Intergen Smarts 26 (2011)

>> T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M AG A Z I N E I S S U E 2 6
< Copyright 2011 Intergen Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of Intergen Limited >
INTERGENITE PHOTO GALLERY >> 2
WEB UPDATE >>
6MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX 2012 >>
7
8CONSULTING SERVICES
9OFFICE 365 >>
10MOBILITY >>
11POST PC COMPUTING >>
12
>> HOT NEWS
UX DESIGN FOR MOBILITY >> 3
WORLDWIDE PARTNER CONFERENCE >> 4
>>
INTERGEN'S DECADE {1.0} >>
5
Out with {decade 1.0}, in with {decade 2.0}
The Christchurch team has a new home
After months of cramped quarters, saintly
quantities of patience and plenty of
team morale to buoy them along, the
team (pictured, centre) moved into their
commodious new office in June.
Intergen celebrates its 10-year milestone
In June we turned 10… and we celebrated and
reflected accordingly. See page 12 for photos.
MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX 2012 >>
10 years ago a group of 38 people emerged from the Advantage Group and
Intergen was born. Since then, we’ve grown to almost 300 people in six locations
across New Zealand and Australia. We’ve completed thousands of projects
for hundreds of clients, using an ever-increasing
range of Microsoft technologies. The staff of
Intergen have become known as Intergenites.
Intergenites are dedicated to delivering the
absolute best solution to their clients and
take great pride in being innovative and
technically excellent. They love to see the
difference they make, and people benefiting
from the solutions they deliver.
In terms of other recent achievements, we were also incredibly
proud to achieve recognition from Microsoft at the annual Worldwide Partner
Conference in July, where we were awarded both Presidents Club and Inner Circle
status for 2011, both accolades reserved for the top Microsoft Dynamics Partners
worldwide. Inner Circle recognises us as being both the largest Dynamics licence
revenue provider in New Zealand and for achieving greater than 5% licence
revenue growth, placing us in the top 1% of Dynamics partners globally. As part
of these achievements, we receive attention from Microsoft executives at the
highest level. This is extremely valuable to us and to our clients.
Attending Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference is an amazing experience,
not just for the scale but also for the insights. Microsoft showed off some
fantastic new developments, including updates in Microsoft System Center.
This is a relatively new area for us but one in which we see a lot
of opportunity. We have assembled significant experience in
Microsoft System Center and we are already starting to deliver
some great solutions to help IT departments deploy and
manage their desktop and server environments.
Our annual Dynamics Day moved to Auckland this year. The
event allows us to share with the Dynamics community some
of the insights we have about the future of the products and
explore some ideas and possibilities that may help businesses
get even more benefit from their Dynamics investment. This year’s
event is the biggest yet, with well over 200 attendees registered from all over
New Zealand, some coming from as far as Australia.
We have very much enjoyed working with our clients over the past 10 years,
delivering solutions that have helped you achieve your goals. From where we
sit the future looks every bit as exciting and challenging as the past. We look
forward to continuing to help you achieve your goals for years to come.
In June we celebrated our 10-year anniversary. More than anything, the past 10 years have been
about people. We have a great team and we’re incredibly proud of what we have achieved.
Photo: The Christchurch team
tony.stewart@intergen.co.nz

>>2
1. Sydney Intergenites celebrate their new spacious work quarters
with a spot of indoor cricket.
2. And a spot of Xbox.
3. A Perth office social night out involves Craig Keenan demonstrating
his climbing skills (with a less than successful result).
4. Aiden, the Intergen guide dog, visits the Auckland office.
5. Organisers Lucy O'Neill and Josephine Hall reap the fruits of their
labour at the Wellington Young Professionals Cocktail party.
6/7. First day in the new Christchurch office.
8. Eugen Buzoianu celebrates one year at Intergen (and one year and
one day in New Zealand) with a giant yellow cake.
9. The Intergen Social Club Bake-Off winning entry.
10. Aaron Sinclair and Lee Herd put their tastebuds to the test as
bake-off judges.
11. The Christchurch indoor soccer team.
12. The Auckland team celebrates a mid-winter shared lunch.
>> I N T E R G E N I T E P H O T O G A L L E R Y
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>>2 < 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 T W E N T Y S I X >

Designing the Mobile User Experience (UX)
The mobile web is different. Companies are hungry to know what to do with
mobile but many teams aren’t sure where to begin.
With an increasing number of mobile devices available, you must now
plan your online channel with mobile devices in mind, ensuring you have
the capability to be responsive to multiple display dimensions. Mobile user
experience presents us with the opportunity to craft new ways for people to
interact with your systems and content.
