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Strong business performance reaps rewards - Media Advisory Wednesday 9th May, 2012

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:18:04 +1200

Strong business performance reaps rewards

Leading technology services business, Fronde Systems Group Ltd, has announced a second year of double digit revenue growth and an improved operating surplus. Board chairman, Wayne Norrie says “this is a substantial endorsement of our strategy”.

Fronde has produced a 39% lift in revenue levels on top of last year’s growth of 37% and a 54% improvement in earnings before interest and tax for the full year 2012. Total revenue is up from $34.2m to $47.6m and EBIT is $2.0m, up from $1.3m.

The focus has been on driving value through tight execution of the strategy. The local business has experienced strong growth in professional services due to Fronde’s increasing customer relevance around services and products that improve efficiency and effectiveness. Customers have also appreciated the ability of Fronde to support the transformation of their business.

The performance of the Australian business has fallen well short of expectations at a profit level, despite a year on year lift in revenue from $1.5m to $3.6m. Costs associated with building an Australian presence exceeded the contribution margin made on goods sold, leading to a loss in this part of the business. Fronde is reviewing its strategy to ensure it is self-funding.

Leadership in cloud integration services continues to strengthen through partnerships with global players including Google, Salesforce and Microsoft. By developing the Google client base, delivery capability and Google relationship, Fronde was the number one Google re-seller in APAC for 2011. Fronde is also one of four finalists for the PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year Award for 2012 which will be announced on Friday 11th May.

The fully imputed dividend of 4 cents per share will be paid on the 29th June, 2012 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on the 1st June, 2012. The annual general meeting will be held at 12 noon on Thursday 26th July, 2012 at Fronde’s Wellington office.

Fronde showcases Geospatial - Crown Fibre considers using Google Earth Builder

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:24:29 +1200

This last week Fronde has been showcasing Google Earth Builder as part of a series of geospatial events hosted in Wellington and Auckland.

Fronde has a breadth of capability in cloud computing and product intergration, and with heavy demand from businesses to drive innovation, get to market faster and unlock business value, Fronde has been showcasing transformational technologies that provide next generation effeciencies.

Fronde and Google will be at the CIO Summit 25th & 26th June at Sky City, make sure you come along to find out more on how technologies are revolutionising traditional business models and the way industries work.

Here is what ComputerWorld had to say about our latest geospatial event in Auckland:

Crown Fibre considers using Google Earth Builder

Government’s UFB lead investigating using Google enterprise product to map roll out

Representatives from New Zealand power companies, local government agencies, and other infrastructure providers attended a breakfast event held by Fronde yesterday to hear about Google Maps and Earth for enterprise, and in particular its Earth Builder tool.

Phil Campbell, planning director at Crown Fibre Holdings, says the company is investigating using Earth Builder to display UFB availability and construction information to the public.

“Imagery is quite important to us,” he says.

“Ultimately, once the deployment plans have been locked down this information will go onto the web. People will be able to say ‘I live at X, when am I getting fibre?’ and it will show it to them.”

Campbell says Crown Fibre is already using Google’s Maps and Earth, in conjunction with other geographic information systems (GIS) internally to map UFB installations across New Zealand.

“We do a lot of our geospatial querying on Esri. We use Google Earth to map that data against demand models, and let end users zoom in,” says Campbell.

Speaking at the event was James Bangay, general manager at Ergon Energy in Australia.

Bangay says Ergon uses Earth Builder to accurately map its infrastructure assets across an area of 1.7 million square kilometres in Queensland, and some parts of South East Asia.

Bangay is in charge of Ergon’s Remote Observation Automated Modelling Economic Simulation (ROAMES) programme.

As a part of the programme, specially modified light aircraft have been flying over Queensland at an altitude of 500 metres, taking photos and heat readings of Ergon’s power system.

This data is combined with Google Maps data, and consolidated into existing asset data in Ergon’s Ellipse ERP system.

Using the combination of ROAMES and Earth Builder, Bangay says Ergon is able to predict environmental conditions near its assets in the power grid.

“Our main challenge is sparsity. We have about the same number of customers as Vector does in New Zealand, but spread across 1.7 million square kilometres,” says Bangay.

Before implementing the Google mapping technology, Bangay says the company would need to send field technicians multiple times to a location to verify its safety before work could begin.

