SDM


2006
May

SDM Builds Skills in Sydney to Raise National Profile
Strategic Data Management (SDM) continues to build its presence nationally by drafting high-level Business Intelligence and Enterprise Project Management skills for its Sydney office. more



Foodmach Boosts Business with Better Customer Focus
Supply chain solutions specialist Foodmach has a better focus on meeting sales forecasts with a customer-orientated sales system supported by software from SDM. more



The End is Nigh for Short-Sighted IT Warns SDM
Custom software development in Australia is on death row due to globally commoditised software warns the head of SDM’s software division, Mike Pearson. more



Software Guru Flying High
Geoff Rohrsheim has shot to the top with a nomination for 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year. more


June

Health Prescribes SDM to Prepare for $600M Program
SA’s Department of Health is drawing on SDM’s project management expertise as it prepares to manage $600m worth of health-related projects during the coming decade. more



K2.net ‘Human Workflow’ Puts People in the Business Process Picture
SDM has partnered with workflow innovator SourceCode to put “human workflow” in the hand of information workers and business analysts within organisations. more



SDM Goes the Extra Mile in Hard Drive for Customers
SDM has helped hundreds of customers find their way unscathed through the challenging terrain of IT projects ─ now it’s doing the same on four-wheel-drive tracks. more



SDM Counted Among Top Finalists for the 2006 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award in Sales and Marketing Partner of the Year
Melbourne, Australia. 30 June 2006 — Today, Strategic Data Management (SDM) announced it has been nominated for Microsoft Corp.’s Partner of the Year Award for Sales and Marketing Partner of the Year – Custom Development. Winners for the 2006 Microsoft Partner Program Awards, which recognise top Microsoft Partners delivering market-leading, Microsoft-based solutions, will be announced July 12 in Boston, MA at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. more


July

SDM Laps Up SAP with Business Scorecard Manager
SDM has successfully deployed Microsoft’s Business Scorecard Manager to let a major Australian company create Balanced Scorecards with data from SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) and three other business systems. more



Microsoft Nominates SDM for an OSCAR
Strategic Data Management (SDM) is shortlisted to win a global Microsoft award for an online reporting system it designed to track Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. more



Government Panels Beat the Red Tape
Public sector agencies are increasingly turning to SDM to get more value from their IT infrastructure since the company gained Australian Government Endorsed Supplier status earlier this year. more



SDM Counted Among Top Finalists for the 2006 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award in Sales and Marketing Partner of the Year – Custom Development
Melbourne, Australia. 30 June 2006 — Today, Strategic Data Management (SDM) announced it has been nominated for Microsoft Corp.’s Partner of the Year Award for Sales and Marketing Partner of the Year – Custom Development. more


August

Certification Reduces Risk on Major IT Projects
Customers can reduce the risk to major IT projects by ensuring that service providers are certified in core technologies advises SDM Director - Customer Relations Jamie Potter. more



Family-Friendly SDM Beats the Skills Shortage
SDM has successfully beaten the skills shortage that plagues the IT industry by offering a “family friendly” culture that both attracts and retains highly skilled professionals to its team. more



La Trobe University Projects Success with SDM
Victoria’s La Trobe University has successfully streamlined managing hundreds of technology projects after a two-month engagement with SDM. more


September

SDM Gathers MOSS as Strong Sydney Growth Rolls On
SDM’s Sydney office has continued its rapid growth due to strong demand for services relating to Microsoft’s Information Worker products, especially SharePoint 2007. more



SDM Software Speaks Volumes for Children with Autism
Geoff Rohrsheim’s quiet chat with his builder has turned into a $30,000 software project given by SDM to help children with autism communicate with the people around them. more



DAIS Rides SDM Cycle of Success
SA’s Department of Administrative and Information Services (DAIS) will utilise SDM to refresh its financial systems, five years after SDM deployed its current financial infrastructure. more


October

SDM Founder Wins SA Entrepreneur of Year Award
SDM founder Geoff Rohrsheim has won an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and will compete for the national title next month. more



ElectraNet Powers Ahead with SDM and Project Server
Australian power transmission specialist ElectraNet has improved its ability to manage projects worth as much as $100 million through a 12-month engagement with SDM. more



St Vincent’s Health Doubles Project Delivery Speed with SDM
St Vincent’s Health (Melbourne) doubled the speed of delivering an important reporting project with expert assistance from SDM. more


November

IT Executives Blaze New Trails at SDM Off-Site CIO Forum
Senior IT executives attending SDM’s recent Off-Site CIO Forum have forged new relationships with their peers in the dusty Australian outback. more