As a web designer, the good
news is that the design
methodology is similar to
designing for traditional
browser-based user interfaces
— of course with some
additional mobile-only
considerations for smaller
screen displays.
Designing a website that works seamlessly on both full-sized screens and
mobile devices can be challenging. Content that fits just fine on a large
screen may not quite work on smaller devices, and you cannot rely solely
on doing the technical work to tell the mobile browser to serve up the
presentation layer correctly.
Creating a mobile-ready website is not simply about removing the design
‘candy’ from your carefully crafted designs. We can’t just add in bigger call-
to-action buttons and expect our mobile experience to be a success.
We need to stay mindful of UX design principles in order to appeal to a
mobile audience. Here are some key considerations to bear in mind.
Know thy user
The best thing a mobile designer can do is observe human behaviour. It’s a
common misconception that UX for mobile is all about creating something
for users that are time poor, checking their mobile on the bus, train or
>> U X D E S I G N F O R M O B I L I T Y
>> INTERGENITE
April Hague-Smith
What do you do?
I’m a Web Strategist and User Experience
Designer in the Wellington office.
How do you make a difference?
I love problem solving and finding solutions
that the entire team is proud of and
passionate about. I have been working as an
Information Architect and Usability Specialist
since 2004. I'm passionate about what I do
for a living and believe it can benefit those
who use the experiences I design.
I enjoy helping public sector organisations,
commercial businesses and individuals
deliver the best possible online experience
for their customers and stakeholders. I have
achieved this through my knowledge and
practice of interaction design combined
with my experience involving customers
throughout the project lifecycle using a range
of user-centered design research techniques.
What do you love about your job?
I have been in agency land most of my
career, so it's great to see how the other side
tackles the same sort of project! It's great
to work with a team of people that have
such experience and knowledge within the
digital space and to be able to bring my own
knowledge and experience to the table.
walking along the street. In actual fact, people are now using their mobiles
at home as they would a laptop, preferring specific tools (or apps) available
to them on mobile.
Understand the medium
When you’re using your mobile phone to consume the web, rather than your
PC or laptop, instead of navigating via your mouse to interact with the web,
you’re now using your fingertips. This, of course, provides its own unique
challenges. You need to ensure that your design accommodates fingertip
navigation. Designers need to rethink conventional mouse-based interaction
– i.e. rollovers and dropdown menus. Be mindful of your own thinking and
age-old habits – don’t be constrained by past conventions.
Participate in the culture
If you don’t already own a mobile device, go out and buy one. You need to
participate in the culture that you are designing for. Embrace the chaos and
experience the ways in which this dynamic and interesting space is changing
each and every day. Stumble on your own usability frustrations and learn
from these in your own designs.
Prototype, prototype, prototype
Prototyping is important in an iterative user-centred design process.
Prototyping provides us with a space where we can test design alternatives,
generate new and better ideas, and gradually refine them into final design
solutions. Prototype early and often through the design process, continually
testing with users and iterating based on their feedback.
Mobile isn’t a fad. Forecasts predict that smartphones will outsell personal
computers this year. We need to ensure that our designs meet this increasing
demand and provide positive online mobile user experiences.
If you’d like to chat about your questions and concerns about how to design
for mobile user experience, we’re always keen to talk.
mark.delaney@intergen.co.nz.
Mobile design application requires a different approach.
>>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 T W E N T Y S I X >

>> W O R L D W I D E PA R T N E R C O N F E R E N C E
>> INTERGENITE
The curtains have fallen on another Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference
(WPC). Held in Los Angeles this year, this was the biggest WPC ever, with over
16,000 attendees converging from around the world. For those of us travelling
long distance, having the conference one stop away in LA was a bonus. As
always, Microsoft was an excellent host and looked after the large contingent of
partners, especially those new to the WPC experience.
I was joined at WPC this year by our CEO, Tony Stewart, and our Chief Operating
Officer, Simon Bright.
For me, WPC can be broken down into three key components, each of which is
equally valuable:
• Keynote and session updates. The opportunity to hear from Microsoft
executives including Steve Ballmer, Kevin Turner, Kirill Tatarinov and many
others about Microsoft’s vision for the future, and upcoming activities and
plans.
• Networking with Microsoft Executives and fellow partners from around
the world. The opportunity to hear first-hand about future plans and how we
are best positioned to leverage them.
• The Expo, renamed this year to the Solution Innovation Center. The
opportunity to meet key partners from all around the world that we represent
and work with.