Ergon spends around $100 million alone every year cutting away trees from power lines, according the Bangay. He says he expects 25 percent of this cost to be reduced as Ergon uses ROAMES to predict foliage growth and plan preemptive arboreal work for its technicians when they are at a remote location to justify travel costs.

The system comes with its caveats, says Bangay, some of which arise from limitations in Google's systems.

“Our system is accurate to the nearest centimetre, but the powerline sag isn’t always modelled accurately. Google has positioned its Streetview bubbles inaccurately,” says Bangay.

“Google drives around with these cheap cars taking photos of the street. Their intention wasn’t to pinpoint power lines to centimetre accuracy, their intention was to put labels in front of shops.

“This is a conversation we’re continuing to have with Google.”

Bangay says an unexpected issue with the ROAMES project was the vast amount of data produced from the aerial photography, two tonnes of data disks are used for every two weeks of surveying according to him.

Link to article

Fronde announced as finalist for the PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year Award 2012

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:43:13 +1300

Fronde has been announced as one of four finalists for the PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year Award 2012 at a Hi-Tech Awards function. The finalists of this category are recognised as the overall best-performing, established, hi-tech companies in New Zealand for 2012. Judged over a wide range of criteria, the finalists demonstrate vision, leadership, innovation and success. This is the highest honour bestowed to a company by the hi-tech industry and both identifies and celebrates the achievements of its leaders.

Fronde is in good company with the other finalists for the award being Compac Sorting Equipment, Enatel and Gen-i.

The judging panel are eight-strong international judges including original Facebook investor Peter Thiel, the Director of Engineering for Google in New York, Craig Nevill-Manning, and Senior Vice President for Cisco, Howard Charney.

The winner will be announced at a gala dinner to be held in Auckland on Friday 11th May.

Fronde makes Microsoft Gold Partner in web development

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:32:13 +1300

Fronde is pleased to announce its new Microsoft Gold Partner status in web development.

This gold competency demonstrates that Fronde has the deepest, most consistent, best-in-class capabilities and is among the leaders within a specific Microsoft solution area. Certified at this top level means that Fronde can look forward to providing a higher quality of consultancy and professional services for its clients.

Fronde celebrates 20 years in business

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:49:34 +1300

Today is the day we first opened our doors.

Gifted our first office in the premises of Profile International based in Lower Hutt, Synergy began as a technology management consulting company and went on to complete its first project (at no charge) for Save the Children Fund, a donor database written in Paradox.

We have come a long way since that very first project. We built and support the largest non-bank lending system in the country. We designed a security system that currently processes over 1 billion requests per day (that’s 10,000 per second). We integrated the New Zealand energy market settlement system. We created New Zealand’s most successful mobile commerce service, Txt-a-Park. And more recently we have been named Google's top partner in APAC, and have gone on to help our clients transform their business with leading edge cloud technologies.

Twenty years on and the name may have changed, but our reputation as trusted leaders in building high-quality, complex software solutions is undisputed. Coupled with experience and a team of visionaries, we are proud to be leading the way with new innovative technologies - delivering tomorrow's business today.

This year, Fronde has many things to celebrate; a portfolio of great projects, great people, and of course amazing clients. Thank-you for helping us to get to where we are today, we are looking forward to delivering the next 20 years of innovation in IT.

Fronde announces its Google Apps Premier Enterprise Reseller status

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:58:54 +1300

15 Feb 2012 - Fronde announces its new status of Premier Enterprise Reseller of the Google Apps™ suite of communication and collaboration tools.

This new designation from Google enables customers to more easily assess a reseller’s expertise advising on and deploying Google products. Fronde has moved from an Authorised to a Premier Reseller based on their expertise and success in helping customers deploy and use Google Apps.

Fronde’s consultants are actively involved in training and understanding current and future Google offerings, and helped more than 100 clients with implementation, configuration, customisation, development, training and support of Google products.

"Google has become a very important part of our business,” says Ian Clarke, CEO of Fronde. “We are looking forward to the opportunities this status will bring, as well as working closely with Google to harness our collective knowledge and transform our clients’ business.”

Google Apps brings simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools to organisations of any size – all hosted by Google to streamline setup, minimise maintenance, and reduce IT costs. With Gmail (including Google email security, powered by Postini), Google Calendar, and Google Chat, users can stay connected and work together with ease. And, using Google Docs and Google Sites, which include word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and website creation tools, they can share files and collaborate in real-time, keeping versions organised and available wherever and whenever users work.