Project Server 2007 Serves a Cool Six-Pack
Microsoft’s latest Enterprise Project Management offering, Project Server 2007, delivers a six-pack of major enhancements to improve project control and accountability more



Public Sector Tests the Water with SDM Mentoring
Public sector agencies throughout Australia are boosting the success of their SQL Server 2005 deployments by utilising mentoring services from Microsoft specialist SDM. more


2007
January

India Visit Validates SDM’s Centre of Excellence Model
SDM Managing Director Geoff Rohrsheim had an enlightening experience during a recent visit to India when he discovered that country’s booming IT services industry relies on the same centralised expertise model used by SDM. more



South East Water Speeds Up Approvals with SDM
Victorian water company South East Water has sped up its capital expenditure approvals and Key Performance Indicator reporting after SDM deployed Microsoft Office 2007 to eliminate manual, time-consuming and inefficient systems. more



SQL Server 2005 Demand Powers SDM Growth Surge v
SDM is recording a strong growth surge as customers upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to gain the benefits of easier management, server consolidation and Business Intelligence. more


February

SDM Strengthens Team for a Big Year in Business Intelligence
SDM has appointed qualified accountant Mark Fuller to manage its national Business Intelligence group and further strengthened its Melbourne team through the appointment of Kate O’Keeffe as a Project Manager. more



SDM Builds Trust Intranet to Streamline Business Communication
Australian financial services group Trust Company Limited (Trust) has improved its internal communication, streamlined business processes and simplified document storage and access with an intranet deployed by SDM. more



Smart Workflow Slashes SDM Paperwork
Strategic Data Management (SDM) has slashed turnaround times for approving staff expense claims from four days to just five minutes. more


March

SDM’s Culture of Encouragement Increases Customer Value
SDM is adding real value to customers wanting to integrate the latest technology by actively encouraging its staff to study for advanced accreditations in their areas of speciality. more



MOSS Equips Enterprises to Mine Riches of Corporate Knowledge
SDM has won major projects in NSW, Victoria and SA to design and deploy corporate communication systems based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). more



SDM’s OSCAR Reporting System Helps Lower Greenhouse Gases
SDM has been involved in the development of an online reporting system for the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) that assists Australian companies to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. OSCAR (Online System for Comprehensive Activity Reporting) enables the AGO to actively gather, track and interpret data about the country’s greenhouse gas levels. more


April

SDM Expert Authors World-First Book through Global Collaboration
The world’s first insider guide for Microsoft Business Scorecard Manager is published this month thanks to an international collaboration involving SDM’s Nick Barclay. more



Land Services Group Values Success with SDM
Property valuers working for the South Australian Government are set to save time and slash paperwork from their days by deploying a mobile data solution designed by SDM. The SDM solution demonstrates a ‘live picture’ of relevant information sources for Land Services Group (LSG) valuation purposes. This picture draws data from several source systems to allow valuers to query the relationship of different data components through a single consolidated interface. more



Marc Scores Microsoft Award as Australia’s First Project MVP
A colleague’s unexpected departure three years ago has created international recognition for SDM’s Marc Soester, Australia’s first Most Valued Professional (MVP) for Microsoft Project. more


May

SDM’s SharePoint Capability is Certifiable
When an SDM client wants to know more about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) or Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) custom development Elaine van Bergen knows all the answers, and is one of the first people in the country to obtain certification in it. more



SDM Recognised for its SharePoint Capability at 2007 Conference in Sydney
SDM are securing their reputation in the national marketplace as SharePoint specialists demonstrating this through their vibrant presence at the 2007 APAC SharePoint Conference this week, where it was engaged to present and co-present across six technical sessions. more



The Latest MOSS Technology Gives SDM’s Clients a Competitive Edge
SDM has been working with its clients to keep them on the cutting edge of technology by helping them to understand and take advantage of new technologies, in particular, the new features and advantages that Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 has to offer. more


June

Internal Focus Creates Efficiencies in the Employment Process
In one month, SDM has employed three contractors, nine full time and three part time recruits all starting within four weeks of each other. So how does SDM manage the induction, training and set-up which need to be undertaken before and after they join? more



Insider Knowledge Helps give SDM the Edge
At the launch of the new K2 Underground portal and community forum this month Chris O’Connor, Senior Solutions Specialist at SDM, was recognised as a leader in the global K2 community, becoming one of only 20 people to become a K2 INSIDER. SDM is a key partner for K2 (see www.k2.net ) who has a software platform to deliver enterprise workflow solutions enabling companies to grow their productivity & profitability. more