While 2011 wasn’t a major ‘wave’ year for Microsoft, there was still plenty of
new stuff to discuss, see and hear about. Key technologies discussed included:
Wayne’s highlights from Microsoft
Worldwide Partner Conference 2011
• Cloud (Azure and Office 365)
• Windows Phone 7 ‘Mango’ release
• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
• Windows Intune/Systems Center
There were two key highlights for me at this year’s event:
• Seeing the demo created by the Intergen team utilising CRM 2011, Office
365 and Azure at the Tuesday keynote.
• Receiving recognition for achieving Inner Circle status for the second year
in a row. This recognises Intergen’s position in the top 1% of Dynamics
partners worldwide. Plus we received Presidents Club status, recognising
the top 5% of Dynamics partners worldwide.
As with every other WPC I’ve attended, there were always more things to do
than time allowed, which is a shame when there are several important things
happening at the same time. That is an unfortunate reality of attending an
event of this scale. All in all another successful WPC.
Next year WPC heads back to Toronto (it was last there in 2004) and I’m sure
it will be another memorable event.
wayne.forgesson@intergen.co.nz
1. The red carpet treatment.
2. They must have heard we were coming?
3. We slummed it on a trip to Santa Monica.
2 3 4 5
4. A visit to the Microsoft store.
5. We built this demo.
Tristyan Lebrun
What do you do?
I am a Senior CRM Consultant in Intergen’s
Sydney office.
I love finding elegant solutions to complex
problems. I have been working in the CRM space
for over seven years now and have a strong
background in business analysis and project
management. I pride myself on developing
strong relationships with my customers and
as my background is in contact centre-based
CRM systems, I’m heavily focused on the user
experience when delivering projects.
I am extremely excited to be part of the Sydney
office. I’m a self-confessed start-up junkie so for
me Intergen provides the best of both worlds
because for once, this “start-up” comes with the
added advantage of having a fully established
New Zealand practice behind it.
A bit about yourself…
I was born in Sydney and have lived most of my
life in the Inner West. I’m an amateur musician
and supporter of the local Sydney music
community. I make an effort to try and see as
much live music as possible in my spare time.
In the not so distant past I had a brief stint as
a professional poker player, however I realised
quickly that the seedy underworld of the poker
lifestyle was not for me, and now I only play
casually these days.
Tristyan Lebrun
What do you do?
I am a Senior CRM Consultant in Intergen’s
Sydney office.
I love finding elegant solutions to complex
problems. I have been working in the CRM space
for over seven years now and have a strong
background in business analysis and project
management. I pride myself on developing
strong relationships with my customers and
as my background is in contact centre-based
CRM systems, I’m heavily focused on the user
experience when delivering projects.
I am extremely excited to be part of the Sydney
office. I’m a self-confessed start-up junkie so for
me Intergen provides the best of both worlds
because for once, this “start-up” comes with the
added advantage of having a fully established
New Zealand practice behind it.
I was born in Sydney and have lived most of my
life in the Inner West. I’m an amateur musician
and supporter of the local Sydney music
community. I make an effort to try and see as
much live music as possible in my spare time.
In the not so distant past I had a brief stint as
a professional poker player, however I realised
quickly that the seedy underworld of the poker
lifestyle was not for me, and now I only play
casually these days.

>> W E B U P D A T E
The Government of Western Australia Department of Culture and the Arts
(DCA) enriches and supports Western Australians in the culture and arts
sectors, helping to support these sectors to provide unique and transforming
experiences. To help in doing this, DCA’s website needed to undergo its own
transformational experience.
A user friendly, good looking and manageable solution, attractive to users
and staff alike, was the order of the day, and DCA chose EPiServer as the web
platform to make this happen.
“What we needed could have been achieved on many platforms, but
EPiServer provided a user-friendly interface for the end user and an intuitive
and simple CMS tool for staff,” says Richard Denboer, DCA’s Web Systems
Manager.
Staff had found the old web solution difficult to update and to learn the
ropes on, and “the result was a clunky, messy website,” Richard explains. Ease
of use in the new system was paramount. The new content management
system needed to empower a wide range of content creators, the support
needed to be professional and responsive, and the product releases needed
to be kept on track.
Having a local website provider was also important to DCA. Richard says: “With
a solution selected that ticked all the boxes, we needed to find a local provider
that would provide a good quality service, good communication and ongoing
support.” Having Intergen on the ground in Perth proved useful. “Intergen
was excellent to deal with and provided great results. The communication was
excellent and the solution was delivered on time,” Richard says.
DCA now has a website its staff are proud of and confident in. As a CMS tool,
EPiServer is more intuitive, and as a destination it offers a far greater and more
dynamic user experience. DCA can now direct its users to a friendly, up-to-date
website that reflects its true purpose and provides a fitting showcase for local
arts and culture.