For more information on Fronde please visit www.fronde.com

Fronde is a leading New Zealand IT services company that has a heritage of delivering innovative technology solutions for major organisations in the government, utilities and finance sectors. More recently, Fronde has built a breadth of capability in cloud computing and product integration through their relationship with global brands such as Google and Salesforce.com. With new innovative capabilities, Fronde’s clients are able to drive innovation, get to market faster, and unlock business value. When clients engage with Fronde, they gain the ability to transform their business; providing next generation efficiencies and enable new business opportunities to emerge.

TXT-a-Park - Fronde committed to improving service

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:12:48 +1300

We are pleased to announce that the TXT-a-Park issues have been completely resolved and the service is functioning as normal.

During the outages experienced last week (4-8 December), there were a small number of customers who received an incorrect charge. We have identified each of our customers who have been incorrectly charged and sent them an SMS.

If you were affected, the extra charges will appear on your invoice as a $4 charge for parking in Wellington, this charge was made in error, and should have been the $0.50 transaction fee. Fronde will be providing you with a $4 credit for this fee, ($3.50 for the incorrect charge, and 50c for the inconvenience). This will be credited through your telecom account.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We are committed to improving this service and welcome your feedback directly at txtapark@fronde.com.

TXT-a-Park Resolved

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:00:10 +1300

Fronde is pleased to announce that all issues have been resolved and TXT-a-Park is now at full operational activity.

Due to the nature of the fault it was difficult to simulate the load and exceptions in our test platform, this, coupled with the duration of the fault, impacted our confidence that the solution we implemented last night (8 Dec) would fully resolve the outages experienced, and would restore service to fully operational. Note that we had the service operating correctly overnight on 7/8 December as well, but it failed during the morning rush (08:00).

As this mornings high load progressed our level of confidence was increasing. With the need to be as open as possible with progress we sent out our post stating that service was operational, but with the note of caution about making sure alternative methods of payment were available. We did this while we were still monitoring the service and the incident was still considered live.

We are now at the point where we can state that the service has been restored, and is running normally, our incident response team has been stood down from this incident, and our normal operational support team have taken responsibility for the running of the service.

Again we apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and are committed to improving this service for the future. We are encouraging customers to email txtapark@fronde.com directly with any on-going issues or complaints. We thank the people for their patience while we have been resolving these issues, and will update if there are any changes.

TXT-a-Park currently operational

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:55:02 +1300

We are continuing to monitor the operation of TXT-a-Park very closely, however we are pleased to announce the changes we implemented last night have had a positive impact on the service. It is currently operational, though in a heightened sensitivity state. We still recommend users have an alternative method of payment, cash or a credit card, to be on the cautious side.

Fronde is committed to improving this service and has created a new email - txtapark@fronde.com. We encourage users that have on-going issues to contact Fronde directly so that we can improve this service to you. We again apologise for the inconvenience and will send out more updates if there is any change.

Update - TXT-a-Park

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:33:09 +1300

Fronde has continued to investigate this fault, and are continuing to investigate this evening. We have implemented a number of incremental improvements which have allowed some limited service throughout the day. At this stage we do not have an estimated time for resolution. Please continue to carry cash or credit as alternative methods of payment for tomorrow. Again we apologise for the inconvenience.

Update- TXT-a-Park working intermittently

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:10:00 +1300

TXT-a-Park is now working intermittently. However due to issues with high loads, we strongly encourage customers to carry cash or a credit card as an alternative payment method.

Again we apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience with this.

Update- TXT-a-Park remains down

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:25:08 +1300

Despite TXT-a-Park running successfully all night with minimum load through to the morning, unfortunately the service went down again at 08:00. The service is currently unavailable on both Telecom and Vodafone.

We encourage all customers to carry cash or credit until further notice and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. We are focusing our efforts on restoring service as soon as practicable.

Next update will be on a key change, or at close of business today.

TXT-a-Park service issues being worked on

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:32:13 +1300

Wellington IT Company, Fronde, is currently suffering some technical issues with the delivery of the TXT-a-Park service, a system designed to allow payment for on-street parking by sending text messages via mobile phone.

