The Kimberley region of Western Australia is a scenic wonderland of immense historic and ecological value. Kimberley Accommodation helps ensure that the thousands of tourists who flock there from May till August are bedded down, fed and watered. However, managing a business whose facilities are separated by hundreds of kilometres, is owned by a complex structure of family trusts, and which has significant downtime during the wet season, is no picnic – especially with antiquated accounting systems.

“I was told we’d won GAME ON as I was heading into a board meeting to present our quarterly financial results,” Garry says. “That report took me over 40 man-hours to produce. With Greentree I’ll be able to run that consolidated report straight from the system at the push of a button – that’s a week a month given back to me, straight away.”

The Kimberley region is on the verge of an industrial boom, with major gas and mining projects in the offing, and a huge irrigation land expansion underway as well. But its history is bound to the cattle trade, and that’s where Kimberley Accommodation’s founder, Martin Pierson-Jones, got his start. He left his home state of Victoria at age 19 and worked as a stockman in the Kimberley before turning his hand to managing pubs. These were knock-down, drag-out places filled nightly with hard drinkers, and with cages around the bar to protect the staff. But from those beginnings, Martin built a multi-million dollar business which is now looking to expand. Kimberley Accommodation is currently building a resort near the Berkeley River, and has plans for another major development in Broome and a residential complex at Wyndham. However, to ensure financial support for their plans, they need to demonstrate that their monetary systems are sound.

“We’re really excited about Greentree,” says COO Dannielle Hart. “I’m well aware of the limitations of our accounting system. We don’t have that ability to analyse the business as we should, and we struggle to get the information that the bank wants in a timely fashion. It’s just super-exciting that we won’t have those sorts of problems going forward, and we’ll be able to know exactly where we’re at and plan for the future.”

The story told (and hilariously illustrated) by Garry Herbert really impressed GAME ON’s judges. “I fell in love with Kimberley’s story because it showed a pioneering spirit and a challenge to make the most out of a fairly difficult set of circumstances,” says Chris Alp. “That’s a very Australian attitude.”

“They proved to me that they could actually use the software, and understood what it could do for them,” says Mark Nilsen. “I thought that if they won, they’d get the most out of it, but also their presentation was clearly able to capture the imagination of the voting public. So they appealed to the technical people like me, and to the non-technical people who were looking for something visual with a bit of humour.”

“Running GAME ON has been a joy because it gave us the opportunity to connect with real Aussie businesses that are inspiring in what they’re trying to achieve,” says Greentree’s CEO, Peter Dickinson. “Kimberley Accommodation is a fantastic example of the mid-sized companies that are the heart of Australian business.”

Kimberley Accommodation is a family business in the truest sense. Dannielle is Martin’s stepdaughter and is also a director, along with her husband and stepbrother, as well as Martin and his wife, Kim. “As a family I guess we have some pretty interesting dinner table discussions,” Dannielle laughs. “We were all jumping up and down when we got the news. It was really lucky that we were actually all together because our business is so spread out, and so it was great that we were all together to celebrate it.” Dannielle says the $250K software prize will give Kimberley Accommodation peace of mind, and confidence in its growth and development. But perhaps the best moment was seeing what the news had done for the hard-worked Garry Herbert. “You couldn’t wipe the grin off Garry’s face,” she says. “Someone said it was the first smile they’d seen from Garry in a very long time.”

Synateq is the Greentree partner for Tasmania. Please contact William Lo for more information on how Greentree can help your business prosper.

Synateq Project Manager, Peter Gartlan, innovatively managed the risks of relocating the Ambulance Tasmania Communications Centre by enabling staff to relocate when the new building was ready, while utilising new fibre networks to maintain core systems in the old building. The core system relocation then occurred on a separate schedule at the least-risk time. The go-live process operated flawlessly, and the Triple Zero Communications Centre commenced operating from its new data facility at 5am on a Tuesday morning. The results were spectacular; the live test and subsequent migration all occurred in real-time with no interruption to triple zero services. The subsequent report from the Synateq Project Manager to the Ambulance Tasmania CEO noted, “Zero time lost, Zero calls lost, Zero lives lost … a Triple Zero result”. Dominic Morgan, CEO of Ambulance Tasmania, commented that the planning, execution, and delivery of the ICT migration were highly professional and successful, and he complimented the Project Manager and his team on their expertise, diligence, thoroughness and quality.