In summarising the greatest gains EPiServer has brought DCA, Richard says:
“It’s now really simple for us to change content on our website, and our people
are very well trained and confident. And that’s the reason why we purchased
EPiServer creates a fitting showcase for Western Australian arts and culture
Getting personal online
Customer engagement is critical for any website. With the explosion of
social media and web media in general, how users are influenced, consume
information, and make purchasing decisions has been altered forever. Our
expectations have changed significantly from the days when one set of
content sufficed for all.
Users are increasingly expecting company websites, products, and services
to be tailored to their individual preferences, past experiences, and what
they happen to be doing – at that moment, in real-time. This puts new
demands on organisations to create personalised and engaging experiences
for their audiences. Returning visitors to a website want to see a page based
on all the information collected from previous visits, while new visitors are
expecting customised messages based on their location or activity.
EPiServer – because it’s simple and easy to use,
and allows us to change our content quickly and
confidently – and we’re happy with that!”
EPiServer has recently updated its core EPiServer platform, combining
personalisation capabilities across content, community, commerce, and
communication ensuring organisations can target personalised content on
their websites, online stores and communities.
Organisations using the latest version of EPiServer can now allow their
marketing teams to deliver targeted and personalised content across any
of these properties, ensuring information is relevant and timely – giving
visitors the information they need to make decisions, or perform transactions.
Demographic and behavioural data such as location, the number of visits they
have had, the pages that have been viewed, search terms, and many other
factors are used to easily and clearly identify visitors and use these factors to
tailor experiences.
We see potential for organisations of all kinds to
adopt these solutions and ensure they deliver a
tailored experience for their audiences – internal
or external. These capabilities deliver the flexibility
to ensure the right information is reaching the
right people, ensuring your investment in your web
solutions delivers maximum value.
If you'd like to talk about the latest offerings from
EPiServer, email wayne.forgesson@intergen.co.nz

Introducing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 has reached “General
Availability” and is soon to be officially launched at a
virtual global event. In recent months Intergen has been
working with several customers who have been eager
to get on board early with the latest release of AX. And
while it’s early days, we can see some excellent business
productivity stories emerging already. We look forward
to being able to tell some of these soon.
There are plenty of Dynamics partners to choose from.
Why choose the Intergen Dynamics team?
A successful implementation is about more than just technology. It’s about
forming a trusted partnership with your technology provider and knowing that
they “get” the unique needs of your business – and that they can build solutions
that meet and can continue to evolve with them.
In the Microsoft world we often talk about leveraging the stack. Interoperability
is key to Dynamics AX, and it’s a platform that works at its best when drawing
upon and working with Microsoft’s other complementary technologies. To make
the most of the Dynamics range, you need to have a depth and breadth of
specialist Microsoft resources on hand. Gone are the days of a single Dynamics
consultant backed by a team of multi-purpose developers. And this is where we
can do what our competitors can’t, drawing on deep Microsoft expertise right
across the business, bringing specialist knowledge to all areas of your project.
Finding a partner who is as passionate as we are about the strategic application
of Microsoft technology is key to the success of any project.
Plus we inSure a great result.
As well as bringing the scope and depth of resources you need to a project,
we also give you the assurance that your solution is in good hands with us.
We’ve taken Microsoft’s SureStep methodology and melded this with Intergen’s
own tried and true application and governance model to create inSure. inSure
combines our existing business process focused approach and extends the
Microsoft SureStep methodology.
The Dynamics AX 2012 proposition.
With more than 1,000 new features and enhancements to talk about, we’ll keep
it simple here. After all, for all these new features, AX is still all about simplicity.
And familiarity. And ‘pervasive interoperability’. (And power and value.)
Darren Wilson of Westland Milk Product explains Westland’s consideration of
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012:
“We intend on implementing Process Industries for
Dynamics AX2012, and have entered the design phase
for this. We evaluated our options and an upgrade to
Dynamics AX 2012 was the ideal all-in-one solution for our
process manufacturing, product traceability and wireless
warehousing needs."
>> M I C R O S O F T D Y N A M I C S A X 2 012
James Page is Intergen's Practice Principal, Dynamics Solutions.

Here are some of the key features, as we see them:
1. RoleTailored User Interface
The new user interface works just like the familiar Microsoft Office
products. Enhancements to the RoleTailored user interface include
FactBoxes, Fast Tabs and Preview Panes that let you view data from
multiple sources without leaving the current form. Word and Excel work
bi-directionally with AX 2012, and Microsoft Office add-ins allow you
to view, analyse and update information within AX. And collaboration
through SharePoint workspaces allows teams to quickly organise and share
information.
