Nola: No. The direction we are taking is to fill out our existing lines of business and also increase the maturity of our plan, build, and support services within each line of business. In our Data Centre Solutions line of business, we have achieved this with the recent acquisition of the SecureData Group's business, giving us considerable additional product offerings as well as service capabilities, particularly in the support, or managed services, area.
Nola: Vanco seems to focus on data network solutions. What's your plan for other technologies such as voice over IP (VoIP) and storage area networks (SAN)?
Ellison: Effectively, we see VoIP as another data stream, requiring an objective and commercially realistic approach to network design and hardware deployment. As a truly carrier- and hardware-manufacturer-independent company, we are not technology heat seekers. In most cases we find that a genuine business case for convergence will require elements (eg, end-of-life PBX, etc) rather than just pure bandwidth cost savings versus toll bypass or least cost routing pstn arrangements. We believe that public switched telephone network [PSTN] pricing will continue to improve competitively in the short to medium term across Australasia. The biggest drivers for mass adoption of converged solutions will be the movement of the carriers themselves towards operating converged infrastructure and de-commissioning legacy PSTNs.
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Ellison: Where are you most competitive in your service offerings and why?
Nola: We have a long history of success in our core lines of business -- networking, operating environments, and contact centres -- which is a great platform. However, I believe it is where we can combine our strengths and expertise across multiple areas that our competitive edge really comes to the fore. For example, we can combine very strong Cisco and Microsoft skills and build fantastic solutions encompassing both identity management and IP telephony.
Nola: You have been quoted as saying that Vanco's growth rates in the Asia-Pacific region have been in excess of 300 percent over the last two years. Is this also the case in Australia, and do you see this level of growth continuing in 2005?
Ellison: The 300 percent growth rate in the Asia- Pacific region includes Australia and New Zealand. We believe a similar growth rate will be achieved in 2005 with the VNO model being very positively received locally.
Ellison: How do you go about meeting global service expectations of large multinationals?
Nola: We have our Global Services Operating Architecture (GSOA) -- a framework that governs how we design, deliver, and support our services and solutions. The GSOA allows our entire global organisation to act as a single entity, sharing knowledge, experience, and resources, and it also provides relevant information with which our clients are able to make decisions in order to maximise the efficiencies and ROI of their IT infrastructure. Dimension Data also shares a common services delivery methodology that goes under the name "Primer", and we have a team of global account managers across all regions who work together on our specific global clients.
Nola: Given that Telstra and Optus are also market competitors, does it make it much harder for you to negotiate contracts on behalf of your clients?
Ellison:
We can only ever be a route to market for Telstra, Optus, or any other traditional ABC. We have positive wholesale relationships in place with all the major carriers in Australia and New Zealand and we are not building any competing infrastructure.
Ellison:
What is your position on the privatisation of Telstra?
Nola:
It's not our position to comment on what the government is planning to do in this area. However, I don't believe that the possible privatisation will have any impact on our existing relationship with Telstra.
Nola:
Are you truly vendor neutral? Or, in reality, do your consultants have their "favourite" carriers and equipment providers? Also, does vendor neutrality really offer a great advantage to clients these days?
Ellison:
Yes, we are truly vendor independent. This is a position we closely guard as we believe it is essential that the start, middle, and end point in any network design process must be the commercial and technical interests of our customers as opposed to the drivers of our potential suppliers. We sign no exclusive supplier arrangements or quota-based committed spend contracts with carriers or hardware manufacturers.
Ellison:
Who is going to win the Bledisloe Cup?
Nola: I think that goes without saying...
Nola: Following New Zealand's example, do you see Australia with a woman as Prime Minister one day? If so, who do you think it might be?
Ellison:
That's a tough one to call, Steve. I would say a woman as Australian prime minister is inevitable. I can't see any obvious contenders out there at this stage although I have a couple of staff who assure me they would do an exceptional job! Maybe the first step will be a female CEO at Telstra?
This article was first published in Technology & Business magazine.
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