Contractors Market
It
was relatively quiet for the contractors market in the beginning of January but
demand for contractors picked up towards the end of the month. Job ads
for developers, BAs and PMs picked up in the last week while job ads for
testers remain low. Januarys monthly average is lower than the same time
last year so itll be interesting to see where the market goes in the next few
months.
Permanents
Market
The
perms market, on the other hand, has shown improvement from the same time last
year. Demand for developers, BAs and testers picked up quite strongly in
the last week of January while demand for PMs is a lot lower than the last
quarter of 2012. Seād is also seeing more demand for perms than contractors.
As expected, demand for contractors took a dip over the holidays but demand for contractors in January 2012 is a lot lower than the same time last year. Job ads for developers and BAs have picked up towards the end of January but demand for PMs remains low compared to the last years stats.
The permanents market got off to a good start for 2012 compared to the same time last year. Its interesting to see that demand for developers, BAs and testers have all increased this week but demand for PMs is still tracking low.
Well just have to wait to see how the job market plays out over the next few months.
Seek ads for contractors are down this week but with only two weeks till Christmas thats not a surprise. Demand for contract project managers and testers are pretty strong though. The permanents market continues to slow down prior to Christmas. We expect strong demand for both contract and permanent BAs next year.
Contractors Market
Theres
more certainty after the elections and the contractors market is looking quite
positive. Job ads for project managers increased in early December which
indicates that employers are looking for project managers to start on new
projects next year. There was also strong demand for developers and BAs
in November to start on contracts before Christmas. We expect to get busy
quite early next year.
Permanents Market
The
permanents market is slowing down prior to the Christmas holidays but demand is
still stronger than the same time last year. The latest BNZ Confidence
Survey shows that business sentiment has been steady over the last three months
but there are still concerns about the European economy which can strongly
affect New Zealand business spending and hiring over the next few months.
The National Partys victory brings more certainty to the local markets and the New Zealand job market is expected to pick up next year. We are also seeing more clients hiring contractors for the next few months before committing to hiring perms next year. Demand for contract testers has dropped significantly in the last few weeks due to projects wrapping up before the holidays. Demand for testers is expected to pick up again from the second quarter of 2012 when more projects kick off in the first quarter. Theres steady demand for perms.
Total job ads for contractors drop again this week but weve been getting contracting opportunities in the last few weeks. Most contract roles were not advertised because we were able to find contractors within a short period of time. New projects are expected to start in early 2012 but its not all positive with the instability overseas. The perms market continues to slow down prior to the elections and holidays.
Total job ads for IT contractors are down this week but demand for the major IT roles are pretty steady. Most clients are looking for contractors to start in the New Year. The perms market also shows a decline in job ads which is most likely due to the elections and holiday season. Its good to see that job ads for perms are higher than this time last year.
The contractors market showed some improvement after the Rugby World Cup with close to 300 jobs on Seek in the first week of November. A lot of contractors are contracted to the end of the year so employers are now looking for contractors for the new year. Demand for developers and BAs took a big jump this week with 77 job ads for developers and 76 job ads for BAs on Seek. Job ads for projects managers, on the other hand, took a big dip on both Seek and Trade Me while job ads for testers are pretty steady.
The perms market is showing a slow down which is most likely due to the elections and upcoming holidays. Demand for developers and BAs are pretty strong though.
Now that weve won the Rugby World Cup again, peoples focus has moved to the elections and then theres Christmas after that... We wouldnt be surprised if businesses hold off their hiring plans till early 2012.
Contractors Market
Looking
at the contract job ads numbers, October was a pretty good month for developers
and BAs. Demand for project managers started off quite high in the
beginning of October but dropped towards the end of the month. Testers,
on the other hand, was in low demand in early October but job ads picked up in
the last couple of weeks.
Permanents Market
Job
ads for perms are also showing a slowdown compared to mid-2011 stats but the
numbers are still better than this time last year. Demand for the major
roles was pretty steady. Theres also positive news about New Zealands
technology firms posting a 5% overall increase in revenue this year. The
improving economy and skills shortages are expected to lead to salary increases
next year.
The contractors market improved this week with a big jump in job ads for developers. Demand for testers also improved while demand for PMs dropped. The permanents market is pretty steady with strong demand for developers and BAs. We've noticed a short supply of good developers in both the contractors and permanents market.
Total job ads for contractors take a drop again this week but its most likely due to the Rugby World Cup and employers not advertising for contract roles. Seāds been quite busy with new contract roles and we are looking for BAs and testers. The perms market is pretty steady and weve noticed a trend towards hiring more permanent staff.
Contractors Market
The contractors market was particularly affected by the Rugby World Cup with a 18% drop in total job ads on Seek in September, compared to August. Demand for project managers and testers were quite strong last month though. Demand for BAs and developers dropped in the beginning of September but picked up towards the end of the month. The contractors market is exprected to gradually improve over October and November before the Christmas break. However, with the uncertainty overseas, some businesses will be more cautious with their hiring plans.
Permanents Market
Stats for the permanents market were also down in September but demand for BAs was pretty strong with 138 jobs on Seek, the highest monthly average weve recorded in the last three years. Demand for testers and project managers dropped in the beginning of September put improved in the last two weeks. With the recent economic problems in the US and Europe, our economy is going to be affected next year by the worsening global outlook. However, there is still forecast for growth with the rebuilding of Christchurch and the ultra-fast broadband initiative.