2. Built-in Industry Capabilities
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 offers industry-specific capabilities out of
the box, with support for public sector, manufacturing, services, retail,
wholesale and distribution businesses included in this latest release. AX
2012 combines and makes these capabilities available to all customers,
which is a bonus for complex organisations requiring capabilities for more
than one industry.
3. Core ERP Suite Capabilities
In a nutshell: there are more capabilities than ever, and they’re better
than ever. New capabilities include supplier relationship management,
case management and the Audit Work Bench, as well as enhancements
in finance, sales and marketing, procurement, project accounting, human
capital management, supply chain management, inventory management,
and global risk and compliance.
4. The Application Foundation
Master data, reference data and global engines are the foundation of the
application. The enhancements in these three areas simplify the definition
of master and reference data and the use of global engines across the
multi-entity enterprise.
5. Business Intelligence and Reporting
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 BI and Reporting includes more than 800
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services reports, 11 SQL Server Analytics Server
data cubes and enhancements to the framework, providing out of the box KPIs
for different roles.
6. The Framework
There are a number of structural enhancements in this release designed for
increased IT efficiency and value. These include a graphical workflow editor
and cloud-based services that help reduce IT complexity and front-end capital
requirements. New programming concepts help IT professionals write less code.
Role-based security accelerates the implementation of internal controls, and
a host of new and improved Enterprise Portal features deliver the benefits of
Microsoft AX 2012 through the internet and a web browser.
In all, Dynamics AX is a product designed for agility, so you can “adapt quickly
to change, expand into new markets and develop innovative products and
services.” Sound like something you’d like to know more about? We’d love to
talk to you about your next step into the “new generation” of ERP.
james.page@intergen.co.nz
>> M I C R O S O F T D Y N A M I C S A X 2 012
Couldn’t make it to this
year’s Dynamics Day?
If you couldn’t make it to Intergen’s Dynamics
Day this year, but still want to learn about the
latest developments in the world of Microsoft
Dynamics, never fear. We’ll be making post-
event synopses and highlights available at
www.intergen.co.nz/dynamicsday for you to
peruse at your leisure. (And, of course, we
have a team of Dynamics experts on hand
year-round who will happily talk through your
questions at any stage.)
As the biggest event of its kind in New
Zealand – a business-focused event tailored
to ERP and CRM users – Dynamics Day has
proved to be a sell-out success (even though
the event is free) for three years running,
with delegate numbers well in excess of 200
this year.
Look out for Dynamics Day ’11 updates,
highlights and photos in the next edition of
SMARTS, due out later this year.
Members of Intergen’s Dynamics team, Steven Foster
and Derek Lamb, spreading the word about Microsoft
Dynamics at a recent New Zealand Institute of
Chartered Accountants’ event, held at Microsoft
New Zealand.

>> C O N S U L T I N G S E R V I C E S
We help our clients get maximum value from their improved (or new)
processes and systems by ensuring they are deployed properly. At the end
of the day it is usually people who are using the systems, and they need to
be supported through training, communications, and change management
to help them adopt improved ways of working. We help ensure change
initiatives are successful by managing the cultural, behavioural and
organisational changes required.
We help our clients ensure they will continue to get added value from their
systems and processes by defining effective governance structures so they
continue to gain additional value throughout the life of the system.
We help our clients by performing business and technology health checks
– of their technology plans and their alignment with their business goals;
of their current technology and how well it supports their business; of
specific business processes to identify quick-win improvements; and of their
information management and collaboration strategies.
If you would like to find out more about how we can help you unlock the
value in your business, contact our experienced business and technical
consultants in our Consulting and Architecture Services team.
paddy.payne@intergen.co.nz
Most of our clients are introducing new systems
and processes so they can operate at an increased
level of effectiveness and efficiency, or offer new
services to their markets. Simply put, they are in
the business of transforming their own business.
But sometimes we see decisions being made that
reduce the value an organisation will get from its
technology investments, such as:
• Parochial interests, where one business unit
focusses on their own needs and opportunities
are missed to work with other units to build
something that is greater than the sum of
the parts.
• Automating inefficient processes that should
really be redesigned or optimised before any
systems are built.
• Not bringing the users of the system along on
the ride, and the benefits of the investment
becoming diluted from low user uptake.
Unlocking the value in your business
We help our clients avoid these issues and help them unlock the value in
their business.
We achieve this by working with them at a strategic level to unlock value by
aligning their use of technology with their business objectives through the
development of strategies, roadmaps and transformation plans. We then work
with our clients at an operational level to help them translate their strategies
into effective and executable programmes of work and projects that will
unlock the value in their business.
