The gut knows best
Oil and gas aren’t the only things bubbling beneath the surface in Taranaki. In a week long series Brittany Baker reports on Taranaki’s digital adventurer businesses making a splash in the real world.
Adrian Sole, shareholder and general manager of Efinity, thought mate Kevin Best had lost his senses for jumping into an unknown world. These days names such as IVHQ, Automio and TenderLink are well known but in the early 2000s, the tech sector was infantile, especially for a region ‘‘out on a limb’’ like Taranaki.
The overall consensus at that time, Sole says, was ‘‘this internet thing – it’s probably a fad’’.
But that didn’t stop Best from launching his web design and digital strategy business.
‘‘It was incredibly immature. The software was all function back then,’’ he says.
‘‘The idea of having form and being easy to use and intuitive, it wasn’t there.’’
What made it ‘‘even bolder’’, is Best didn’t go for the widely popular PHP platform – an open source general-purpose scripting language especially suited for web development.
‘‘It’s what almost every single website does. It’s what all the nerdy people did.’’
Best instead chose Microsoft, Sole says.
‘‘They went dot-net. So that was a niche in a niche,’’ he says.
‘‘It was really bold. I even questioned it. But he just went with his gut and it was really cool.’’
Efinity went live in 2000 and for 10 years, the company remained largely local.
Hundreds of websites have been created in that time with more notable ones including Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (Witt), New Plymouth District Council and South Taranaki District Council.
‘‘It was managed real basic,’’ Sole says. ‘‘Work would come in ebb and flow, but it was one or two people.’’
And then Sonny Fernando came on as director about 2009. Staff doubled and the company expanded its software development into creating downloadable mobile applications (apps), Sole says.
‘‘It was busy and ticked along, but the difference this time was Sonny got introduced to oil and gas.’’
Shell Todd (Stos), AWE, Origin and OMV wanted to collaborate in how they handled offshore workers, Sole explains.
The organisations hire helicopter services – Stos might need two seats, Origin might need three.
But they also had to work out which staff had up-to-date BOSIET – basic offshore safety induction and emergency training – when staff would fly out and return, and manage accommodation and medical.
‘‘Back in the early 2010s, Dropbox wasn’t very big,’’ Sole says.
‘‘And it was a bit hard to email spreadsheets back and forth, so the group came to Sonny and that’s how Trackit started.’’
Trackit Energy is a subscription-based, online logistic software platform designed specifically for the oil and gas sector, primarily used for helicopter scheduling and person on base (POB) management.
Its creation gave the oil and gas giants access to a visual representation of which staff are where, tools for easy rescheduling, software notifications regarding BOSIET expiry, and the ability to book shared experts such as electrical engineers.
It slashed admin hours and allowed for real-time planning between the major Taranaki players, Sole says.
‘‘What we didn’t realise, it was actually revolutionary for the industry at a global level and the group really pushed us to take it globally.’’
Best and Fernando assumed nothing, taking their humble selves to Australia in 2013 to test a larger market.
‘‘The idea of collaborating here is quite unusual – most had their own helicopters and their own boats,’’ Sole says.
‘‘They assumed the sophisticated industry would already have solutions in place.’’
But at the first visit in Perth, the pair made a major sale to global entity Eni – an Italian multinational oil and gas company.
The global company’s three month campaign with Trackit has remained an ongoing subscription, Sole says.
‘‘That’s how sticky and how important this software is,’’ he says.
‘‘It becomes the core logistics framework for how they operate and they can’t go back.’’
The software has more recently captured the attention of Chevron, which has triggered the company’s first onshore deployment in Kyrgyzstan.
Sole says the pilot programme aims to track staff going on and off site using RFID (radio-frequency identification) gateway technology.
‘‘Even before the pilot is finished, we have Thailand and other countries lining up to be able
‘‘The idea of having form and being easy to use and intuitive, it wasn’t there.’’
to use the new system.’’
The software is also constantly updated with new tools requested by customers. With a push of a button, a new feature can be implemented into the cloud-based software for everyone to use.
This meant growth was unlimited, Sole says, with vertical clients knocking on the door, including organisations such as Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Ministry of Civil Defence.
Sole says a joint venture with Massey University is also in the works. Trackit Education would help track student competencies and is expected to ‘‘go global’’ in 2018.
‘‘There are other products we’re ready to do but it’s about timing.
‘‘Every time we talk to a client, we thought we knew all the problems but there’s just so much opportunity.’’
The problem now is staffing, Sole says, with about 10 people developing, designing and managing projects across the separate companies.
‘‘That’s why what is happening in the innovation hub is so important. Right now, we’re too fragmented.’’
Sole says Taranaki needs more communication, government support and incubation in order to create ‘‘happy collisions’’ in the region’s growing tech industry.
‘‘We’re not coming together as well as we could do,’’ he says. ‘‘But I believe we’re on a journey and I think that’s going to change.
‘‘I’d like to see that accelerated.’’