Total job ads for contractors continue to drop during the World Cup but demand for contract project managers remains strong. Were seeing more permanent job opportunities in the Auckland market with strong demand for .Net developers and BAs. Overall, the ICT industry is experiencing growth and demand for both contractors and permanent staff is likely to continue to be strong for the rest of the year.
Stats for total IT contract job ads are still low for this week but its good to see that demand for project managers and testers are picking up. The permanents market has shown some improvement from last weeks stats. Demand for permanent BAs is pretty strong with 142 job ads on Seek and 79 job ads on Trade Me. Testers continue to be in strong demand this week.
The contractors market has taken a big dip in September and its most likely due to businesses putting projects on hold during the Rugby World Cup. Demand for contract testers has increased as a lot of projects started at the beginning of the year are approaching testing stage. The permanents market is also affected by the World Cup with a drop in total job ads on both Seek and Trade Me but demand for BAs remains strong. We're also seeing a lot of the activity in the pipeline.
Contractors Market
The
monthly average of total IT contract job ads in August dropped slightly on both
Seek and Trade Me. Demand for developers was pretty strong with over 60
job ads on Seek, the highest average recorded so far for 2011. The latest
BNZ Confidence Survey has revealed that some business activity has been put on
hold ahead of Rugby World Cup which has probably affected demand for
contractors.
Permanents
Market
Job ads in August were down for the permanents market as well.
However, September's BNZ Confidence Survey has shown a lift in confidence about
the state of the economy in a years time. A net 36% of respondents expect the
economy to be better in a years time, up from a net 22% in August. There
is also an increasing trend of businesses keeping their IT functions in-house
and hiring more permanent staff.
Seād Seminar on "Mobile Technology : Latest Trends, Who's Using It and How" was successfully held on Tuesday, 23 August 2011.
Thank you to everyone who attended and our speaker Luigi Cappel who entertained and informed us with insights into where mobile technology is going, who is using it and how.
A copy of Luigi's presentation is available for download here
Both the contractors and permanents market took a dip for the first week of August but demand for contract and permanent project managers remains strong. The latest debt crises in the US and Europe has affected business confidence in New Zealand with this weeks BNZ Confidence Survey showing falling optimism. On a more positive note, John Key and economists say that New Zealand is in a relatively good position to weather the latest global economic turmoil.
Contractors Market
The contractors market had a pretty good start for the second half of the year with over 330 job ads on Seek in July, the highest monthly average since 2006. There was strong demand for contract project managers and experienced BAs which indicates that more projects are kicking off.
Permanents Market
The permanents market continues to trend upwards with over 1430 job ads on Seek and 740 ads on Trade Me in July. Business surveys have found that there are strong hiring intentions for the next three months. Seād has noticed that there are fewer candidates applying for roles compared to six months ago. The latest BNZ Labour Market report also indicates that labour availability will tighten up quite rapidly next year so employers will need to have more focus on their staff retention strategies.
Total job ads for contractors are down this week but demand for project managers is strong. The perms market is doing pretty well with more job ads on both Seek and Trade Me and a high demand for BAs. NBNZs Business Outlook Survey for June also showed quite strong employment intentions in the coming three months with a net 10% of respondents planning to hire more people and IT is one of the areas expecting growth in demand.
Job ads for IT contractors on both Seek and Trade Me are up this week. Demand for BAs, PMs and testers are steady while demand for developers is down slightly. For the perms market, total job ads are up on Seek but down on Trade Me. Demand for developers takes a slight dip from last weeks high demand.
Seād's Movie Night was successfully held on Thursday, 14 July 2011. Over 120 Seād members and their families joined the Seād team for an exclusive screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Many thanks to everyone who braved the rain to make this event a success!
Photos are available for viewing on Seād's Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/SeadLtd
The stats are up again for the contractors market with high demand for PMs and developers. Its interesting to see that job ads for BAs on Seek continue to trend upwards while job ads on Trade Me take a dip. A large number of the recent job ads on Seek are for Senior BAs which indicates that there is a strong demand for experienced BAs. There are more good news for the perms market with over 1400 job ads on Seek and a lot of activity in the development space, over 325 jobs on Seek, the highest number we've recorded since 2009!
Contractors Market
June
was a pretty good month for IT contractors with an average of 312 job ads on
Seek and 157 job ads on Trade Me. There was high demand for developers and BAs
last month. Job ads for project managers dropped in early June but picked
up again towards the end of the month. The first week of July also shows
strong demand for PMs and developers.
Permanents
Market
The permanents market has been showing steady growth since the beginning
of this year and is looking very promising for the second half of 2011.
The total number of permanent IT job ads increased by 67% compared to June last
year. Seād has noticed that there are fewer candidates applying for IT
roles at the moment indicating a shortage of good candidates in the market.
Sead is pleased to announce that Carrie Jansz has joined the Sead team as Account Manager. Carrie brings with her over five years of IT recruitment experience working across various industries including local government, creative media, tourism and software development. In her new role at Seād, Carrie will be recruiting for both contract and permanent IT roles.
Seād Vendor Seminar on "Insurance for Contractors" was successfully held on Tuesday, 21 June 2011.
Thank you to everyone who attended and the US Advice team for making the event a success!
