| Equinox Limited has become the first New Zealand-owned company to sponsor the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research (CISR). The sponsorship agreement follows an Equinox hosted visit to New Zealand in February by MIT CISR Chairman Peter Weill and Research Scientist Peter Reynolds to run training and client events.
MIT CISR undertakes practical research internationally to identify how successful organisations leverage their digital platforms to thrive in an ever changing economy. As an MIT CISR sponsor, Equinox has access to all of MIT CISR’s research findings, resources, case-studies and benchmarks and will use this information to provide better advice to customers, according to Equinox Consulting Director Julian Downs.
“Equinox advises key Government and corporate organisations on their critical IT decisions, and now that we have a relationship with MIT CISR, we will support this advice with current, high quality international evidence of what works and what doesn’t” says Downs. “This will provide a ripple effect of benefits as New Zealand organisations become more IT savvy and successful at leveraging their digital platforms.”
“Equinox IT and MIT CISR are an excellent match” says Downs. “We have always been strongly pragmatic in the way we assist customers with their IT problems. While MIT is an academic institution, the CISR take a very industry-based research approach, meaning their findings and observations are highly relevant to the situations our customers face.”
About the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research
As part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, the Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) conducts research and disseminates findings on issues relating to the management and use of information technology in complex organisations. The center has a mission to help executives address the IT-related challenges of leading increasing dynamic, global, and information-sensitive organisations. Find out more about the MIT CISR.
About Equinox Limited
Equinox Limited is a New Zealand owned company providing expert, independent IT consulting, software development and training since 1995. Equinox has offices in both Wellington and Auckland, with an experienced team of 40+ senior and principal consultants and technical specialists. |
| International business analysis and project management leaders and authors Richard and Elizabeth Larson of US-based Watermark Learning have partnered with Equinox to deliver the two training courses in Wellington during June. Richard and Elizabeth are well known presenters, trainers and authors on business analysis and project management topics and together authored the popular CBAP Certification Study Guide book and also the Practitioners Guide to Requirements Management, Part 1: Requirements Planning.
"Equinox has brought a number of IT thought-leaders into New Zealand over the last 4 months including Mary and Tom Poppendieck and Dr Peter Weill, and it is fantastic to continue bringing this value to our clients by working with Richard and Elizabeth Larson whose CBAP Certification Study Guide book has been very popular in New Zealand by those looking to obtain business analysis certifications." said Roger Dalgleish, Equinox Managing Director.
Richard and Elizabeth will deliver their CBAP / CCBA Certification Preparation course and their Influencing Without Authority course in Wellington, with both courses starting on 13 June 2012. "We are expected strong interest in these courses so business analysts and IT professionals should book now to secure their place on these popular training workshops".
The first 5 bookings on the CBAP and CCBA Certification Preparation course will receive Richard and Elizabeth's BABOK Audio CD Flashcard set when they attend the course.
Find out more about or register for the combined CBAP Certification Preparation course and CCBA Certification Preparation course.
Find out more about the Influencing Without Authority course.
See the brochure. 
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|  Equinox IT Principal Consultant Anthony Boobier is one of the first in the world to sit and pass the new PMI Agile Certified Practitioner certification. Boobier sat the exam in November while the certification was still being piloted and received confirmation last week that he had passed.
The Agile Certified Practitioner certification is the Project Management Institute’s newest certification, and has been established to meet the needs of their project management community, who are increasingly involved in projects using agile approaches. PMI reference the Gartner prediction “that by the end of 2012, agile development methods will be used on 80% of all software development projects”.
Boobier is an experienced project manager, principal consultant and trainer with a specialist focus on agile and lean software development approaches. Referencing the new certification, Boobier said “agile is becoming mainstream and it adds a great deal of value for effectively running software development projects. It was important for me to get involved and support this excellent PMI initiative and achieving the certification has been a fantastic outcome”. Prior to passing this new certification, Boobier already held the PMI Project Management Professional certification.
To be eligible to the sit the new PMI certification, applicants must meet minimum criteria of 2000 hours project management experience, 1500 hours agile management experience, and 21 hours of agile professional training. The exam is 3 hours and consists of 100 multiple choice questions. |
|  Leading business thinker and Boston MIT Sloan Senior Research Scientist Dr Peter Weill will be in Wellington in February 2012 for a visit hosted by information technology consultancy Equinox IT. Accompanying Dr Weill will be MIT Research Scientist Dr Peter Reynolds.
