Press release, 30 March 2011, Clarus Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand

IT consulting firm, Clarus Ltd, has had to recruit four new staff to cope with the unprecedented demand from some of New Zealand’s largest innovators and manufacturers for assistance with Agile adoption and Scrum certification. New Zealand companies including Trimble, Allied Telesis Labs NZ, Zeacom, Serato, and Commtest are adopting Scrum to both improve project delivery and predictability, and to increase team collaboration.

Read the press release here.

Tait and Bluewater Systems Agree to Partner in R&D

Global communications solutions provider Tait Radio Communications and premier electronics design house Bluewater Systems have signed a partnership agreement to enable shared access to each others specialist skills and resources. The aim of the agreement is to increase competitive advantage with accelerated speed to market and quality development that focuses on customers’ needs.

Download the press release

This is a story of the largest IT infrastructure outsource project in the South Island of New Zealand – a challenging project that could easily have failed.

Affected by the Iceland volcano, a freight fire, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, manufacturing and shipping delays caused by the global recession, and a nail-bitingly tight deadline, the Christchurch City Council’s IT infrastructure outsource project could have been a disaster.

Instead, against all the odds, the project was completed on time, to budget, and is now lauded one of the biggest and best data outsource projects in Australasia’s history.

Download the Christchurch City Council case study

To our valued customers, suppliers and friends of Communicate IT

The recent 6.3 quake in Christchurch has impacted us all and life in Christchurch will never be the same. We are horrified with the pain and suffering that many have experienced, and we hope you are not too badly affected and have found a way to cope under these extraordinary circumstances. For those who have lost your loved ones, please accept our heartfelt sympathies; it is unimaginable what you must be going through and we are deeply sorry for your loss.

Although currently we cannot operate from our office in Avonside, as there is no power, water, or internet, I am pleased to say that Communicate IT is open for business with both Shannon and I working from our homes until further notice.

We are lucky in that our homes were largely unaffected by the 22 February quake, so we have set up our PCs and desks at home and have all our files intact, broadband and phone. The only thing we don’t have at present is routine childcare as Christchurch preschools are currently closed (Shelley has just registered her son into a country preschool in the interim) … but we do have DVD’s, games, trampolines and sand pits (and evenings when the little cherubs are asleep!).

For now email, Skype and mobile are the best methods of communication. The office phone 03 381 6656 is currently diverted at no extra cost to Shelley’s mobile thanks to Telecom. See all the contact details below. To contact Shannon please phone 0278 224 760, or email shannon@communicateit.co.nz.

We are contacting our clients this week and all being well with everyone we are hoping to continue the projects that we were working on before the quake.

It seems many of you are getting back on your feet as well – some with new premises, some working from home, others with offices intact and back in operation – so considering it’s only been a week since the quake, there is a promising – albeit challenging – outlook for the tech community in Christchurch.

We wish everyone all the best of strength over the coming months and years as we strive to rebuild our city and help Christchurch maintain its status as the silicon plains of New Zealand.

Kind regards,

Shelley Grell and Shannon Thomas

Communicate IT Ltd
PO Box 27-238, Christchurch
T: +64 3 381 6656
M: + 64 21 747 355
Skype: shelley001
Twitter: @grells
shelley@communicateit.co.nz
www.communicateit.co.nz