SDM Attend Microsoft's First Ever Global Business Intelligence Conference
SDM has had continued success and growth as a provider of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions for over eight years by staying on top of the latest technology and trends across the IT industry. more


July

www.sdm.com.au gets MOSS facelift
Been to www.sdm.com.au recently? Now is the time to take the time to explore the fresh new web-face of SDM. Designed to provide its visitors with an opportunity to learn about the depth and breadth of SDM’s services, you may be surprised with what you find. more



Educator MLC’s Innovation Gives Past, Present and Future Students a Personalised Service
Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC) in Melbourne is one of Australia’s most successful and innovative schools – internationally renowned for its extensive curriculum choice and outstanding academic results. Strategic Data Management (SDM) and Microsoft proposed that MLC utilise Microsoft CRM Dynamics, tailored to the requirements of an educational institution. Now MLC are making sure that they continue their success through innovative practices for maintaining contact with students: past, present and future. more



SDM reveals the secret of success to Project Management community
SDM has implemented over 80 Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solutions since 2003. Now it is providing the Project Management community the opportunity to leverage this depth and breadth of expertise. more



SDM Appointed Position on Victorian Government eServices Panel
SDM is pleased to announce its appointment to the Whole of Victorian Government (WoVG) eServices panel. This recognises SDM as a highly qualified and competitive specialist IT solutions supplier, having met all requriements to qualify to provide IT services tot he Whole of Victorian Government. more


August

Systems Integration gives GrainCorp a single data solution
GrainCorp has a desire to improve visibility, productivity and efficiency within its operational and strategic decision-making process. Fundamental to achieving this was SDM's involvement in a project which would result in the integration of service level information across multiple business units within GrainCorp. more



Microsoft showcase strategies for FY08 at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver
This year’s Worldwide Microsoft Partner Conference was testament to Microsoft’s broad product capability across both software and services. The conference showcased approximately 1500 exhibitors as well as running an average of 20 seminars every hour. SDM’s Geoff Rohrsheim and Andy Neumann were on hand to bring the latest in trends and technologies back home to you. “The conference gave us great insight into the innovation that Microsoft is bringing to the market in the coming year. We look forward to sharing the relevant/applicable component of that innovation with our customers.” more



SDM opens its doors in Canberra
Testament to SDM's ongoing success across Australia, the Canberra office has recently opened its doors welcoming ACT Account Manager Renee Hindson to service the rapidly growing client base. A Canberra local, Renee joined SDM from Dataflex, an IT infrastructure provider where she was in a similar Account Management role. Prior to that, Renee worked within Federal Government for ten years. With this experience, Renee brings a different outlook to the SDM Account Management team providing a strong knowledge of the Federal Government market. more


September

SDM Named Application Infrastructure Development Partner of the Year
At the Microsoft Australia Partner Conference Awards Dinner on the 31st of August 2007, SDM took out first place for its Custom Development Solution for Department of Environment and Water Resources (DEW): an Online System for Comprehensive Activity Reporting (OSCAR). This award recognises SDM as the Application Infrastructure Development Partner of the Year. more



Strategic Partnership Delivers More Customer Value
SDM’s Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) and K2 solutions provide a robust platform for delivering solutions that involve people and processes. Working in partnership, SDM aims to enhance the customer experience through the K2 Web Designer for SharePoint. more



Land Management Corporation Reporting Timeframe Narrows - From 3 Days to Instantaneous
Land Management Corporation (LMC) realised that it needed to create a more effective and readily available solution for managing its financial data. The SDM solution was to develop a financial reporting tool which would feed into their global Contract/Financial Management Intranet Site and reduce their turnaround time from three days to instant reporting. more


October

SDM Solution Helps Households & Businesses Track Greenhouse Emissions
The Department of the Environment and Water Resources (DEW) engaged SDM to create an online calculator for businesses and households to work out their yearly greenhouse gas emissions. more



Virtual Earth in Business
A picture tells a thousand words. For some time now, both business and marketing people alike have been swapping plain text for images delivered on paper or on screen to help them communicate information. Whilst this has proven to be beneficial, it is from visual analytics that businesses will derive the greatest benefits. more



Connecting Solutions: CRM Customer Issues Management tool for SDM
Providing timely and high-quality customer support is essential in SDM being able to conitnue to deliver to a high level of customer service. To achieve this a support request must be recorded, processed and successfully resolved. Key to this is the efficient processing of the support “case”. more