During the visit Dr Weill will deliver a lunch presentation to senior business and IT executives on the topic of becoming IT savvy, which will stress the need for organisations to make IT a strategic asset. Dr Weill’s research shows that companies who make IT a strategic asset generate 20% higher profits than their competitors.
Dr Weill is the chairman of the Boston MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research and the co-author of best-selling books on strategic IT topics, including ‘IT Savvy’, ‘IT Governance’, and ‘Enterprise Architecture as Strategy’.  Weill is ranked at number 24 in the ‘Top 100 Most Influential People in IT’ by Ziff-Davis.
Dr Reynolds is a former senior executive and Chief Technology Officer in Australian corporates. He won the top international award for best doctoral dissertation in information systems for 2010 with his thesis entitled ‘Aligning Business and IT Strategy in Multi-Business Organisations”.
The visit has been organised by Equinox IT Consulting Director Julian Downs. “This is a great opportunity to learn from the latest international research on IT” said Downs. “We will use our relationship with MIT to continue to enhance Equinox’s capabilities and to further help New Zealand organisations to create long-term success, enabled by IT.” |
|  Mary Poppendieck, speaking at an Equinox IT hosted executive breakfast event last Wednesday, advised Wellington senior IT leaders on how to create a lean culture that delivers valuable business outcomes.
Mary Poppendieck and husband Tom are international thought leaders and acclaimed authors on the topic of applying lean manufacturing principles to software development. They spent the week with Equinox IT last week delivering training courses and executive presentations in Wellington.
During the breakfast presentation Mary spoke about the need for simplicity, highlighting that with 64% of product features never or rarely used there were real opportunities to create more value from IT. Mary went on to challenge conventional IT delivery approaches where 30% or more of the time is spent on testing for defects or “hardening”. “Mistake proof the process” said Mary showing how top companies build quality in from the start resulting in less than 10% of time spent on testing for defects.
Mary positioned that by managing capacity and flow, rapid and reliable delivery can be achieved, citing Google who regularly and reliably deliver a new release of gmail twice a week. Mary finished her presentation talking about the need to hire capable and experienced people and building complete teams representing all of the functions necessary to deliver a product.
“It has been great to have Mary and Tom Poppendieck visit and work with Equinox IT to provide valuable ideas and inspiration for our clients” said Equinox IT Principal Consultant Anthony Boobier. “With the right teams, mind-set, and approaches it is possible to achieve significant improvements in the business outcomes delivered by organisations”. |
| International thought-leaders and acclaimed authors Mary and Tom Poppendieck will deliver their two-day "Lean Software Development Leader’s Workshop" in Wellington on 12-13 December 2011.
This workshop was full, but we now have 5 places available again due to Equinox moving a group of people from one organisation onto a dedicated workshop with the Poppendiecks.
Mary and Tom Poppendieck are the pioneers of lean software development. The workshop is targeted at leaders and focuses on how to reframe software development processes and gain the benefits of a lean approach.
Price:
$2,100 + GST
OR
$1,800 + GST per person where two or more people from the same organisation are attending the workshop.
This is a rare opportunity to be trained by the best in their field, right here in New Zealand. Book now to secure your place on this popular workshop.
Find Out More and Book to Attend!
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|  Equinox Limited has appointed Deane Sloan to the position of Software Development Director. Deane currently holds Equinox’s Chief Technology Officer position and he will retain this role in addition to his Software Development Director responsibilities.
Deane joined Equinox in 2000 as a software development specialist. Over the past 11 years Deane has been a key leader on numerous complex software development projects for clients as well as undertaking senior and principal architecture consulting roles.
“Complex software development is the core of our business. The hard earned battle scars gained from tough software projects inform the pragmatic advice we give to clients through our consulting and training activities.” said Equinox Managing Director Roger Dalgleish. “We are very pleased to have Deane appointed to manage our Business Application line of business. Leveraging recent technology advancements, Deane will be introducing major shifts to the way that we develop software, and this will be an exciting time for Equinox and our clients.”
