Inside ASI-AP

I was in Sydney last Thursday and Friday trying to get back to a regular monthly visit to Sydney. On Thursday I met up with Finsia for a brief project status update following their renewals being run, and then I attended the project kick off meeting for National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Friday I met for breakfast with Nasser - who used to work with ASI Consulting - and has now setup his own consulting business (Avion Software www.avion-software.com) and has signed up as an iMIS Authorised Consultant. We are already using Nasser for a number of ASI projects and will continue to help him build his iMIS business as he starts to work directly with iMIS customers. Nasser's business partner is Sashank Kotcherlakota; and Sashank is also iMIS experienced as he worked for a few years at CPA Australia as a developer and he worked on both iMIS web and marketing suite projects while there.

After relocating the Melbourne office last year, this year it is the turn of the Sydney office. We are moving from North Sydney into the Sydney CBD area - which gets us closer to customers, transport options and higher quality premises. To support our telecommute environment we are taking out space in a shared executive office on level 33 of Australia Square - which is located at 264 George Street (down towards the Circular Quay end of George Street). Australia Square is an iconic building in that it is a round tower which at the time it was built was the tallest building in Sydney.

The interviews for the initial round of candidates for our third Business Development Manager get underway this week to take advantage of David, Bob and Julie all being here in person. The current plan is to have one interview in Melbourne and two in Sydney. The new BDM will be joining Amanda and Martin in the new business group which is dedicated to bringing in new customers to iMIS. Both Amanda and Martin exceeded quota last year, and that along with a continued confidence in the new business market is a trigger to hire to ensure we capitalise on all of the right opportunities (with an emphasis here on the word 'right' - where the potential customer and ASI are aligned in strategies and values). At the same time we are continuing to work on our sales process cycle optimisation although it is harder than expected - but are committed to an outcome that will see higher quota's for both Amanda and Martin.

The open project manager position has now been filled and we are very excited to be welcoming Andrew Kennedy into the ASI Consulting team. Andrew will be based in Sydney; he will be starting the week of June 2nd. Andrew comes to ASI with strong project management experience including at Optus, a national law firm and most recently a software company specialising in customer data integrity solutions. Like myself and some of the other ASIer's, Andrew is engineering educated; and his interests are soccer, rock climbing and teaching spanish.

It was just Lap joining me for lunch today from Melbourne office for our first quarter recognition luncheon. Lap was awarded the core value award of "respect" in the first quarter of 2008 - congratulations Lap! After a year of going to Rockpool each quarter I thought we would try a new restaurant this year, so it was back to Crown again and to the new restaurant right next door to Rockpool - Bistro Guillaume (www.bistroguillaume.com.au).

While promoted as french bistro style the prices were high-end restaurant but luckily the food was outstanding, and I would certainly go back. Lap enjoyed for the first time ever snails for entree and a souffle for dessert !

I caught up with Ross on Friday night by phone. The official Olympic qualifying period had just ended and Ross did not qualify for the Beijing games this year. It is disappointing for Ross, but in many ways the cards were stacked against him this last 12 months or so, and he showed a lot of courage to dig deep and keep it all going. He is enjoying life in Gent, Belgium and is starting to find a routine with his local fencing club and getting onto the European circuit where there are high calibre fencing tournaments every weekend - and just a train ride or car ride away. He is getting to see a lot of Europe - make sure you follow his photos on Facebook if you aren't already.

Two interviews were held today with Jason, Alan (US) and Lara (US) representing the ASI panel. I sat in on the first interview which was for a Melbourne based candidate; for the second interview the candidate was in Sydney. A third candidate will interview next week.

One of the things I noticed during the interview is just how much we take for granted the facilities we have at ASI to make global meetings a "1-click" reality. It certainly was a little overwhelming for the first candidate - to have Jason in Sydney on the screen, Alan in Virginia on the screen, Lara in Texas on the phone, and me in person sitting across the desk from him. Wow!

As previously advised, ASI AP is a member of VECCI’s Grow Me the Money Program which encourages businesses to be environmentally aware. The following tip is from their latest Forum:

Most computers in Australia incorporate ENERGY STAR technology, the international standard for energy efficient electronic equipment. When enabled ENERGY STAR reduces the amount of energy consumed by a computer by automatically switching it into a 'sleep' mode when it's not being used. ENERGY STAR settings on your home or office computer are accessed via the Control Panel.

On a desktop computer running Microsoft Windows:

We are finally getting around to installing our "virtual reception" in the Melbourne office main entry. First step was to install a LCD screen in the entry foyer - as you can see from the pictures below.

Next up we will be installing a camera that will be pointed on Jennifer so visitors to the office will see Jen's welcoming face on the screen even though she is sitting out in the back office. The screen is also hooked up to a PC so we can use it to run Powerpoints to welcome visitors for special functions (seminars, training etc).

I apologise that some of you were not aware of the current job positions open in AP. Open positions are always on our corporate website, plus depending on how we are recruiting may also be up on Seek (search on iMIS or ASI). The current positions are:

We have a substantial number of AP staff travelling to the US over the coming weeks to attend our "Innovations" (www.advsol.com/innovations) staff and partner conference, as well as attend other scheduled meetings held at the same time. This is the only time of the year a large number of ASI global staff (100+) come together at the same time for training and product updates. I have decided to send 8 people from the AP team this year - our most ever - to ensure we make the most of iMIS 15 related activities for customers and potential customers. It is a substantial investment but I am already very positive about the outcomes and the opportunities that iMIS 15 brings to everyone.

After almost 3 years of being in Australia, Marilyn flys back home to the USA tomorrow morning. We had drinks for her on Friday night, and a morning tea and small presentation today.

Since arriving in Melbourne in June 2005, Marilyn has project managed many successful iMIS implementations, in fact over 8,000 hours of projects which have contract values to ASI AP of over $3m. Some of the projects were smooth, some challenging, but in every case Marilyn helped drive each customer to achieve great things. Along the way, Marilyn got her PMP certification from the Project Management Institute - also a great achievement.

Web links/resources for Module 4 - Strategy

Strategic Management - Hubbard et al

Course Overview

While strategic management is crucial to an organisation’s direction and growth, it is generally recognised as the most complex and challenging aspect of management. Although traditionally it has been seen as the responsibility of senior management and the company board, successful companies today recognise that all their employees need to practise strategy. In this course, we present a conceptual model and fully explain each part of the strategy process and the required tools and techniques.

Participants will receive a copy of Strategic Management by Hubbard.