We help our clients look at the big picture – looking across their business
from all angles such as strategy, technology, process and people. We have
business and technology architects and analysts that help develop an
enterprise-wide view. Think of the construction business. The architect gets
involved at the start of the project to help the client understand their needs,
conceptualise how those needs can be met, to design a solution that will
meet those needs and then to monitor and advise the builders and other
parties to ensure the original vision is achieved. And that’s what we do, both
from a business and technical perspective. We work with our clients at the
big picture level, looking across the organisation, helping them clarify their
high level requirements and then defining and framing them so that all
participants have a clear, shared understanding.
We help our clients prioritise their projects to give them the best bang for
their buck, to identify the key benefits and to gain early success by picking
low hanging fruit.
Although many people think of Intergen as a “technology company,” that is actually far from the
whole truth. Yes, we’re passionate about technology, but we are equally passionate about helping
organisations become more successful and delivering more value for their customers and staff.
In fact our vision statement doesn’t even mention technology – “Everyone, every day, is touched
positively by the things we do.” We are driven by making the world a better place!
Paddy Payne is Intergen's Director, Consulting and Architecture Services.

>> O F F I C E 3 6 5
Microsoft’s latest cloud offering brings together online
versions of its best communications and collaboration tools.
With a range of packages catering for all business scenarios – from small
business to enterprise level solutions – and with pricing plans starting at less
than $10 per person per month, there are a number of reasons to sit up and
take notice of Office 365.
Why consider Office 365?
Work from anywhere, at any time, on virtually any device.
Gone are the traditional ‘four walls’ of the office. Work how you want,
where you want.
Spend less on IT, and know exactly what you’re spending.
Save your IT budget for the big projects. With Office 365 you pay only for the
services you need.
Take organisational collaboration to new heights.
Conduct online meetings with colleagues and customers, making the most of
the latest audio, video and screen sharing technologies. Share your calendar;
important business information and documents; create sites for collaboration.
Free up your IT resources.
Office 365 fully manages and supports its offerings, providing 24/7 IT-level
phone support.
Stay online and stay protected.
99.9% uptime guaranteed, the latest virus and spam protection, and
geographically-distributed data centres with backup and disaster recovery.
What does Office 365 include?
It’s not one size fits all – there are multiple plans available to fit different
company needs, including: Microsoft Office Web Apps or Microsoft Office
Professional Plus, Microsoft Lync Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and
Microsoft SharePoint Online.
Big business benefits on a small business budget with Office 365
Why MedRecruit leapt at the chance to get on board with Office 365
Queenstown-based medical recruitment company MedRecruit is all
about offering doctors work-life balance and the chance to see the world
while working. With 20 staff spread across Australasia, and a network of
international contacts, MedRecruit needs low-maintenance and highly
flexible IT systems that “just work”. As a company in growth mode, first-
rate international collaboration was becoming increasingly important. For
MedRecruit, no matter where in the world a MedRecruit staff member or
customer happens to be, the smooth running of business processes and
uninterrupted communications are a must. And as a small business with huge
reach and big aspirations, Office 365 perfectly fitted MedRecruit’s brief.
As very early adopters of Office 365, MedRecruit founder, Sam Hazeldine, is
already counting the benefits Office 365 is bringing.
“We needed a platform that didn’t require us to run our own servers, something
low maintenance and 100% reliable that we didn’t have to think about. Our
email is critical to the operation of our business. If it goes down, business stops,
we can’t access our records and there are all sorts of things that can’t proceed.
Before Office 365, these downtimes were time-consuming for us, and an
inefficient use of our resources. We wanted to get rid of the overhead and time
wastage that was causing strain on our processes,” he says.
Having the latest communication and collaboration technologies on hand is
proving a boon for business, too.
“We’re already fully utilising our solution amongst our Australasian operation,”
Sam continues, “and we’re looking at various other international opportunities,
so having a robust communication platform is critical for us; it’s a support
mechanism for our international expansion plans. Communication amongst our
team is super important and now we can support our team no matter where
they are. Through Office 365 we’re able to talk to and message each other,
which allows us to stay in touch with what’s happening in both countries. This
improved communication definitely gives us a competitive advantage.”
Office 365’s benefits lie in the numerous simple
things that make working life easier, Sam points
out. “There are so many little things that help
improve efficiencies and are absolutely useful,
like instead of walking down the hall – or calling
someone overseas – to see if someone is free, you
can check their calendar online, and see their
availability via ‘presence',” he says.
MedRecruit's founder, Dr Sam Hazledine, shows how work-life
balance can be achieved.