Commenting on his appointment, Deane said “I am excited to continue the Equinox tradition of delivering on-time and within budget to our client’s needs. At Equinox we are big enough to deliver, yet small enough to care.” |
|  Equinox Limited has appointed Julian Downs to the newly established position of Consulting Director. Julian has a comprehensive and broad IT background including a number of senior IT leadership roles in well known New Zealand companies.
In announcing the appointment Equinox Managing Director Roger Dalgleish said “When organisations go through business change there is often corresponding technology complexity and a systems change required. We needed someone with experience in technical architecture consulting but who also understood strategy and business change, to lead our consulting business at Equinox. We are very pleased to have Julian join the company to lead our business change and technical consulting activities.”
Julian joins Equinox from Contact Energy where he was Group Manager ICT Strategy and Planning. His experience spans the spectrum of IT related topics from software development to architecture, infrastructure to operational management, financial planning to organisation strategy and resource planning to people management.
Commenting on his appointment, Julian said “The team at Equinox are some of the top in their field and I am really looking forward to working with them to lead change for our clients. The Equinox team looks right across an organisation from planning through to implementing, governing and assessing. Technology is embedded in every organisation, whether it is an email system, a website or a large business system, so working with a company that is leading the way in how organisations maximise their technology assets is exciting.” |
| International thought-leaders and acclaimed authors on the topic of lean software development, Mary and Tom Poppendieck, have partnered with Equinox Limited and will be delivering training and management briefings in Wellington in December 2011.
Mary and Tom are highly sought after pioneers and authors on the topic of applying lean manufacturing principles to software development. They deliver training and presentations on the principles of lean software development throughout the world.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for New Zealand leaders to learn first-hand the latest thought-leader ideas for software development" says Equinox Principal Consultant Anthony Boobier. "I have been following the Poppendieck's work for a long time now; they have inspired me and shaped the way I approach software development. I am excited to have them coming to New Zealand to partner with Equinox and work with our clients".
“Helping our clients to do IT better is core to Equinox and is something that we have consistently delivered through high quality IT consulting advice and training services” says Equinox Manager Director Roger Dalgleish. “We are enthusiastic to bring world class thought-leaders Mary and Tom Poppendieck to Wellington to keep our client’s IT leaders abreast of the latest software development advancements”.
Interest in the Wellington public Lean Software Development Leader's Workshop running on 12 and 13 December has been very high. Equinox has a small number of places for IT leaders remaining on the workshop. Those who miss out will be first in line for future visits by the Poppendiecks.
About Mary and Tom Poppendieck
Based in the United States, husband and wife team Mary and Tom Poppendieck are international thought-leaders and acclaimed authors on the topic of applying lean manufacturing principles to software development. They have written three books and deliver regular training and presentations on this topic.
About Equinox Limited
Equinox Limited is a New Zealand owned company providing expert, independent IT consulting, software development and training since 1995. Equinox has offices in both Wellington and Auckland, with an experienced team of 40+ senior and principal consultants and technical specialists. Find out more about Equinox at www.equinox.co.nz.
Key contact:
Brendon Livingstone
Marketing Manager
Equinox Limited
Ph +64 4 499 9450
Email: brendon.livingstone@equinox.co.nz
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| Equinox Director and Principal Consultant Richard Leeke is the content owner and facilitator for this year's prestigious Workshop on Performance and Reliability (WOPR) conference being held in the US in three weeks time. In its 17th year, the 3-day WOPR is an invite only conference for a small group of world leading experts in performance testing. The conference theme for this year is 'Finding Bottlenecks' and was set by Richard.
 Quoted in a recent Computerworld article Top New Zealand tester to present to US audience, Richard said “How often do you find and resolve a performance bottleneck only to find that, after increasing the resource, the system throughput or response time is virtually unchanged, with the constraint simply having shifted to another component. Have you ever seen developers optimise the wrong component, based on an assumption about where the performance limiting step must be? Have you experienced software or service providers pointing the finger at each other over system performance problems? By sharing experiences about effective – or ineffective – monitoring, results analysis and diagnostic techniques, we will explore ways to root out bottlenecks more reliably. When you’re looking for a needle in a haystack, first make sure you’ve got the right haystack.”
Richard works in Equinox's rapidly growing Performance Engineering Practice, diagnosing, testing, and resolving performance issues in our client's complex IT systems. |
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