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Paul Morrison - reflections on 40 years in the local IT industry

As I head into retirement, Kerry suggested I may want to share some of the key changes and milestones I have seen and experienced over four decades in the industry. It’s a tough ask as I have been privileged to see so much change – unbelievable advances in technology, applications, communications and collaborative working and been inspired by so many amazing people in the industry; friends, colleagues, competitors, vendors and customers. I will start with Business World Computers, which...

Simplifying ICT Integrations for Local Government

Digital Transformation has been great for knowledge sharing and overall efficiency for local government organisations. However, the visibility of data connections or APIs has become a huge problem. As more applications are implemented and connected, ICT environments have become more complex. These interconnected systems and applications form a tangled web – that we refer to as the ‘spaghetti junction’ – increasing the difficulty of maintaining and changing systems to meet organisational ...

Achieving application portfolio visibility in NZ local government

For ICT leaders in local government organisations, achieving visibility in application portfolios is crucial for operational efficiency and effective service delivery. Budgetary constraints, risk management issues, and a lack of visibility across application portfolios can create barriers to effective decision-making. When ICT teams lack detailed insights—such as understanding when applications require renewals or ensuring they meet security standards—they struggle to manage risks effectivel...

NZ Telco & Comms Changes - How to Get Value for Your Organisation

If telco and communications spend is a significant part of your budget and supports how you operate as an organisation, then this post is for you.Telecommunications, in its widest sense is a fundamental component how an organisation supports and engages with its internal and external customers. The telecommunication industry is undergoing significant change at an industry, technical, functionality and user level.These changes have led to increased productivity, reduced costs, and improved servic...

How Application Portfolio Management can assist Energy Distribution Companies reduce their application operating risk and meet compliance requirements.

An application portfolio is a fundamental component of every organisation's IT infrastructure. Put simply, it encompasses all the applications an organisation is using, serving as a repository of software assets. However, despite its significance, many Energy Distribution Companies IT teams struggle to effectively manage and maintain their application portfolios.The term 'portfolio' implies the aggregation of applications into a cohesive and accessible format, which is often not the case. Instea...

How Local Government IT Leaders Can Understand their Risks and Drive Informed Decision-Making Using Application Portfolios

An application portfolio is a fundamental component of every organisation's IT infrastructure. Put simply, it encompasses all the applications an organisation is using, serving as a repository of software assets. However, despite its significance, many local government IT teams struggle to effectively manage and maintain their application portfolios. The term 'portfolio' implies the aggregation of applications into a cohesive and accessible format, which is often not the case. Instead, orga...

Are you sure your telco bills are accurate?

This article explains how we check your telecommunications services to ensure you are only paying for what you need, and make recommendations for new or service variations, which will save you money.It is a low cost (see below), high benefit service. As a small business ourselves, paying fairly to keep costs down is high on our priority....

Is your organisation paying for unused telecommunication services?

We have noticed that many organisations fail to audit and take action on the recurring services that make up their telecommunications invoice. It is almost always a combination of being busy on other work and not having the skills or experience to do the work quickly. We have all of these!As a New Zealand based, independent consulting firm with deep experience in Telecommunicaitons, for a small fee (below) our team will audit your services, recommend changes then review billing to ensure service...

Microsoft Teams Meeting Rooms

Microsoft Teams Rooms is a logical extension for organisations who have invested in Teams and want to provide a compatible meeting room, video conferencing environment. They help remote participants feel highly engaged and empowered to take part in meetings – at the same level as those already present, Microsoft calls this: hybrid collaboration.Teams Rooms is a collection of resources, including intelligent cameras, microphones, speakers, screens, and a dedicated touch screen console. Optional...

Is it time to review your telecommunications?

The major Telecommunications companies in the industry are currently going through significant changes.  This includes the services they provide and support, the way they support customers and their key personnel.This is driving many of our clients to reassess their Telecommunications needs and just as importantly, which Telco partner can deliver the value they expect and therefore who they want to partner with going forward.If you are questioning whether your organisation is getting the be...

Thinking of a fit for purpose Project Management Office for your organisation?

At Edge Communications we have a specialist team that implements ICT projects for clients. At times these can be challenging, but that’s what we love about our role!We have made some general observations about Project and Programme Management, that we would like to share with you. In our role we get to experience first-hand the value of good process, communication, and project governance.We notice varying levels of project and programme management maturity amongst our clients....

Print and Scan Technology Replacement

Most IT departments find themselves managing their organisation’s photocopier (print/scanning) replacement programme, generally via an open market tender every 3 – 5 years. This print & scanning fleet replacement can be a very time-consuming task and is often rushed when the existing contract end of term deadline approaches.The Edge Communications team believe there is an approach that can save time and effort and deliver great results for any organisation....

Edge Communications continues to grow its consulting resource

We are delighted to welcome Greg Jones to the Edge Communications Team. As a CIO, Greg will expand our capability to deliver ICT Strategy for our clients who will also benefit from having access to a CIO for short term contracts or longer fixed term cover and assistance....

PBX replacement options and considerations

As independent consultants we are open to what solutions customers adopt, so long as it is the best one for their organisation. That said, our observation is that organisations are adopting Microsoft Teams faster than anyone had anticipated, due in part to the COVID19 lockdown. Microsoft Teams delivered a platform that allowed working from home with minimal investment in setup time and resources. We have also noted that the success of cloud collaboration tools including Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc...

Telecommunication Voice and Data Trends 2020

As an independent consulting company, we have the privilege of working with many organisations. This independence means we sit on the customer side of strategy, reviews, requirements gathering, and decisions. There are a few trends we have seen this year.Firstly, the Covid-19 year – this must be the year of enabling unified communications. No other single event in our careers has ever pushed through as much technology change, at anything like the pace we have seen. Organisations quickly reacte...

What do successful IT projects have in common?

The thing about IT projects is that they are all fundamentally very similar, they have several phases starting with initiation through to celebrating the outcome at the completion. Most competent Project Managers can recite these in their sleep, so the recipe for success is not just adhering to the process steps; we need to focus in on what makes a great project versus one that limps from crisis to crisis, sometimes ending in total project failure.We have detailed some points we hope will help e...

Microsoft's new Datacentre opens up options for the next generation of cloud migrations

Throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, it has become apparent that the way we use many of our in-country cloud deployments are still fairly “mantronic”.  Service activities slowed as platforms were placed into brown-out or black-out change windows and service prioritisation limited to those few “Essential Services” organisations. Here are some reflections on recent developments that may be useful for your organisation....

5 tips to help your PMO successfully manage projects and teams with remote working

COVID-19 is not only having a devastating impact around the world but it’s affecting how teams work and communicate. With isolation rules in place worldwide, organisation’s staff, including Project Managers, are being forced into working from home – whether they are ready or not. PMOs are having to re-evaluate ways to successfully manage their remote projects and teams....

Where's the coffee and muffin?

What changes in the way we collaborate are we likely to see, as a result of current events? Sure, video conferencing has been widely available and was adopted to various degrees by organisations. However, there’s no doubt that how we communicate has changed. The required cultural shift that has long been expected (promised) has finally arrived, and the general consensus is that it’s here to stay.The benefits include reduced costs and time due to less travel and a move away from needing build...

The WAN just moved to the internet

While many organisations have been grappling with how their MPLS and datacentre centric WANs will support the move to utilise a greater range of public cloud applications, and how an Internet-based SD-WAN might deliver low costs, more flexibility and local Internet breakout, COVID 19 has overnight moved the user base from the office to the home office.Working from outside the WAN, users are now placing huge pressure on VPNs and remote access solutions that were typically designed and dimensioned...