Partnership will lead to IT gains

REGIONAL FOCUS: NZTG regions manager Wayne Baird says NZ Technology Group has its sights set on empowering regions, by working with companies to deliver better services and ideas to their clients. Picture supplied

AN INFORMATION technology firm seeking to provide a national umbrella service for small and medium-sized businesses’ IT support needs has established a foothold in Gisborne with the acquisition of Strategic IT.

New Zealand Technology Group, an amalgamation of more than 20 IT-related businesses, has merged with Strategic IT (run by Gisborne man Tim von Pein) in a move welcomed by NZTG regions general manager Wayne Baird as a “great launching pad” for the company in this region.

“We have a strategy of partnering with awesome companies and Strategic IT certainly fit that well. Tim is a passionate IT professional and has a very strong desire to provide the best service to his clients.

“The merger with New Zealand Technology Group enhances our presence in the Gisborne area and is a great launching pad for us.

“NZTG is able to offer Strategic IT everything that’s hard to find in the regions of New Zealand, particularly staff, technology and knowledge resources. Suddenly, Strategic IT is able to offer its customers complete end-to-end services on a scale that would have been impossible for Tim had he tried on his own.”

However, the personal relationships built up in regional New Zealand were still the key to local success.

“Having Tim and his team continue to build and grow the business is absolutely one of the main success factors. We respect the importance of keeping that regional presence and won’t be changing that part of what Strategic IT do so very well.”

Strategy a great successMr Baird said the company’s strategy had proven a “great success” in Auckland and the Gisborne merger represented NZTG’s first regional alliance in Tairawhiti.

The company now had its sights set on empowering the regions, he said.

“Ultimately, we want to assist regional New Zealand in growing economically. The NZTG model will continue to grow in Auckland and we see it as a natural progression to regionalise it and work with the companies in each area to deliver better service and ideas to their local clients.”

Strategic IT sole-director Tim von Pein started the company in 2006 by offering IT support to local small to medium-sized businesses but as the company’s list of long-term clients grew, so did his concern that Strategic IT might not be able to scale with them.

He then began a search for an “upstream resource” that could enable Strategic IT to continue to service its clients’ needs in a rapidly changing environment.

Mr Von Pein said that search ended when he was put in touch with New Zealand Technology Group.

He realised it was important to ensure his firm’s customers were able to reap the benefits of a large IT firm while still being able to deal directly with both himself and his Gisborne team.

“With what’s available out there now via the cloud, small IT firms are not going to be able to survive in the near future. Now I can offer my customers a far greater scope of services and expertise on a much larger infrastructure.

“This is an incredibly exciting time for us. We would never have been able to look to the future the way we can now that we are part of New Zealand Technology Group.”