8 reasons Mango tastes so good
5. Social Integration. Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter
and LinkedIn are seamlessly linked to your contacts and
updates in Windows Phone Mango. Viewing a contact
with linked social information will show you their
Facebook updates, photo uploads, and phone history
(calls, text messages, emails and everything else in
one list). If that’s not enough, when communicating
with a friend, it’s super-simple to switch between
communication modes on the fly.
6. Contact Groups. Take the social networking features mentioned above,
add in calls and text messages, then link them all together with contact
groups. Click on your “Family” group tile, and you’ll see recent status
updates, photos, and communications from that group. Hit one button
to send a group email or text message to all the group members.
7. Bing Audio and Bing Vision. Hold your phone up to a music source
and Bing Audio will identify it for you. Likewise, show Bing Vision some
text or a bar code using the integrated camera on your Windows Phone,
and Bing Vision will recognise the text (or bar code, or QR code).
8. Xbox Live Updates. With the Mango update, Windows Phone
cements its place as the phone to have for gamers. The Xbox hub is
completely redesigned, bringing your Xbox avatar, friends, games and
achievements to the fore.
Overall, Microsoft has added in the order of 500 new features and 1,500
new developer APIs to Mango, so whichever way you look at it, it’s one heck
of a juicy update.
ben.gracewood@intergen.co.nz
>> M O B I L I T Y
Microsoft is about to release a major update to its
new Windows Phone platform. Codenamed “Mango,"
this new update will include a swathe of new features
designed to catch up with, and surpass, competitors in
the smartphone market.
Why does Mango taste so good? Let me count the ways…
1. Live Tiles. Windows Phone uses a unique tile-based layout on the home
screen. Tiles provide you with “glance and go” information, showing you
everything from unread message counts to Facebook updates. Developers
can now create additional tiles for applications which take you straight to
the information you need.
2. Advanced Multi-tasking. Microsoft has worked hard to combine
the functionality of background processing with the battery life and
performance we expect from our phones. The result in Mango is a rich
background processing framework which allows developers to offload tasks
like large downloads and status updates to the operating system.
3. New Hardware Features. The new Mango hardware specification adds
faster processors, better 3D graphics, and a sensitive gyroscope to the
Windows Phone hardware. With new phones coming from Nokia, Samsung,
HTC and others, there’ll be plenty of sexy hardware available by the end
of 2011. But wait: if you already have a Windows Phone, Mango will work
perfectly on your device too. Microsoft has promised the software update
will be available for all existing hardware.
4. Internet Explorer 9. Using the same underlying engine as Microsoft’s
flagship desktop web browser, Internet Explorer 9 on Windows Phone
brings HTML5 compatibility and blazing-fast Javascript performance to
the phone.
Ben Gracewood
What do you do?
I’m a Solutions Architect in Intergen’s
Auckland office. I make ideas into reality,
whether that’s by crystallising ideas into
concrete plans, or actually building software.
My background in banking, operational
IT and management has taught me that
pragmatism and solid code are the roots of
great solutions. I help ensure that we don’t
over-engineer solutions, while at the same
time focusing on the bits that truly matter:
security, stability and solution-fit.
I call myself a recovering manager. Having
successfully led teams of developers and
watched them deliver great software, I’ve
come to the realisation that I truly love
building software. I love that this role lets
me get my hands dirty!
I’m a geek, and I’m proud of it. My Lego
space shuttle has pride of place on my desk,
I change phones more often than most
people change shoes, and I blog about
gadgets and software. I’m married to my
high-school sweetheart, and we have two
gorgeous kids.
>> INTERGENITE

>> POST PC COMPUTING
Computing is changing. For the best part of three
decades, information workers have been accustomed to
creating and consuming data and information through
desktop personal computers. Hardware and software
makers have benefitted from this trend, and now the
PC is entrenched in our daily lives – both business and
personal.
Leading analyst firms are now predicting that shipments of smartphone
devices will soon surpass personal computers for the first time. Tablet devices
are also selling in the tens of millions of units, adding fuel to the argument
that the industry is entering a phase where the personal computer is no
longer the dominant computing device. Does this mean the PC is dead?
Reports of the PC's death are exaggerated
Borrowing from Mark Twain, the rise of smartphone and tablet devices will
not kill but will rather complement the desktop PC and laptop form factors for
many years to come.
Whilst Microsoft has long been a proponent of slate, or tablet, devices, it’s
been the smart design and polished execution of the Apple iPhone and iPad
that have triggered a new wave of innovation within the computing industry
and have largely been responsible for the “post PC” discussion.
Despite the impact of these devices, and the waves of devices that will come
into the market, the PC is by no means dead.