A special thanks to our guest speaker, Naomi Ballantyne of Partners Life for all the useful information and advice on insurance and KiwiSaver.
A copy of Naomi's presentation is available for download here.
MEDIA RELEASE
The Getting I.T. Right website initiative (www.gettingitright.co.nz) has this week launched its second phase which included a holistic framework that organisations can utilise to improve I.T. projects. The non-profit site was developed for the I.T. and business community to work together to improve I.T. in New Zealand.
The websites first phase was launched in March this year to generate more awareness of the poor state of projects in New Zealand and to offer best practices and proven methods for delivering successful projects. The site has received many comments, and the Getting I.T. Right Linkedin group is very active as a blog and discussion board.
The second phase offers a holistic framework that brings together the keys to success in a way that will help an organisation achieve its companywide strategic goals. The website now features ideas on organisational structure, responsibilities of the I.T. and management team, philosophies, certification and other measures that an organisation can follow to drive I.T. success.
Having travelled this far along the journey of how to get I.T. right, it seems that the majority of the key factors to delivering successful projects have fairly robust frameworks and methodologies. If these methods were followed the outcome should be OK, says Getting I.T. Right website founder Scott Groombridge.
The big question is are organisations allowing them to be done properly?. We believe that this is where the business owners, CEOs and senior managers come in to ensure that a holistic approach is taken for I.T. projects to achieve an organisations strategic goals.
The I.T. and business community can use the website as a reference site for delivering successful projects, provide feedback and discuss ideas.
Once the framework has been critiqued and finalised, the next step is to work with the relevant parties to push it out to businesses, via the I.T. community, business communities, professional bodies and a group of well-known IT leaders to be called Ambassadors.
Scott Groombridge added, By working together to improve I.T., we can improve organisations profitability and the New Zealand economy and make New Zealand one of the best I.T. shops in the world.
For further information contact:
Scott Groombridge
09 377 2044
scott@groombridge.co.nz
www.gettingitright.co.nz
Seād is pleased to announce that we have been selected as a finalist for this years Excellence in IT Recruitment Award.
The 2011 Excellence in IT Recruitment Award, sponsored by ITCRA, celebrates true excellence, considering factors such as customer service, ethics, training and innovation. The award is partly judged by CIOs.
The winner will be announced at the CIO Summit on 27 June along with the winners of the CIO of the Year and Emerging IT Talent Awards.
Contractors Market
Mays average number of job ads for contractors decreased on Seek but
increased on Trade Me. BAs were high in demand in May with close to 60
job ads on Seek. Demand for contract testers dropped following March
and Aprils strong demand. Seād also noticed higher demand for business
intelligence specialists, data analysts and developers. Overall, the
contractors market is looking fairly optimistic and is likely to remain
strong as the economy recovers more rapidly from mid-year.
Permanents Market
The perms market continued its upward trend in May with over 1200 jobs
on Seek and over 700 jobs on Trade Me. A lot of the increase was caused
by high demand for developers, BAs and PMs. However, demand for
testers dropped in May, reflecting the same situation as the contractors
market. Theres a lot of positivity in the perms market with expected
growth for the second half of the year. The latest MIS100 Report has
noted that one of the top 10 trends for 2011 is employees regaining
their edge. This year staff are on the move and employers are once
again placing strong emphasis on staff acquisition and retention.
Tuesday 21 June 2011, Auckland Mercure Hotel
Seād in conjunction with Us Advice and Partners Life will be hosting a seminar to cover an area that is close to every contractors heart insurance.
Many have recognised the importance, but dont know where to turn. Seād would like to assist you by providing a short and sharp overview of this and other subjects to ensure you can make an informed decision about what to watch out for and where to get best advice.
The presentation, hosted by guest speaker Naomi Ballantyne, will focus on three areas:
ACC and Income
Protection - Insuring your Biggest Asset
You probably have insured your $10,000 car, but what about
your annual income?
Do you rely on ACC to be covered when you cant work?
Have you ever considered income protection? What are your options?
KiwiSaver - To join or
not to join, thats the question
How will the latest changes impact you?
Is KiwiSaver still a good option?
Does your adviser
provide good advice?
Soft dollar incentives / up front commissions / sales
quotas
Have you ever wondered if your adviser has your best
interest at heart?
About
the Speaker
Naomi Ballantyne has over 28 years experience in the New Zealand Life Insurance
Industry and was a founding employee of Sovereign, now New Zealands largest
life insurance provider. During her 11 years at Sovereign, Naomi rose
through the ranks to become Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for
over 600 staff. In 2001, she founded her own insurance company Club
Life. She sold Club Life to ING NZ in early 2004 and remained as Managing
Director for over five years during which period ING Life experienced rapid
growth to become the second largest life company in New Zealand by new business
market share. She resigned from ING Life in 2009 and founded US Advice, a unique concept for the provision of financial
advice to New Zealand families. She is now in the middle of building her
third life insurance company, Partners Life Limited alongside Sovereign founder
Chris Coon. Naomi has a reputation for tackling the tough issues and
being honest and upfront about both the potential of and the problems facing
todays financial services industry. She is also a sought-after
motivational speaker, inspiring audiences with the personal stories behind the
success.
