Australia
Business & IT consultant experienced in the application of technology to achieve business outcomes. Specialist in the development and deployment of customer Intellectual Property. Application Domains: Main focus - Education and Assessment, English Language Proficiency Auxiliary - International Freight Forwarding & Customs Brokerage, Finance & Accounting, General Insurance, e-Sales, Supply Chain and Automotive Dealer & Distributor Operations Geography Specialties: Japan & Australia with broad experience also in the UK, Greater China, Korea, South-east Asia & India Technology Domains: Rapid Application Development, Application Transformation and Technology Integration Special Interests: The benefits of mathematical skills in business, especially in IT and management; Introducing "overseas" technology solutions to Japan
Consultant available on demand for short-term or part-time assignments. Special interests include technology-based solutions for Japan, English language proficiency, the relevance of mathematical skills in business, the education sector and business opportunity analysis. Projects to-date include assistance with three successful tender responses for onscreen marking service provision and with distribution arrangements for SaaS-delivery of a hosted solution.
One of 2 non-executive directors of LANSA Japan serving on the board with Nakamura-san, the then Representative Director and President of the company. LANSA is a well-regarded Rapid Application Development tool portfolio in Japan, licensed by over 1,700 Japanese corporations including several global leaders in their markets. From late 2009 to end 2018, I served by invitation as the International Liaison Coordinator of iManifest Japan. iManifest was a consortium of over 70 Japanese system integrators, software houses and independent software vendors formed to promote IBM i at a grass-roots level and to compensate for weaknesses in IBM's own go-to-market strategy.
Responsible for LANSA's business in Asia-Pacific, with my personal efforts focused on mentoring, sustainable profitability, our Japan subsidiary, business development in the education sector, development of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partnerships, and encouraging a healthy LANSA ecosystem. My territory covered all markets east of the Khyber Pass and west of the International Date Line including Japan, Greater China, Korea, SE and South Asia, Australia and NZ. Led the commercialisation of MarkManager, the onscreen marking application which the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA, formerly known as the Board of Studies) had already developed for the HSC, from presenting the concept to NESA management to first sales, appointment of Civica as the UK distributor in the process of winning the British Council as a client, and then wider adoption. Worked at CXO level with many leading Australian ISVs and Service Providers including Ascender (Neller), Advent One, Aspect Computing (from which LANSA was spun out), Computer Merchants (now Truis), Evolution Systems, Kaz Computer Services (in the day), Numeric, SSA, Sundata and Team Computing (before its merger with Sundata to form OneTeam IT).
Various positions related to Freight/AMS (a.k.a. Infotrac), the company's application package for customs brokers and international air & sea freight forwarders. Was one of 2 co-designers of the package, which grew to a leadership position in the Australian market (that was before WiseTech Global came along!). Was also closely involved in first Asian sales and installations. Personally on-boarded GEIS as reseller to Asia and ISI-Dentsu for sales to Japan HQ MNC forwarders. Package customers included Nippon Express, QANTAS Customs, Ansett International Air Freight (with additional implementation in UK), Yusen Air and Sea, MSAS, Circle Freight (in Australia and Asia), Geodis, Brambles International Freight, Universal Air Cargo, Burlington Air Express (BAX, across ANZ), EA Rocke Customs (Mayne Nickless), Haniel Transport, JAS Worldwide, ASG, AJ Considine, Tasman Transport, Walford Meadows in NZ, M.O. Air (Mitsui-owned) in Singapore and Mitsui Soko in Malaysia. Launch customers were John G Stephenson and Simpac, ultimately acquired by BAX and Geodis respectively. Appreciated working directly for Ken McEwan, Jon Duggan and Alex Colquhoun, and had the privilege of interacting with Col Hoschke, the Wacher and Datec CEO, an Australian software house and ISV pioneer .
Managed implementations and customer projects in automotive industry for ISV with car dealership package. Customers included Volvo Truck & Car Centre, Suttons Motors Group and Preston Motors Group. My manager Bill Austin and the company's founder Ed Colledge were each experienced qualified accountants. I gained with their guidance a practical grasp of accounting and finance principles applied to small and medium business. I also became fluent in the automatic update of general ledger, A/R and A/P from front-end transactions, in Colledge’s case vehicle sales, service repair orders and spare parts sales.