scheduled for mid July
in Toronto (straws are being drawn now).
wayne.forgesson@intergen.co.nz
Intergen lands in New Orleans
Well …. maybe just for a little while. In early October, Microsoft held its annual
Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans and I was privileged to attend
this event. After overcoming the awesome size of the Ernest N. Morial Convention
Centre (third biggest in the USA) I managed to find my way around and get
registered for the four-day conference.
>> TWILIGHT
SEMINAR SERIES