Date: Tuesday,
21 June 2011
Time: 5.30pm to 7.30pm
(5:30pm Drinks and Networking, 6:00pm - Speaker starts)
Where: Mercure Auckland
Hotel, 8 Customs Street, Auckland CBD
Cost:
Complimentary
RSVP: Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz by Friday, 17 June
2011.
Contractors Market
April was an interesting month for the contractors market. Job ads were up on Seek and down on Trade Me. Demand for developers, PMs, BAs and testers were pretty strong last month but most of the increase in job ads was on Seek while Trade Me only had an increase in job ads for testers compared to Marchs stats. We have also noticed a trend over the last month that good contractors have more job offers on the table and clients that move too slow miss out.
Permanents Market
The perms job market has been quite strong with over 1100 jobs on Seek and over 700 jobs on Trade Me for the last three months. Again, demand for testers was very high in April with over 100 job ads on Seek and over 60 job ads on Trade Me, the highest numbers weve recorded in the last two years. Demand for PMs was also very high which indicates that the economy is improving.
We are pleased to announce that Seād's seminar on "Capabilities for
Success" which was originally planned for 16 March has now been rescheduled
for Wednesday, 11 May.
Capabilities
for Success
SOA, EOA, COA, SCA, EA, TA, ESB ... every year the IT alphabet soup thickens. But what do you really need to do? Where should you start? How can you effectively get ready for things like legacy systems replacement, outsourcing and the cloud? The starting point is knowing the "what", being able to clearly identify the business transactions that take place and that you require, and being able to prioritise them.
At this Seād seminar, Paulo Rocha will discuss how that can be done without spending years in analysis, and also how modelling with capabilities can help you shrink legacy systems to their core functionality so to reduce the complexity of replacement projects.
In addition, we will discuss how you can, using capabilities, reduce the complexity of a project by partitioning them into smaller autonomous sub-projects that can be procured independently, therefore increasing the chance of project success.
About the Speaker
Paulo Rocha is a highly experienced Enterprise and Solution Architect, with a strong software development background. He has been involved with information technology for over 25 years, covering a range of industry sectors including Finance and Insurance, Retail and Healthcare IT. For more than 10 years now, Paulo has been assisting organisations with IT Strategy and Planning, Enterprise Architecture, Business Benefit Analysis, IT Governance, Solution Architecture and Software Development Lifecycle. He has also been an active speaker at the Microsoft TechEd events since 1999.
Date: Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Time: 5.30pm to 7.30pm (5.30 - drinks and networking, 6pm - presentation
starts)
Venue: Mercure Auckland Hotel, 8 Customs Street, Auckland CBD
RSVP: Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz
by Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Contractors Market
With the economy improving, the contractors job market is looking very positive and we are seeing more activity in the Auckland market. Job ads for March may have dropped slightly compared to Februarys stats but the market is still pretty steady. Demand for testers also continues its upward trend. A number of organisations are kicking off large-scale projects so demand for contractors will be strong for the next few months.
Permanents Market
The permanents job market has not been greatly affected by the February earthquake. Theres also growth optimism for the US economy which is good news for the New Zealand economy. The job ad stats were steady for March with demand for the major IT roles remaining higher than the last quarter of 2010. Seād is also seeing a shortage of testers so if you are a tester please keep your availability date up-to-date on Seads new recruitment system so we can contact you when job opportunities arise. If you know any good testers, refer them to Seād.
Event has been cancelled due to guest speaker illness.
Wednesday 16 March 2011, Mercure Auckland Hotel
Seād's complimentary "Latest in IT" Seminar Series provides insight into the latest IT and business trends and how they can deliver greater results for organisations.
For our first 2011 seminar, we have invited highly experienced Enterprise and Solution Architect and Microsoft TechEd Speaker, Paulo Rocha to present on Capabilities for Success.
The seminar will be held from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, on Wednesday, 16 March 2011 at the Mercure Auckland Hotel.
Seats are limited so RVSP to Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz by Monday, 7 March 2011.
Capabilities for Success
SOA,
EOA, COA, SCA, EA, TA, ESB ... every year the IT alphabet soup thickens. But
what do you really need to do? Where should you start? How can you effectively
get ready for things like legacy systems replacement, outsourcing and the
cloud? The starting point is knowing the "what", being able to
clearly identify the business transactions that take place and that you
require, and being able to prioritise them.
At this Seād seminar, Paulo Rocha will discuss how that can be done without spending years in analysis, and also how modelling with capabilities can help you shrink legacy systems to their core functionality so to reduce the complexity of replacement projects.
In addition, we will discuss how you can, using capabilities, reduce the complexity of a project by partitioning them into smaller autonomous sub-projects that can be procured independently, therefore increasing the chance of project success.
About the Speaker
Paulo Rocha is a highly experienced Enterprise and Solution
Architect, with a strong software development background. He has been involved
with information technology for over 25 years, covering a range of industry
sectors including Finance and Insurance, Retail and Healthcare IT. For more
than 10 years now, Paulo has been assisting organisations with IT Strategy and
Planning, Enterprise Architecture, Business Benefit Analysis, IT Governance,
Solution Architecture and Software Development Lifecycle. He has also been
an active speaker at the Microsoft TechEd events since 1999.
Date: Wednesday 16 March 2011
Time: 5.30pm to 7.30pm (5.30 - drinks and
networking, 6pm - presentation starts)
Venue: Mercure Auckland Hotel, 8
Customs Street, Auckland CBD
RSVP:
Norma
Lum at events@sead.co.nz by Monday,
7 March 2011
You are welcome to bring along a colleague but all attendees must RSVP.