November

End-to-End Project and Portfolio Management Provides Visibility for Sound Business Decisions.
The NSW Attorney General’s Department needed a tool that would enable it to make sound investment decisions around competing strategic objectives. The NSW Attorney General’s Department (AGD) needed a single view of all project activities across the entire organisation in one place. more



Is Your Business More Mobile Than You Think?
Does the term mobility conjure up images of a technology playground filled with toys and gadgets, all aimed at pushing the outer limits of conceptual thinking yet never quite making it over the ROI hurdle? The truth is that most organisations are more mobile than they realise. Two key areas in which mobility solutions can deliver benefits for an organisation are by extending business processes and furthering collaboration. more



Project Server Conference 2007: Learn, Connect and Grow.
“The conference identifies new ways in which an EPM solution can help organisations to increase operational efficiency across the business by embracing add-ons, processes and methodologies which are supported by a software platform like Project Server,” said Mr Soester. “I look forward to sharing these with members of the Project User Group during our sessions in December.” more


December

DWS Announce Intended Acquisition of SDM
SDM is pleased to advise that DWS has announced its intention to acquire SDM. The DWS acquisition will not change the value and quality attributed to SDM's brand, personnel, culture and focus on Microsoft based solutions. It will support and enhance its growth and capability across Australia. For more information click here. more


2008
January

Help is on its Way to Keep PMO (projects) on Track
Ryan Darby leads SDM’s own PMO ensuring that a foundation for project delivery is in place that enables the delivery of projects on time and to the client’s expectations. Now he is taking this one step further by helping clients set up their own PMO or undertaking a PMO healthcheck to identify strategies to enhance project delivery through superior project management. more



SDM Assists with Further Disaster Recovery Tightening
A disaster recovery protocol has been in place at Connex Melbourne (Connex) supporting its world leading Fault Management Protocol (FMP) application for many years and required further tightening of the processes and introduction of even further redundancy. For many years, SDM has been working with Connex Melbourne conducting the ongoing development and providing 24/7 standby support for FMP. more



Special Children’s Christmas Party has SDM Volunteers Rolling Up Sleaves
This Christmas SDM wanted to give children with special needs the opportunity to attend the 2007 Special Children’s Christmas Parties in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. SDM’s sponsorship provided entry to four children in each state, giving them access to a full day of free lunch, candy floss and fun. more



DWS Acquisition Strengthens Capacity and Capability for SDM
As of January 2, 2008 Strategic Data Management Pty Ltd (SDM) became a 100% owned subsidiary of DWS Advanced Business Solutions Pty Ltd. With the acquisition, all of SDM’s 85 staff have joined DWS, bringing the total staff number to well over 550 nationally. “This is providing our clients an even greater pool of knowledge across Microsoft and other technologies”, says SDM’s Geoff Rohrsheim. more


February

Mobile Autism Tool is World First in Facilitating Independence
People on the autism spectrum, and the educators, professionals and families who care for them will soon be able to access a world-first software solution which assists in communication, developing executive functioning skills, boosting confidence and reducing the stresses and anxieties encountered daily. more



What Customer Analytics Can Tell You About Your Business
Today’s customer analytics solutions store a wealth of information that is often difficult to access and manipulate for analysis or to help make strategic decisions. Microsoft CRM 4.0 includes the “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Analytics Foundation” toolset that allows organisations to make the best use of the wealth of data that is stored within Microsoft CRM. more



SDM Resource Pool Deepens as DWS Dive in
Redundancies and staff cutbacks across the IT industry has left some organisations with concerns that skills shortages could put a hold on outsourced and internal project plans. In the midst of this SDM is able to provide its clients with the right people at the right time. more


March

Businesses Turn to Multi-Vendor Software Developers for the Right Fit BI Solution
Smart software developers are providing business intelligence (BI) solutions across multi-vendors. This is providing the opportunity for organisations like DWS/SDM (DWS) to offer their clients solutions across all five stages of the data warehouse maturity scale. more



Passion for Efficiency Leads to New Acquisition for SDM
A business user’s passion for technology is often driven by their desire to do things in the shortest, most efficient time possible. As a long time client of SDM, George Freney understood the impact a smart solution has on a business and knows how to get the most out of the systems and data already available. more



Finding the Right Health Service Provider Made Easy
In mid 2007 the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) engaged Melbourne based consultancy firm Applied Aged Care Solutions* (AACS) to develop a common assessment approach across community and residential aged care. This included the refinement of the Australian Community Care Needs Assessment (ACCNA) and the Carer Eligibility Needs Assessment (CENA). In order to develop the solution AACS Managing Director Dr Richard Rosewarne turned to Strategic Data Management (SDM). more


April