The service processes 18,000 transactions per day, and has been experiencing issues nationwide since Saturday 3rd December when the Message Gateway underwent a substantial upgrade. Fronde is currently working on this fault as a priority, with a focus on returning operational service as soon as possible. However at this stage a cause has not been isolated and therefore there is not yet a time frame for a resolution.

The service will continue to respond with a service unavailable message until this issue is resolved. In the meantime, Fronde is encouraging customers to use alternative methods of payment; cash or credit card when using parking machines.

"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused to users of TXT-a-Park and have made this our priority” says Ian Clarke, Fronde’s CEO. Our team is working around the clock to resolve these issues and are dedicated to getting the system functioning as fast as possible.

The TXT-a-Park service was launched in 2004 as a joint initiative between Fronde, Vodafone, and Cash Handling Systems, with all parties retaining ownership of their intellectual property. The service was expanded in 2006 to include Telecom New Zealand and its customers. TXT-a-Park has been running for seven years and to date this is the first major technical fault it has experienced.

Fronde Welcomes Influx of Weltec Institute of Technology Cadetships

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:33:22 +1300

This year marks the largest intake of Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) Bachelor of Information Technology students into Fronde’s Cadet Scheme, with the official welcome celebration held at Fronde offices on Thursday evening.

The eight new cadets had the opportunity to formally accept their contracts from Fronde’s CEO, Mr Ian Clarke, mingle with peers, and to have first-hand access to look around the Fronde offices.

Fronde’s Cadet Scheme offers an annual scholarship worth $2,500 to help pay for course fees, the opportunity for extended work experience where students can apply learning to real client work during a paid six week summer job, as well as opportunities to try different aspects of IT before settling on a full-time career.

“It is a win-win relationship between the cadets, WelTec and Fronde, one that is successful and valued. Our point of difference at WelTec is that students undertake work experience as part of their studies. This means they gain applied skills and enter the paid workforce ready to make a contribution, ”says Dr Linda Sissons, Chief Executive of WelTec.

“The cadet program is of great benefit to Fronde and the wider ICT sector. Research has indicated that students who participate in such programs experience higher achievement academically and professionally than those that don’t,” says Jonathan Fry, Cadet Programme Manager.

The eight first year students will take on roles on the Fronde help desk, and two second year cadets will return to WelTec.

Fronde and WelTec cadets (former and current) with Fronde CEO, Ian Clarke (third from right) and WelTec Chief Executive, Linda Sissons.

For more photos, please visit and "like" our Facebook Page.

Fronde Takes Top Spot on Honor Roll of APAC Partners

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:47:02 +1200

Google has announced their top APAC partners in quarter two, with Fronde making top of the list.

Also making the APAC wide list were Hedloc, Master Concept, NCS, and DMSBT. By region: ANZ: Fronde, Hedloc, DMSBT; North Asia: Master Concept, IP Coverage, Netkiller; Southeast Asia: NCS, EB Connection, Maxtix Connexion; India: Team Computers, TCS, Media Agility.

Strong business performance reaps rewards

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:45:14 +1200

Leading technology services business, Fronde Systems Group Ltd, has announced double digit revenue growth and an improved operating surplus. “This is a substantial endorsement of our strategy” says Board Chairman, Wayne Norrie.

Fronde has produced a 37% lift in revenue levels from the previous year and a turnaround in the profit result for the full year 2011. Total revenue is up from $24.8m to $34.2m and profit after tax is $0.8m from a loss in the previous financial year of $1.8m.

The Group’s cash position has improved, finishing the year with a cash balance of $1.061m. This improvement in cash is as a result of attention to debtors and tight management of capital investment.

The focus has been on a return to profitability through tight execution of the strategy, as well as revenue growth and improving the working capital position of the company. Management has focused on a number of business areas to drive performance. These were building an annuity revenue stream with Google’s Enterprise solutions in NZ and Australia, winning significant new recurring business, and improving performance of the Auckland branch.

The fully imputed dividend of 4 cents per share will be paid on the 30th June, 2011 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on the 1st June, 2011. The annual general meeting will be held at 12 noon on Thursday 28th July, 2011 at Fronde’s Wellington office.

Fronde to assist Canterbury businesses getting back to business by offering free Google Apps services

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:12:52 +1300

Canterbury businesses can now take advantage of free cloud-based email, documents, and other services to get back in business quickly.