Synateq’s Managing Director, Chris Rasmussen said, “We are thrilled to receive this award. Our ability to deliver outstanding results is the outcome of many years of hard work and experience in project management. This award is acknowledgment of the skill of our teams in successfully managing high profile, high risk projects like this.”

Another Synateq project, the custom development of an Outage Optimiser module for asset management at Transend Networks, was the recent recipient of the Transend Networks Chairman’s award for Innovation and Improvement.

Since 1999, Synateq has been working with organisations to simplify processes, discover opportunities and bridge the gap between strategic direction and business systems capability. Experience across a broad range of market sectors allows Synateq to deliver solutions that explore, build and expand organisational capabilities for its clients.

ASTHMA FOUNDATION NSW: This not-for-profit organisation needs better CRM in order to help thousands of people manage their asthma.

CAESARS: “Style is eternal” is the motto of this furniture retailer, which is also a major supporter of community projects in its home district of Griffith, NSW.

CENTRAL DIESEL: From a two-man operation in the back of a truck, this Adelaide-based provider of diesel equipment, servicing and infrastructure now turns over $20m a year and sees big prospects for expansion.

CYMAX: This Queensland-based provider of high-tech IT and telephony would like to grow its revenue by 50% – but is hampered by low-tech business systems.

GMW GROUP: Infrastructure for the 2022 Soccer World Cup in Qatar is among the major architecture and engineering projects worldwide being run by this company, headquartered in Sydney.

HYDRO INTERNATIONAL: Water, water everywhere! This Victoria-based business specialises in drainage solutions while its other company, Rhino Grating, makes the covers that stop people falling into the drains.

KIMBERLEY ACCOMMODATION GROUP: If you wanted to visit the Bungle Bungles, you’d probably stay at a hotel run by this company, based in Broome, WA.

MECRUS GROUP: What does this Melbourne business do? Just about everything! They help other businesses with asset and project management, operations and maintenance, and more.

NEWCASTLE AIRPORT: Positioned at the gateway to the Hunter Valley wine region, this domestic fledgling wants to become an international bird.

SOUTHERN CROSS LUBES: This company keeps the wheels turning, distributing Mobil lubricants in Victoria and Tasmania, and needs Greentree to truly be king of the road.

So there they are: businesses on the move that want to perform even better with the help of Greentree GAME ON. While their work is hugely diverse, they share many common issues: they’re running outdated, non-integrated systems, they want better visibility of their performance, and are confident they can grow even stronger with better computing power.
The competition is now in the hands of the judges, and the public vote, which counts for 50% of each entrant’s final score. The winner will be announced on December 7th.
Greentree would like to extend a special thanks to the judges: Chris Alp, Brett Clark, Mark Nilsen and Peter Dickinson, whose work continues as they ponder which deserving business will walk away with the grand prize.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE COMPETITORS, FROM THE GAME ON TEAM!
To vote for them, go to www.greentreegameon.com.au

Read the full case study here.

Day 1 of the event is perfect for micro and small business owners looking to grow and prosper online and through technology. Technology entrepreneurs and those in the ICT sector wanting to expand their knowledge, gain exclusive insights from accomplished entrepreneurs and be inspired to take their own business to the next level are well catered for by a combination of speakers and workshops on Day 2.

Event Details:

Date: 19th & 20th September 2011
Venue: Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart
Timing: Monday 19th September from 12.00 noon
Tuesday 20th September from 9.00am

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
The last couple of years have been good for Greentree; many wonderful Australian businesses have joined our customer base and we have successfully entered new international markets. This is one way of saying thank you and giving something back – rewarding businesses, many of which have battled their way through tough economic times.

WHY SHOULD YOU ENTER?
We know there are many super businesses out there that could do even better, if they had the right management systems. Maybe they’ve been focused on surviving or they haven’t had the time or the resources to update their business systems, and so they’ve struggled on, putting up with the pain, doing the best with what they’ve got. Maybe they’ve had the challenge of managing growth, or had great new ideas that could boost them to new heights of productivity, open new markets, gain new customers – if only their business system could support those initiatives.

Does that sound like you?
In today’s highly competitive marketplace, you need to be nimble; you need to be able to react quickly to changing conditions in order to go forward. This is your chance to get that boost – by acquiring cutting-edge business management software that can streamline your processes, perform those necessary but time-consuming administrative tasks, and free up you and your staff for more important work.

Remember: this prize isn’t just the software licence. The hosting and implementation costs for the first two years are also covered. You get all the benefits, so you can devote your resources to doing what you do best – and doing it better.