Seād is throwing an exclusive party for Seād members and their partners to celebrate the holiday season.
Food and drinks will be provided free of charge so come along and join the Seād Team and your fellow Seād members for some holiday cheer!
Thursday 9 December 2010
5.30pm till late
Bungalow 8 Bar
Cnr Market Place and Customs Street West
Auckland CBD
Dress Code: Semi-formal
RSVP to Norma at events@sead.co.nz
Please include your partner's full name if they are coming along.
The 2010 Auckland Down Syndrome Association Golf Day will be held at Manukau Golf Club on Sunday, 21st November and Seād is sponsoring a hole at the event.
The Ambrose format event has been very popular over the past 8 years with approximately 150 players taking part from all walks of life. The golf is preceded by a barbeque and followed by a light dinner, charity auction and prize-giving and this year there is a $26,000 Holden Cruze on offer for a Hole-In-One! The proceeds from the day go towards enhancing the lives of people with Down syndrome. If you would like to enter a team, sponsor a hole or make a prize donation please visit the ASDA website: http://www.adsa.org.nz/
Google Apps for the Enterprise
5.30pm 7.30pm, Wednesday 11 August 2010
Discover how innovation from Google can change your business for the better!
Teaming up with Google Apps Reseller and online collaboration specialists, WaveAdept, Seād has organized a complimentary seminar on Google Apps and other innovative tools from Google.
Rapid technology innovation is transforming how we work, the way we access and share information, and the way we collaborate and communicate with each other in real-time. Featuring guest speaker, Richard Achee, Head of Mid-Market Sales, Google Enterprise, Asia Pacific, this seminar will share some insight into Google's vision for cloud computing and demonstrate how the lessons learned from the consumer IT landscape can lead us through the next wave of Enterprise IT innovation.
Seāds Latest in IT Seminar on Wednesday 11 August at the Mercure Auckland Hotel will help you understand the potential of Google Apps and other innovative tools from Google and the significant difference they can make to businesses.
Seats are limited so RSVP to Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz by Monday, 26 July 2010.
Google Apps for the Enterprise Seminar
Date: Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Time: 5.30pm to 7.30pm (5:30pm Drinks and Networking, 6:00pm Speaker starts)
Venue: Mercure Auckland Hotel, 8 Customs Street, Auckland CBD.
RSVP: RSVP to Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz by Monday, 26 July 2010.
Free One-On-One Sessions
In addition to Seāds Seminar, Google and WaveAdept are offering free one-on-one sessions on Wednesday 11 August and Thursday 12 August 2010. If you would like to meet with the team to discuss about how your business can benefit from Google Apps and other Google innovation, contact Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz.
Seād's "Latest in IT" Seminar Series provides you with insight on the latest IT and business trends and how they can deliver greater results for your organisation.
Our next seminar on Service Oriented Architecture - Friend or Foe? will be held on Wednesday 23 June, featuring Lukas Svoboda, Group IS Enterprise Manager and Head Enterprise Architect of Mighty River Power.
Service Oriented Architecture - Friend or Foe?
Service Oriented Architecture (or "SOA") is a concept that has been around a while - several years ago it was the big buzz word before "the cloud". Some organisations have embraced the concept and used it to drive significant IT change - especially around introducing flexibility and decreasing the total cost of IT. Meanwhile, many other organisations have struggled to use SOA and see any real benefit.
This session will help to dispel the myths and legends of SOA and will concentrate on explaining why SOA can make a significant difference to legacy IT environments. This session will further drill into the relation between "the cloud" and SOA as well as examining why the premise of SOA is still important today.
About The Speaker
Lukas Svoboda is a manager, acclaimed architect and innovator in the New Zealand IT community. He has over 15 years in the IT industry and has significant experience in consulting, designing and managing systems for corporates, software vendors, IT start-ups and public sector organizations. For many years, Lukas has been an advocate for Service Oriented Architecture as a tool to drive IT cost reductions and improve the flexibility of IT landscapes. He also writes the Blog "The Strategic Architect" (www.thestrategicarchitect.com) focused on User Technologies, IT Architecture, Strategy and Governance.
Date: Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Time: 5.30pm to 7.30pm (5:30pm Drinks and Networking, 6:00pm - Speaker starts)
Where: The Auckland Club, Dorchester Building, 34 Shortland Street, Auckland.
RSVP to Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz by Friday, 18 June 2010.
Seāds first seminar for 2010 will be held on Thursday, 11 March 2010 at the Auckland Club and we have invited well-known former ASB Bank chief economist, Anthony Byett to present an economic outlook for the year.
Economic Outlook 2010: Rebound, Reshape and Re-risk
Once again we reach a turning point, a time to take stock of where we are at and consider where we are heading next. Economic growth is very likely this year possibly strong economic growth but the global financial crisis will have lingering impacts: on employment patterns, on pricing behaviour, on spending patterns, on interest rates and on exchange rates. This presentation will review the major driving forces on the economy, provide anecdotes illustrating where these forces are impacting locally and get you well on the way to position ahead of the crowd for 2010. The future may not be known but it need not be surprising.
