09 | 2011

ADELAIDE

AUCKLAND

BRISBANE

CANBERRA

MELBOURNE

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SYDNEY

Inside this issue

01/ Welcome from the CEO 02/ NSC Group acquires WA-based businesses 05/ Award-winning RAD Carrier Ethernet Demarcation unit now available from NSC 07/ Stephen Johnson now on the beat for NSC 09/ Citrix selects NSC for India expansion 12/ NSC Group wins regional Avaya award

Cover credits: kignificant change in the business communications landscape in Australia and New Zealand. This is because BREEZE is a fixed-price, pay-as-you-go means of implementing communications: customers dont own the expenditure.

01/ converge 09/2011

welcome
Changing the business communications landscape
Im very pleased to announce that NSC has now launched our Communication-as-a-Service offering. Weve called it BREEZE because it will make implementing unified communications simple, hasslefree and cost effective. Twelve months in development, BREEZE represents a very significant change in the business communications landscape in Australia and New Zealand. This is because BREEZE is a fixed-price, pay-as-you-go means of implementing communications: customers dont own the infrastructure, so theres no need for capital expenditure. NSC takes responsibility for all hardware, software, upgrades and management, leaving customers free to focus on their core business. Although BREEZE can be implemented in organisations of any size, we believe that it will be of particular interest to medium-size organisations. As someone who has built a business from scratch, I know how challenging it can be to fund investments in technology as an organisation grows. BREEZE is NSCs commitment to supporting other growing companies. As we approach the end of the financial year, Ive been encouraged by what NSC has achieved in the past 12 months as Australian business responds to very mixed economic signals. While Australia fared much better than many other developed economies during the GFC, its clear that many sectors are facing challenges in what is generally conceded to be a two speed economy. In this context, NSG Group will achieve a modest year-on-year revenue growth for the year ended June 30, 2011. However, its been a watershed year for NSC with respect to our services-based revenues. Our services revenues will record an 18% growth and represent more than 50% of our total revenue streams, a first in the financial history of the company. At NSC we pride ourselves in the quality of staff we employ and the environment in which we employ them. This is evidenced by our sound staff retention ratios and the continual expansion we have experienced in staff numbers, which now proudly stands at 205 across the group. Regards, Craig Neil Managing Director NSC Group

09/2011 converge /02

NSC Group acquires WA-based businesses

In recent months, NSC Group has acquired several Perth-based businesses as part of a strong and ongoing commitment to Western Australia. Our commitment is to be the best-skilled, best-resourced, most financially stable and most technically advanced communications integrator in Western Australia, said NSC Group Managing Director, Mr. Craig Neil. Our recent acquisitions support that goal.

PABX Service GrouP (PSG)

At the beginning of the year, NSC acquired Perth-based company PABX Service Group (PSG). Established 10 years ago, PSG specialises in providing IP telephony and data networking solutions to the Western Australia market. The company has a strong customer base spanning healthcare, government, manufacturing, hospitality and mining t segments across the entire state. According to NSC Managing Director, Mr. Craig Neil, the skill set and customerorientated culture of PSG was a very good fit with NSC. PSG has built a great reputation in the local market and ideologically; their executive team shares the same focus on best practice and customer servics NSCs, said Mr. Neil. The integration of PSG staff members into the NSC fold has been completed, with former PSG director Nick Iellamo expressing delight with the outcome of the acquisition for his team and his customers.

NSC Group blows the case for infrastructure ownership away with BREEZE
The business communications landscape changed this month when NSC Group announced the launch of Breeze, a first-ofkind Communications-as-a-Service offering, aimed at blowing away many of the onerous costs, complexity and overheads associated with infrastructure ownership. Breeze from NSC is an outsource model that delivers the latest in IP Telephony and Unified Communications systems to every desk top on a pay-as-you-go basis, cutting costs down to a fixed price, per user. There is no need for businesses to own even a single box or software license, as the responsibility for all hardware, software and management rests with NSC, and all systems and upgrades are delivered under a guaranteed Quality of Service. Under the unique Breeze model, customers sign a single contract with NSC to cover all communications infrastructure, software, user devices and services. There are no additional third-party finance contracts, no complex bundles and no obligation to use any specific telecommunications provider.communications

Zi-ArGuS (WA)
Last month, NSC Group acquired the data-networking business of industrialautomation provider ZIARGUS (WA) Pty

03/ converge 09/2011

Award-winning
NSC Group, a RAD Data Communications premier Australian partner, is pleased to announce the availability in Australia of the ETX-203A Carrier Ethernet network termination unit. It was recently awarded the 2010 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Price Performance Value Leadership. The award endorses the ETX-203A as a feature-rich, comprehensive solution at an extremely competitive price. The Frost & Sullivan award is given annually to a company whose product is judged by the analyst organisation to best suit market and its clients needs based upon price competitiveness, features, ease of use of the product and the service effectiveness of the company. Frost & Sullivan said that the ETX-203A has reset the average selling price of Carrier Ethernet demarcation devices without compromising on features and is one of the most feature-rich products on the market. Frost & Sullivan said that the ETX-203A comprehensively