Forrester Research forecasts that, even in the US where this change is
occurring most rapidly and the PC is a mature market, consumer laptop sales
will still grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8% between 2010 and
2015, while desktop PC sales will only slightly decline. By 2015 though, while
Forrester estimates 140 million US consumers will possess laptops, 82 million
consumers will own a tablet or slate device.
In other words, there’s room for all kinds of devices. Microsoft has always
talked of the proverbial “three screens”: the phone, the PC and the television.
Inevitably, this story has evolved to include tablets as well – as it must, as this
is what the market wants. There is a significant groundswell towards tablet
devices and Microsoft is evolving its story to counter its increasingly popular
and influential competitors.
Head in the sand strategy?
But while the PC still has years of life left in it, the next release of Windows
– Windows 8 – will be carefully monitored to see if it embraces the change
towards mobile computing or tries to ignore it. Early previews of Windows 8
have shown that Microsoft is fully aware of the market desire to adopt tablet
devices and is building an OS that can be used in multiple form factors. More
will be revealed at Microsoft’s Build conference in September.
Critics of Microsoft believe it has to think radically differently in order
to maintain its pivotal role in the computing ecosystem. By religiously
maintaining its focus on Windows, Microsoft has been accused of being
hell-bent on protecting its Windows franchise, risking it all by adopting the
proverbial “head in the sand” strategy. Putting aside the financial implications
of weakening its Windows franchise (which are significant), is Microsoft
wanting to protect the short-term while ignoring the long-term? Should it
rethink its dependencies and pursue a strategy less dependent on Windows?
Whatever Microsoft does, it’s being closely watched. With 400 million PCs
now running Windows 7, there is a significant user base that will deliver value
for the company for many years to come – and that’s ignoring the earlier
versions of the operating system out there.
Enterprises are a proven market for Microsoft and its offerings. Enterprises
rely on a familiar, stable and – importantly – manageable operating system,
something that other OS vendors can’t currently rival. While consumers may
be attracted by the hardware and software of other vendors, priorities are
different in the enterprise, where productivity and stability remain topmost
in enterprise CIOs’ minds. Enterprises have also invested significant sums in
Is the personal computer dead?
management tools and employee training, so any
purchasing decision needs to take a broad cross-
section of considerations into account. In other
words, in the enterprise where the real money is
for Microsoft and where Windows 8 could quickly
build up some serious momentum.
Hardware makers are also going to support
Microsoft. While the likes of HP and Dell will
produce non-Microsoft-based devices, for true
mass adoption – particularly in the enterprise –
Microsoft will never not be in the mix, and these
manufacturers will create new hardware designs to
differentiate in the market, creating more choice
for purchasers.
It’s about the users
Ultimately, the success of any technology offering
is dependent on the marketplace and what the
users want. The reality is we’re all going to create
and consume information in different ways, at
different times and in different places – and we’re
going to use a range of devices in the process.
Tablet devices are going to make their way into
organisations either by design or accident, and the
next few years will be critical for Microsoft to show
it has the vision and smarts to pivot itself and
adapt to a marketplace that’s rapidly evolving.
tim.howell@intergen.co.nz
Tim Howell is Intergen's Marketing Manager.

Intergen turns 10 and
celebrates in style
Intergen’s recent decade {1.0} milestone was
celebrated by the team on both sides of the
Tasman. We reflected on the years gone by,
noting the milestones and the changes that have
taken place over a decade, charging our glasses
to 10 years of making a difference and painting
the IT scene yellow.
Suffice to say, Intergen 2001 and Intergen 2011
are markedly different, and yet much has stayed
the same. Over the past 10 years there have been
significant changes in technology, and Intergen
has experienced huge growth and change.
10 years on, our staff numbers are approaching
the 300 mark (with more than 800 staff having
passed through the ranks over the course of a
decade); our Big Hairy Audacious Goal (that
everyone, every day is touched positively by the
things we do) lives on; we seem have always sat
naturally at a 1:3 female/male ratio; we’ve put
more than $108 million in salaries back into the
economy; we’ve completed thousands of projects
and have provided careers for more than 72
graduates starting to make their way in the IT
world. Who knows what decade 2.0 will hold?
>> I N T E R G E N ' S D E C A D E { 1. 0 }>>12 < 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 T W E N T Y S I X >
< AUCKLAND +64 9 966 3070 > < WELLINGTON +64 4 472 2021 < SYDNEY +61 2 9241 6616 >
< CHRISTCHURCH +64 3 964 0017 > < DUNEDIN +64 3 477 5648 > < PERTH +61 8 9228 9990 >
< info@intergen.co.nz – www.intergen.co.nz – www.intergen.com.au – info@intergen.com.au >FIND OUT MORE ABOUT INTERGEN

Intergen Smarts 26 (2011)

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