About the Speaker
Anthonys passion is economics. He has spoken widely directly and through the media to audiences from many walks of life. Formerly Chief Economist with ASB Bank, Anthony today consults to corporates on financial market risk and economic trends, lectures on finance to MBA participants, provides economic commentary at industry and company events, and generally assists small businesses and individuals with currency risk. Anthony is also the voice of www.fxmatters.co.nz, a blog that provides opinion on the NZ Dollar for exporters, importers and investors.
Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: The Auckland Club, 34 Shortland Street, Auckland
RSVP to Norma Lum at events@sead.co.nz
Seāds Christmas Party will be held on Saturday, 28 November 09. Zoo entry passes, a BBQ and drinks will be provided free of charge.
All Seād candidates and their families are welcome to attend, whether you are working on a Seād contract or not.
The RSVP Deadline has been extended to Tuesday, 10 November 09, 5pm. Please email Norma at events@sead.co.nz to let us know if youre coming as we need to organise the catering.
Seāds Christmas Party is organised for Seād members and their families to enjoy a great day of fun with the Seād team and it is a great opportunity to network with other Seād members.
Date: Saturday 28 November 09
Time: 11:30am 2.30pm
Venue: The Elephant House, Auckland Zoo
RSVP: Norma at events@sead.co.nz by 5pm, Tuesday 10 November.
Please include your family members names and your childrens ages in your email.
We look forward to seeing you and your family there.
Rocket Projects Launch - Keynote Speaker, Len Brown
Seāds new sister company, Rocket Projects Launch Event will be held on Wednesday 4 November 09, featuring keynote speaker Len Brown, Auckland Supercity Mayoral candidate.
Date: Wednesday 4 November 2009
Time: 5.30pm 7.30pm
Venue: Main Dining Room, The Auckland Club, Dorchester Building, 34 Shortland Street, Auckland.
RSVP to Norma at events@sead.co.nz by Friday 23 October 2009.
Event Topic: Leading the growth of business development in the new super city Mayor of Manukau and candidate for the new Auckland council mayoralty Len Brown will give an address outlining the importance of properly managing business development in the new super city to control costs, timeframe and risk. Len Brown will outline his vision for economic growth by discussing how the new council can work with businesses such as Rocket Projects to manage project developments and create a wealthy, innovative and exciting city. He will discuss the importance of infrastructure and education to Auckland's future and cover the leadership style and values that will be important in the new city.
About the Speaker
Prior to entering politics, Len Brown was a partner at the Auckland law firm of Wynyard Wood. He also co-founded the Howick Free Legal Service. He was first elected to the Manukau City council in 1992, serving as a councillor until 2004. He also served as chairperson of the Counties Manukau Health Council. Len ran for the Manukau City mayoralty in 2004, losing by a narrow 600 votes to long serving mayor Sir Barry Curtis. He ran for a second time for the Manukau mayoralty in 2006, winning the contest by more than 14,000 votes over his nearest challenger. In August 2009, Len announced his candidacy for the mayoralty of the new Auckland Supercity council at the 2010 local body elections.
Seminar Topic: MIS100 Report
The MIS100 Report is an annual survey of New Zealand's top 100 companies and largest ICT users. Rob O'Neill will present the results of this research project that will highlight the ICT projects, staffing, priorities and challenges of the country's major IT users and the top business trends of the year.
This research was conducted in April, after the global financial crisis struck, so Rob will also contrast 2009 results with those of 2008.
This seminar is sure to help you stay on top of what's happening in the IT industry and build your network with like-minded people.
About the Speaker
Rob O'Neill is the current editor of Computerworld, New Zealand's leading ICT newspaper and has 20 years experience in the media industry. He has previously been a business writer for The Independent, managing editor of MIS Australia and New Zealand, deputy editor for the technology section at the Sydney Morning Herald and chief analyst of Fairfax Business Research.
Date: Thursday, 23 July 2009
Time: 5.30pm to 7.00pm (5:30pm - Drinks and Networking, 6:00pm - Speaker starts)
Where: The Auckland Club, 34 Shortland Street, Auckland
Seats are limited. Please RSVP to Norma at events@sead.co.nz by 5pm, Tuesday 14 July 2009 to make sure you don't miss out. You are welcome to invite a colleague or send this invitation to another person who would be interested in attending but all attendees should register.
Sead's Latest in IT Seminar on "MIS100 Report" was held last Thursday - another successful event! Special thanks to our guest speaker Rob O'Neill for presenting the results of the latest MIS100 research. It's good to know what's happening in the NZ IT industry! Rob's presentation is now available for download.
Seād's having an exclusive screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for Seād members!
When: Friday, 17 July 09
Time: 6.30pm
Where: Cinema 9, SkyCity Cinemas, Queen Street, Auckland
Seād members - Check your inbox for the invitation or email events@sead.co.nz for more info.
Presentation PDF now available for download.
The first seminar of our "Latest in IT" Seminar Series will be held on Thursday 14 May 2009 at the Auckland Club, featuring guest speaker Eli Weir, current IT Innovation and Ventures Manager of Air New Zealand.
Seminar Topic: Moving Past The Information Age
How will Cloud Computing affect your business? What exactly is "Enterprise 2.0"? How should you organise, reward and manage your people? What kinds of people should you be looking for in the first place, and where will you find them?
