China, Macau and Hong Kong .... welcome!!

A very brief note - we announced today that we have finalised the deal to acquire the Applications Services business of Getronics NV in Greater China; Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macau.

This business, which has been in the region for more than 15 years and once traded as Wang (a VERY well known technology group), brings with it a very mature foundation for us to grow in the region. We have acquired an outstanding team, all the infrastructure and inputs we need to operate a business and a history of performance. This gives us the opportunity to further develop some strong, long term client relationships. We would never take these relationships for granted, but by focussing on continuing to provide good service, by building on the success of the past and adding new capabilities and services from the broader Hyro group, we can add even more value in the future.

It is very exciting and is a measure of how the changing nature of digital services - the fusion of marketing and technology - is creating opportunities for companies with the skills and experience to leverage them. It is even more exciting to be a part of something with the people, the vision and the resources to act on those opportunities.

Asia's online and its doing fine......

I concluded one of my Quarterly Review trips to the Hyro Thailand office this week and one of the things which resonated during this trip was the great progress that is being made in terms of connectivity and bandwidth in that market.

We recently renegotiated a contract with our corporate internet provider and were able to double the speed of our connection, raise the committed data rate and cut the costs of our connection by around 35%. All because the general quality of service has increased and the market is getting more and more competitive.

It doesn’t stop there – many hotels in Bangkok now offer free in-room broadband internet for business travellers and the number of accessible wi-fi spots has risen dramatically over the last twelve months or so (I got to test this with my new phone – the outstanding HTC Touch which is the easiest wi-fi phone to connect to the internet that I have ever used. Oh, and it is a very functional and very pretty business phone as well!).

This augers well for the digital services industry. General statistics of levels of internet use, levels of available bandwidth and levels of commerce and advertising via digital channels are all trending upwards. It proves our experience in more mature markets – that the level and availability of broadband speeds define the critical “tipping point” for digital services adoption.

Even in emerging digital services markets, we are seeing how connected technology and changing marketing techniques are changing the world.

Synergistic Thinking ....

It has been almost a month since my last post - a pretty poor record for someone who enjoys blogging (particularly having my own soapbox - complete with the opportunity for others to share what they think about my ramblings). There has been a fair bit going on.

After my brief holiday at the end of May, I have back to work and have hit the ground running... and there has been plenty to do.

The main focus has been the integration of Synergy Software Holdings Limited and the associated businesses. This is following the final approvals from shareholders and regulators in the middle of May and comes at the end of six months during which we have needed to first complete due diligence and then undergo the fairly intensive task of running a "full process" to complete a scheme of arrangment and the acquisition. That is all done now, and Synergy is now a Hyro Company.

While there has been collaboration between the groups for months (we got to know each other when we started to work together for some of our clients) the finalisation of the deal has meant that we can fast-track the finalisation of the integration of systems and processes and more importantly, get on with introducing the full offer to all of our clients. There are other places to talk about the details (market information is disclosed on the Australian Stock Exchange and archived on http://www.hyrolimited.com/) but I did want to share some resonating benefits of the acquisition that I have experienced.

All of this is about the people. We have an exciting, growing business in an exciting, growing industry. Success in this environment comes not only from the offer you have to make to the market, but also the team with which you deliver it. The team at Hyro has always been impressive - we have great management and an outstanding team of professionals, regarded as the best in their fields locally and internationally. With the added community of Synergy people, we have added new, fresh depth of skills, ability, experience and professionalism - I am really enjoying the way the teams have stepped straight into working as one company, one management and one team. We are much stronger for the acquisition and even better positioned to change the world.