RAD Carrier Ethernet Demarcation unit now available from NSC

addresses service-provider requirements in the areas of traffic management, service creation, SLA assurance, device management and lifecycle cost optimisation. RAD introduced the ETX-203A in September 2010 as a game changing solution that lowers the capex barrier for service providers in the business-services market. The network termination unit is based on RADs inhouse developed EtherAccess Carrier Ethernet ASIC, which enables RAD to offer the ETX-203A at a highly competitive price and on a licensing-based pay-as-yougrow basis. Receiving a prestigious award such as this is not only an honour, but a validation of RADs approach to the Carrier Ethernet market, said Matt Sully, NSC Network Solutions. NSC is bringing the ETX-203A to the Australian market specifically to deliver the benefits of RADs EtherAccess technology at a price point that removes financial obstacles for service providers who want to offer Ethernet business services.

09/2011 converge /04

Receiving a prestigious award such as this is not only an honour, but a validation of RADs approach to the Carrier Ethernet market.

Citrix selects NSC for India expansion

NSC Group has been selected by Citrix Systems as its prime voice-infrastructure partner for the design, implementation and management of its voice solution across Asia Pacific. A new telephony solution has been designed to meet Citrixs expansion plans for India, which includes the addition of new locations for research and development teams in Bangalore. Over the next five years Citrix plans to invest around $US200 million in the new R&D centres, which will eventually accommodate more than 1500 people. The Avaya solution from NSC includes three gateways, Avaya Communication Manager 5, Modular Messaging, AES, Elite agent and a range of headsets, softphones and IP phones. An Avaya S8800 LSP media gateway will service an additional 600 users in Bangalore and will be controlled and managed from Citrixs Sydney headquarters. 05/ converge 09/2011 As we continue to rapidly expand our desktop and application virtualization business, we need a business partner that delivers us the latest in voice technologies, said Stuart Driver, Director, IT Services, Citrix. NSC has been able to meet and exceed our requirements not only in India, but throughout the Pacific region. As part of our commitment to going that extra mile for our customers, NSC is pleased to act as the Asia Pacific arm of Citrixs virtual Voice Architecture team, said Craig Neil, Managing Director, NSC Group. Our role includes leading roadmapping and technology discovery sessions, solution design and implementation management, as well as providing ongoing support. The new R&D facility in Bangalore is the first in a range of projects that will be managed by NSC as Citrix continues to expand its APSAC presence.

Stephen Johnson on the beat

Helping businesses connect their communications systems with the internet super highway is a long way from keeping the peace on the streets of the Redfern in Sydneys inner-city, but Stephen Johnson has carved out an admirable career in both. Recently appointed as the NSW State Sales Manager for NSC Group, Stephen started his career in the NSW Police Force. After nearly five years, he made the move from the beat to business, joining James Hardie for seven years in sales and business development. Stephens entree to the telecommunications industry began in 1995 when he joined Alcatel. Starting as an Account Manager, Stephen steadily progressed through the organisation to become Regional Manager in Melbourne. He participated in the formation of ICT-integrator Integ, where his leadership skills and strong customer focus provided significant year on year growth. During his tenure, Stephen helped Integ to secure several major projects including large scale deployments for the
Freedo

BREEZE

m to ge t on wit h busin ess

Is the and mainta cost of delivering, m anaging ining systems lim complex communica tions iting your bu siness pote ntial? NSC Group, Australias leading co integrator mmunicatio now brings ns you Breeze easy and co . A simple st eective Unied Co way to prov , mmunicatio ide ns and Cont act Ce services wi thin your bu ntre siness. Find out m ore at www. nsc.net.au /breeze

NSC Group wins regional Avaya award

NSC Group has won the Avaya Connect APAC Top Performer Channel Partner Award for 2010. Presented at theAvaya partner conference late last year, the trophy was awarded to NSC for the best revenue performance in the region. The criteria included overall revenue performance, year on year growth and achievement of target, which NSC strongly over-achieved. We are extremely proud of our achievements, particularly in what was a challenging business environment, said NSC Group Managing Director, Craig Neil. 2010 saw us operating in a highly competitive communications landscape that included a raft of new players, contracted technology budgets and a higher than usual degree of caution from purchasers. Every new piece of business was hard won and is a testament to the professionalism of the NSC team, he said. NSC more than doubled its Avaya business in 2010, which is a tremendous effort. NSC is a strong and valued channel partner for Avaya in Australia and New Zealand and I congratulate the whole team for this impressive Lancon, President Avaya Asia Pacific. 09/2011 converge /06

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AUCKLAND

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Converge is published by NSC Group Editor: Megan Fisher Contributors: Megan Fisher Advertising: Megan Fisher NSC Group Pty Ltd Lvl 4, 68 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113 (p) +61 2 9856 4359 (f) +61 2 9856 4353