We live in remarkable times, with accelerating rates of change in market, economy, technology and social paradigms. The ability to adapt and change is now one of the important factors necessary for success. Eli Weir links a variety of themes - agile and lean principles, social networks and media, the commoditisation and abstraction of information technology, the importance of innovation - in a discussion of how we can best position ourselves for success.
This is a session that is sure to challenge and inspire...
When: Thursday, 14 May 2009. 5.30pm to 7.00pm (Speaker starts at 6:00pm)
Where: The Auckland Club, 34 Shortland Street, Auckland.
This is a complimentary seminar for Sead Members. Please RSVP to norma.lum@sead.co.nz
The next Seād beer/pizza night - "How to Protect Your Wealth and Assets in this Market" presented by Janet Xuccoa will be held on 11th February 2009.
Janet will talk about dealing with bankers, minimizing your tax, looking at opportunities to grow your wealth and of course, protecting what has been grown already.
This is a free event for Seād members and will be held at the Drake Tavern, behind Victoria Park Market, on Wednesday, 11th February. Doors (and drinks) will open at 5:30pm and the speaker will start at 6pm. Please feel free to bring a friend or colleague.
Please RSVP to info@sead.co.nz by Friday 30th January so that we know the numbers to cater for.
The Seād Christmas Party went off without a hitch on Saturday and we got the perfect day weather wise. Everyone had a great time and it was a very relaxed day with some families using the Old Elephant house as a base and others settling in and sending their kids off! Thanks to all those that helped - we estimate that we had approx 150 guests!
"Most Project Managers approach each project the same old way, regardless of the project's needs or environment. It's time to challenge this approach, shake things up and be Extreme!"
Welcome to the PMI New Zealand National Conference 2008!
This event is PMI NZ's 14th National Conference and is your opportunity to gain the education, tools and best practices you need to support your projects and organisation.
Look out for the Seād teams' booth at the event!
The next Seād beer/pizza night - "Radical (or Agile) Project Management".
The event is to be held at the Drake Tavern, behind Victoria Park Market, on Wednesday, 27th August. This a free event for Sead members, doors (and drinks) will open at 5:30pm and the speaker will start at 6pm.
The last event was a great success and we're already getting a good response for this event.
Please RSVP to info@sead.co.nz for you and your friend by Friday 1st August so that we know the numbers to cater for.
Sead will be holding another regular event, this time on the Agile software development methodology on Wednesday 4th June in the evening and another in a few weeks after that on PMOs. If you are inetrested in attending please send an email to info@sead.co.nz.
It is always interesting to hear first hand from an industry expert on how things are. Thanks to Miles Flower from Advice Financial for updating us on the financial market and housing market, and how to take advantage of where they currently are at. It was also great to get an update on Kiwisaver, especially from a contractors perspective.
This years Sead Christmas Party was definitely better than last years! The Elephant House was fantatsic and even though there was a bit of rain to start it cleared up and we almost had the Zoo to ourseleves as most of the public had left fearing a downpour! Thanks to those who helped, it was greatly appreciated.
Breaking news - we have set the date for the Sead End of Year Party - Sunday, 4th of November at the Auckland City Zoo. Please put this date in your calendar. More details to follow.
What a great night - highly topical and a huge amount of interest from the Sead team. If you would like more information please contact myself or Don Bendall at Bendall and Cant on 309 2040 or don.bendall@bcca.co.nz
The Technical Communicators Association of New Zealand presents their 2007 Conference with a focus on the interplay between information design, user interaction and usability.
For more details please go to www.tcanz.org.nz
A big thanks to Clinton Arnold for his presentation on PMI vs Prince2. The audience was broken into 3 camps - those with PMI, thos with Prince2 and Not which enivitable caused a very amusing and insightful look at the need for project management training. Please contact me for the presentation.
Thanks Marty - that was a great night and really stimulated peoples thoughts. I really does make you wonder about the role of the BA given that IT started with simple projects and now they can be so large and complex. Dont worry - I firmly believe there will always be a place on my projects for a BA!
Todd has also provided some supporting information - please go to http://www.infoq.com/articles/eric-evans-ddd-matters-today - an interesting article on domain-driven design.
Wanted: 20 analysts itching for formal recognition
New Zealand business analyst exam will be organised for June or July, provided 20 interested candidates can be found
Formal business analyst certification will come to New Zealand later this year if 20 people can be found to sit the examination here. The International Institution of Business Analysts (IIBA) created the exam for the qualification of Certified Business Analysis Professional for the first time last year. The first exam was conducted in Florida in November. Having proved the exercise on this limited basis, the institution is rolling it out worldwide.
The New Zealand exam will be organised for June or July, provided 20 interested candidates can be found.
The Institutions New Zealand chapter canvassed its membership through an emailed newsletter early last week, and replies have already started coming in, says spokesman Jonathan Anderson.
The institutions definition of a business analyst is a person who works as a liaison among stakeholders in order to elicit, analyse, communicate and validate requirements for changes to business processes, policies and information systems. The business analyst understands business problems and opportunities in the context of the requirements and recommends solutions that enable the organisation to achieve its goals.
But the institution says it welcomes those whose job includes requirements analysis, systems analysis, project control, consulting or a variety of related fields.
An application form can be downloaded from the IIBAs website (www.theiiba.org).
Sead is now over 200 project people strong and growing steadily. To celebrate we have sent out movie tickets to all our people as a big thanks for making Sead what it is today and helping us to grow and continuing to strengthen the business model.