WE’D LIKE TO THANK…
Greentree owes a big part of its success to its partner network. Our ‘rare gems’ are the link between Greentree and its customers, and one of them will be at the winner’s side, seeing their prize installed and their staff trained to use it to maximum benefit. Also there will be our Australian cloud partner, AoD, whose CEO, David Sankey, calls Game On “ a fantastic opportunity for an Aussie business to reach its true potential”.

A big thanks also to our judges for giving their valuable time, and to GAME ON’s associates for their support.

And last, but not least – thank you to our customers. They deal in all manner of products and services across a vast range of industries. They differ in size, practice and philosophy, but they share one goal: to be the best at what they do. They’re one-third of the unique collaboration with Greentree and its partners that we’ve named We3. We drive each other to succeed and grow.

ENTER GAME ON AND U2 COULD JOIN WE3!

Enter FieldTeq, a unique software package that allows organisations to cover all aspects of their Occupational Health and Safety Compliance in the field. This simple, paperless solution leaves a complete audit trail, and provides instant connection between everyone involved in the project, but especially those in the field and those in the office.

FieldTeq Product Manager, Jane Turner comments, “We developed FieldTeq in collaboration with the University of Tasmania. Working closely with them revealed a few key aspects to the management of OHS for field trips that are not necessarily an issue for onsite OHS management. Particularly in the university setting, the challenge was to develop a reliable, accessible and intuitive system that would deal with the ad hoc nature of field research trips and the sheer volume and variety of trips that occur annually. Compound that with the strict qualifications and experience checks required for each participant in complex activities like diving and the number of students participating and you can see why a traditional paper or spreadsheet based system falls down. With FieldTeq you can plan, execute, control and monitor OHS in the field via a web browser. Most importantly, FieldTeq sits on the customers servers and can be configured to the uniqie needs, processes and terminology of each client”.

Simon Talbot, Diving Officer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) said “FieldTeq has made an enourmous difference to the management of our diving operations. It streamlines all of our OHS requirements and, perhaps most importantly, we’re able to personalise the software to suit the needs of our organisation”.

This clever system even has a solution for capturing fieldwork records and incident management offline as many field trips occur in remote locations where mobile coverage is not accessible. The optional module, called FieldTeq Remote allows users to capture records offline, and synchronise data later when they have internet access.The flexible, user friendly interface is designed for fast data entry, with project data pre-populated from approved plans. Best of all, field trip coordinators have all the essential project information and risk analyses at their fingertips.

Recently unveiled at the Australian Marine Science Association 2011 Conference in Fremantle WA and simultaneously at the Australian University Safety Association Conference in Brisbane, FieldTeq has attracted plenty of interest from managers of field trips who have been searching for a solution to their current need for better planning and control of field activities. Jane Turner comments, “Everyone was particularly interested in the back end system smarts that cut down some of the administrative hassles, ensure compliance of the planning process and enable them to have transparency over procedures. We’re confident that FieldTeq has a big future ahead of it and a firm place in the management of OHS compliance for fieldwork”.

Further information can be found at www.fieldteq.com.au

For further enquiries please contact:

Jane Turner, Marketing and Communications Manager, Synateq and FieldTeq Product Manager
Mobile 0418661908
Email jane.turner@synateq.com

Nicholas started with IBM systems in Tasmania in the 1980s offering ERP Financial/Manufacturing solutions and Business Intelligence services. Through the 1990s Nicholas was a director of a mainland Business Management Consultancy offering business analysis, business process development, and project management services Australia wide. The consultancy also provided education in business software, IT methodologies and management studies.

In 2003 Nicholas returned to Tasmania to implement business systems & develop business analysis for a number of commercial and government organisations. In the last 7 years he has taken a number of Business Systems through implementation as Project Manager, and has also developed a number of Business Intelligence projects providing management and boards with the tools necessary to really understand their business.

“The Greentree ERP software suite and the QlikView Business Intelligence software supported by Synateq are excellent tools that can help any business stay ahead of the pack and keep control of ever increasing costs.” said Nicholas Wall. “Synateq are keen to assist business in the North and North West to work more efficiently and with better understanding of their costs and opportunities. I’m looking forward to meeting with businesses in the area and discussing their needs”.

Nicholas Wall, Synateq

Over the past 12 months new Greentree clients for Synateq have included Tasmanian Hotel and Catering Supplies, The Wilderness Society, Edwards Windsor Real Estate and Serv-Ag. These businesses are now enjoying the benefits of an integrated ERP system that will support their future growth.

Click here to read more in TASdirector, published by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.