Yoke Har Lee: Virtual computing yields real growth

Success in New Zealand doesn't count for much when you start selling your services abroad, says Geoff Olliff. Photo / Greg Bowker

When Geoff Olliff and Derek Leitch decided to set up a company, they started with the idea that it should focus on being good at only a small number of things.

Their next decision was: "You build great companies around giants," says Olliff.

"So we went out to the market, looking for the best candidate we could ... and we found him in Neil Cresswell."

Creswell, formerly with IBM, is well respected by the IT industry and has the technical expertise the company needs. "Neil's credibility in the industry is critical to our success," says Olliff, adding that Leitch, formerly a country manager for Dell, is also a figure trusted by the industry. Olliff himself has worked in various IT roles over the past 20 years.

Their chosen field is virtualisation and storage consultancy.

Virtualisation is a technology that, with the help of specialist software, divides the physical resources in a server (memory, processor, etc) into several "virtual" computers, each of which can run its own copy of an operating system and application. A typical server can be configured to run 10 or more virtual computers.

For companies using virtualisation, one of the biggest draws is the ability to gain greater efficiency from their IT systems: they can spend less money on hardware to gain greater functionality, whether it's computing power or storage capacity.

ViFX began operations in November 2007. Key early targets were larger companies with complex IT systems such as tertiary education institutions, government departments and large corporates. Despite operating in a tough economic environment, the company earned significant revenue in its first year.

It clinched two main clients within the first year of operations - publisher APN and Frucor.

Since then it has added other work, having provided consultancy on more than 200 projects, mostly for companies with complex IT needs.

Olliff reckons that what has made the company successful is the skills it offers.

"The depth of our skills is unmatched by competitors. We cut through a lot of the fluff."

At its best, virtualisation can halve spending on computer hardware.

"In the past, there may be opportunities to sell 100 computers, now [with virtualisation] there may be 10. We're either a scalpel or a laser.

"Our success is based on our understanding of what our skills are, who we want to be in the market, and who we want to work with. The more you do, the worse you are at it. You are often defined by what you say no to.

"Sticking inside the circle, getting the right people, and being committed to the position of being really good at what we do - that's what made us succeed."

Although there are competitors, they are not specialists in virtualisation, says Olliff.

In 2008 ViFX was awarded the Rising Star Award by leading virtualisation software provider VMware. ViFX is also a business partner of IBM.

Last July ViFX started operating in Australia, and in September it cast its net wider, to Singapore, where it now has five staff members.

Breaking into these two new markets has taken a little longer than expected.

"It is tough to get successful high-tech companies offshore," Olliff says.

Foreign markets often do not put much weight on credentials built in New Zealand.

"It doesn't matter whether you have done work for Telecom or Fonterra. In Singapore, for example, none of this matters."

In New Zealand the company has managed to gain a toehold due to the networks the directors have in the local market, he says.

But in Australia, for example, the company does not have the same level of networks or "trust" connections.

However there are ample opportunities in the Australian market as it is not well serviced by the IT community, Olliff reckons. "It is about finding the right people to move the business forward [in Australia]."

Singapore, if it proves to be successful, will be the beachhead for ViFX's march into the wider Asian market including Malaysia, Thailand and Japan, among other nations, he says.

There are opportunities to take ViFX into the wider world but the company is weighing the cost of diverting further resources as it wants to pursue the opportunities still available in New Zealand.

"Given the business in New Zealand we are not yet capturing, we are keen to make New Zealand our key focus."

Olliff is excited that ViFX is involved in virtualisation, which computer experts see as the foundation for cloud computing, where computer resources, software and information are provided on a shared base over the internet to users on demand. "Virtualisation is the first step towards cloud computing," he says.

And if the adrenaline of running a business is not enough, Olliff has run 80km across the Swiss Alps, and recently completed the 32km Routeburn Classic event.