A big thanks to Todd Brackley for is seminar on Ruby on Rails - an agile project method and tool. It was a great night and very thought provoking, which meant a very participative audience. Everyone had a great time and it would be appropriate that the next speech picks up on a similar type thread - the use of the BA - to be held 2nd May 2007. Please contact admin@sead.co.nz for more details.
As you can see the new website has been launched. It provides much richer functionality for both our people and our clients along with applying our new branding. Our people can add a lot more detail about themselves so that clients can more easily find the right match and we have also added a client login so that our clients can now get direct access to our people.
We have put the client quick user guide on the Helpful Info page.
What a great day!!! - over 80 people turned up and the weather was fantastic and the new tiger, Molek, said hello! Dave has put some photos on the website if you are interested. Thanks to all those who helped and cooking for 80 people is no easy task! Merry Christmas everyone!
Sead held the Testing 101 After 5 Seminar last week and it was a great success - we had great feedback from the attendees on the quality of the speaker, the relevance of the topic and the format of the presentation.
We look forward to planning the next seminar which is likely to be held early in February 2007.
The Project People Awards - The winners are Jason Langis and his nomination for Sonya Parangi: "I nominate Sonya Parangi for Best Actress. She has done a great job on the project. She helped tremendously getting members of my team up to speed on the product so we could effectively test it. She helped us out when we lost a resource. She always does a good job and is very professional."
Thank you Jason for the nomination and congratulations Sonya for your outstanding efforts - a true Sead project person. I will arrange to drop off your iPods directly. The responses we got were great and was really good to see the fantastic things the Sead people are doing out there and making such a big impact to their projects.
Everyone - from those close to retirement to new graduates -can benefit from the predicted IT job crunch, says Jennifer McAdams
The massive looming exodus of baby boomers from the workforce doesn't represent a mere changing of the guard. Both younger IT workers and seasoned executives can ride a tidal wave of opportunity, as long as they think strategically.
As the boomers start retiring, and demand for their skills increases, seasoned IT workers will be able to leverage their experience big time. One way to do that is to broker a deal around the crafting of an extensive exit report or interview, says Yang Lee, associate professor of information, operations and analysis at Northeastern University in Boston.
Departing baby boomers will hold all the cards as corporate officials scramble for information, Lee says. They'll be asking questions such as:
"Do you know where the information is? Do you know how I should do such anSlstirh? How did workers do this when you were here?", she says.
Exiting baby boomers will also be able to draw on their vast knowledge of the plethora of platforms that existed before the IT industry consolidated down to just a few operating systems from major vendors, experts say.
"It is much harder to find IT professionals with complex systems engineering skills and experience," says Peter George, chief technology officer at Kronos, a workforce management company. Fading fast is experience with database systems, and middleware and development tools from companies such as IBM, Sun and the former Digital and Data General, he says.
Continued reliance on mainframes will also buoy the careers of retiring IT workers, says Don Pate, chief executive of mainframe software and services company Neon Enterprise Software. "There are areas where the IBM mainframe is still alive and well," he says.
For that reason, IT workers will be able to bargain for deals based on their experience with programming languages like Cobol and assembler. Expertise with IBM-specific operating systems, such as DB2, z/OS and VSAM, will also be in high demand, Pate says.
"It's hard to find [institutes] that teach Cobol or older data-access methods," says Tony Connor of recruitment firm Spherion.
For workers new to the field it will be important to think ahead, advises Paul Groce, a partner at New York-based executive search company Christian & Timbers. "Plot your career based on what the CIO of the future will look like," he says.
According to Groce, a template for the CIO track of the future may look something like this: hone application development skills; move into an infor
mation architecture area; jockey for a senior operations position abroad, an return ready to grab the top IT post.
Playing the field is another option.
"Become a free agent. High-impact workers will change jobs every two to four years, sometimes more frequent y," says Jim Lanzalotto, vice president of strategy at Yoh Services, a talent outsourcing service in Philadelphia.
For IT workers of all generations, honing basic engineering skills will also be crucial.
Eligible self-employed people will be able to apply for paid parental leave from 1 July 2006 this year.
The leave has been extended to help self-employed parents with new babies, and those planning to adopt children under the age of six.
Paid parental leave payments will equal the self-employed parents average weekly earnings over the last six or 12 months, up to a current maximum of $357.30 a week before tax.
Self-employed parents who choose to take up paid parental leave will have to stop working while they receive payments. However, they will be able to continue to oversee their business, by engaging in occasional administrative tasks like GST returns.
For more information about paid parental leave for the self employed visit www.ers.dol.govt.nz/parentalleave/self- employed/
A sead project person was kind enough to send me an email about the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis). They are an international association set up to develop BA standards and certification, much like PMI for Project Managers. The New Zealand chapter was very successfully launched on the 4th May in Wellington (attended by over 200 people), and the first meeting of the Auckland chapter is on the 18th May. There's more info at http://www.iiba.org.nz check it out! (I have allso added this URL to our links page)
Sead signed up its 100th contractor last month and to celebrate we bought all our contractors a double movie pass to a Berkley cinema. The response has been wonderful and everyone seems to have really enjoyed the small gift. Wait until we get our 200th person.....!!!
The Government has released new tax rules effective from 1 April 2006. These are likely to affect you - so please check them out in the "Other info" section.
