Take advantage of the Internet

By Tom Clarke

New Zealand companies need to become more aware of the opportunities presented by the Internet and e-commerce, says Greg Cross, the chief executive of Advantage Group.

Recent research and surveys indicate that New Zealand business is very slow to take advantage of the Internet, he says.

"The Net is growing exponentially and while it's relatively small in New Zealand at the moment we believe it's set to explode."

Advantage Group is one of New Zealand's major suppliers of advanced electronic commerce and transaction-processing solutions.

"Clearly it's becoming an integral part of where we do business, how we conduct business and how we live our lives, and my view is that it will become very large," Mr Cross says. "I believe the majority of software in the future will be developed using Internet technology and Internet platforms."

Mr Cross believes New Zealand business has been slow on the uptake partly because there has not been the Internet start-ups here that there have been in the United States, for example.

In the States, he says, huge sums of venture capital have poured into companies, enabling them to develop ideas and take them to the market very quickly.

But at the end of the day, he says, New Zealand businesses and chief executives must see the opportunities and have the vision and leadership to grasp them.

In the past technology was a business tool rather than the business itself, but now chief executives have to understand that the "technology is no longer a tool - it is the business. That's probably something that New Zealand businesses are struggling with.

"CEO's have to get their head around that and become a lot more technology-savvy, and provide strong leadership and strategic direction."

Advantage Group Ltd has hired Nevin Grieve as e-commerce business manager to develop its electronic commerce capabilities.

Mr Grieve was e-commerce manager for Telecom's newly-formed Solutions Group and before that established NZ On-line, the Telecom and Taranaki Polytechnic joint venture that became Xtra.

Through his involvement with Telecom's Commerce Builder, he has had experience with the Advantage Transaction Server (ATS) developed by Advantage Group. This supports a number of government departments using BNZ Buyline, the Internet credit card payment processor.

Mr Cross says Nevin Grieve is New Zealand's foremost expert in electronic commerce.

While its work is currently concentrated on electronic transaction switching and payment solutions, Advantage seeks to work with companies in a number of areas to provide a broader range of solutions and services in electronic commerce, such as procurement solutions.

The company recently acquired Computer Enhancements for $9 million and PEC Retail Solutions for $15 million and it is looking at further acquisitions. It is having discussions with a number of Australian banks over the sale of its ATS.

Advantage's three business units are in point-of-sale equipment, software-based retail solutions and e-commerce transaction processing.