Fronde will provide free Google Apps accounts to businesses whose IT infrastructure has been devastated by the earthquake. With Google Apps, businesses can access email and create calendars, documents and spreadsheets that can be shared and collaborated on by employees across the organisation. Google Apps will remain free for 12 months. All companies need is a laptop, a browser, and an internet or wi-fi connection and they can get straight back to work. There's no need to set up any technology on site, and employees can access their mail, calendar, and documents any time, anywhere, from any computer or smartphone.

Fronde will configure Google Apps so that all emails created will appear as if they come from the user's normal business email address. Fronde staff will activate the service for each company and provide some on-line training to get the business up and running.

The package is available free to businesses based in Christchurch who have 150 employees or fewer.

Zintel Cogent, a leading business telecommunications company and Telnet, the largest privately owned Outsource contact centre in New Zealand, have offered to provide the 0800 number and front line support free of charge, to take company details.

Please contact Fronde on free calling number: 0800 007 663 to access this support.

Fronde Makes NZ Top 15 in CIO Magazine's Strategic 100

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:14:22 +1300

Fronde takes its place as one of the 15 most tactically important New Zealand IT operators as published in the December issue of CIO magazine.

Fronde is delighted to be acknowledged for its track record in building significant projects for the NZ public sector and for its thought leadership in cloud computing. Fronde believes its success stems from harnessing the collective knowledge of its clients, highly skilled staff and market leading partners. As Google’s preferred enterprise partner for New Zealand, Fronde has managed the successful delivery of cloud computing projects since 2006; including implementing Google Apps into NZ Post and the migration of Mercury Energy’s customers onto GLO-BUG.

“Increasingly, Fronde sees large cloud computing engagements as an extension of our core software development and integration business; and to this end, Fronde is developing strategic partnerships with market leaders such as Google, Salesforce.com and Microsoft.” - Ian Clarke, CEO.

Fronde raises $3000 for Life Flight Trust

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:18:36 +1300

Fronde's client Christmas auction raised $3000 for Life Flight Trust, which was held last night in Fronde's Wellington Office.

Fronde decided not to do the typical nibbles and wine for their client Christmas function this year, instead hosted a charity auction for Life Flight Trust on Tuesday night. Using a bit of innovative thinking and technical know-how, this was not your typical auction either!

The auction was conducted using mobile phones, where the clients of Fronde texted their bid - instantly appearing on the screen at the front of the room. Once Radio Network presenter, Jason Pine had rallied the last few dollars, the auction closed and the winner received their prize - (ipad, rugby tickets, mobile phone, wine etc).

Fronde managed to raise $3000; thanks to its generous client's, with all proceeds going to Life Flight Trust, a charity that provides a helicopter service to those needing urgent medical attention. According to Life Flight's website, Life Flight helps approximately 1,500 people a year and " for every mission flown, life flight requires about $2,500 from the community to make it happen". For more information about Life Flight or to make a donation please visit Life Flight Trust.

Thank you to all the clients of Fronde who attended, the bidders and the staff who helped execute this event. It was an enjoyable night and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Fronde announces its half year result to September 2010

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:19:31 +1300

Fronde has reported a substantially improved profit result for the first half of the 2010 financial year. Profit after tax is $0.7m, a result of a significant re-shaping that was undertaken towards the end of the last financial year.

Fronde has reported a substantially improved profit result for first half of the 2010 financial year. Profit after tax is $0.7m (Full year 2009: Loss of $1.8m), a result of significant business re-shaping that was undertaken towards the end of the last financial year.

The Group's operating liquidity improved significantly during the six months, with nett working capital increasing to $0.6 million.

The Group's cash position continued to improve, closing the half year at $1.2 million, $0.4 million ahead of the position at 31 March 2010.

"Our operational focus has been to improve our working capital position and continue our momentum for growth," says Ian Clarke, CEO. " The re-shaping of our business for a sharper focus has resulted in revenue levels 40% higher than for the comparable six months of last year. Significant tender wins and and solid growth in Google sales in New Zealand and Australia are the main driver's".

Ian goes on to say " The key to our success is the strength of our customer relationships, the global partners that we work with and the commitment of our staff to deliver business outcomes".

For more detailed financial information, click here Fronde's Half Year Report