Weakness
- Broadband
- Still an issue.
- 'Real broadband not available.
- Data costs needs to come down.
- Regionally based organisations – access issues, multiple locations.
- Shortage of programmers
- An example from a participant:
- Required C++ skills
- Approached University of Ballarat
- 12 students approached organisation
- Organisation decided to look at 6 students further
- Students asked to perform a simple programming test
- One 1 student could complete set task in an hour
- Accessing University graduates
- Query over quality of university students and their industry readiness
- Need a bridge between University and Industry to accelerate process of workforce integration.
- Small businesses have trouble accessing graduates – experience varies depending on who they talk to.
- University needs to be up to date with what is happening in industry.
- Collaboration
- How can ICT cluster facilitate interaction between large and small organisations?
- Government and large organisations look to tier 1 suppliers for IT requirements. This does not provide an opportunity for small firms. Can ICT Cluster provide assistance in supporting collaboration between large and small IT organisations to get them past the starting point?
- On one hand governments are promoting benefits of growing small business – on other hand choosing to secure services from tier 1 suppliers 0 not walking the talk.
- Local IT organisations still unsure who is doing what in the region.
- Who else in the region is dealing internationally?
- How can I identify local hardware suppliers – could only get bits and pieces?
- What is the mix of companies we have in the region?
- Example of one participant indicating that his organisation had to go outside region to find suitable hardware partner. Another participant indicated that he could have but the person in contact with at least two local organisations that would have the hardware skills that were described.
- Need to be able to access information on who does what – include processes to ensure information is updated regularly and that new comers can add their capabilities to the list.
- Once we get to the stage where we can report on the region's mix of companies and capabilities then in a much better position to identify what is still needed (gaps).
- Communication
- Example of biotech magazine as a vehicle for communication
- Regular features could include profile on new entrants, stories on successful collaborations etc.
- Need to form IT Business pack.
- But hard to track entry, exits – need system to support – some organisations work 'under the radar'.
- Council only knows about new business when they need to go through some planning permit process
- Challenge – how can we capture information and data on skills levels and capabilities? Web crawl?
- Need to put out 'carrot' – perhaps newsletter…Example of Bendigo Regional Poultry Cluster Newsletter
- Need to keep feeding organisations with information in initial stages.
- These skills have come to town and have added their capability information to ICT database.
- These businesses have hooked up with others for bigger contracts.
- These organisations are accessing support in managing risk, IP, etc.
- Question and answer section where local businesses can get assistance or advice.
- SMS versus website information
- Tradeshow
- Networking
- BITs functions – view of participants that dates need to be fixed well in advance so that they can be locked in diaries early. More likely to be schedule attendance if everyone knows that events are held on say third Thursday of each month (even if alternate between evening and breakfast events).
- Quarterly business breakfasts (free + good speaker – perhaps Uni led)
- Speed networking
- Communities of interest?
- Bartering
Missed opportunities
- Certain things can only get in Melbourne
- Big businesses can look a long way ahead
- Small business often needs 'quick wins' and ongoing benefits to justify investment.
- Comes back to knowledge about what skills set is available here.
- How do we capture information about new businesses/new skills in town
- What do we find under the radar
- Web crawl – to find Ballarat Businesses – on six monthly basis – then contact businesses or collaborate
2010
- Initiative at a corporate level
- Vision is a little bit fragmented
- Nothing to stop Ballarat becoming a key centre for ICT
- Focus may need to be revisited
- Not that we haven't got the smarts
Size
- IT firms traditionally look at ourselves to get outcome
- Get more collaboration happening
- Get 3 or 4 companies to collaborate to deliver solution.
- Smaller enterprises try to do themselves.
- Introduces risk management – can we have a corporate banner that brings local firms together that builds new business opportunities in a way that manages risk for purchases.
Tier 1 group
- How do we build relationships with Telstra and IBM so local firms can get carried into state contracts.
Threats
- Find out who is out their, collaborate, etc education is based on external rather than designed to meet local – relevance of local education – can be enhanced through much closer alignment between TAFE and Higher Education – need much closer interaction between academic and business community. Educational institutions need to understand business requirements and adjust.
- Get around to industry and understand needs – solve a lot issues. Combined investment government, university, industry ($50 per business per year.
Opportunities
- Where you going to take the business, how you are going to grow
- Lot of businesses that benefit from that
- Opportunity for others to learn
- Mentoring in house in town – across the sector
- Shift focus from short term to more strategic
- Give new information on the strategic planning/management.
- Don't at the moment have a very good program to identify what the skills needed are – then also the issue of attracting the right sort of labour into the region – migration programs…
- Open regional offices representing the larger IT providers
- Lot of the work is already done – a lot is applying the opportunities to more area
- Lower cost base for
Role of Governance
- Facilitate interaction between firms for larger contracts
- Need to teach skills that are needed
- Industry based learning needed
- 12 months minimum support needed
- Mentoring/ Strategic management and planning.
Short term priorities
- Capture information on firms
- Find new ways of communicating
Longer term priorities
- Joint collaborative work
- Attract more businesses to UB IT park
- Bridge between demand and supply of skills and labour
Communication
- Breakfasts – importance because its one to one
- Websites – problem maintain currency of information – maintenance – go for a product, skill, outcome
- Newsletter – push someone to information
- Mail out – at least one or two
- SMS – something interesting coming up
- Tradeshow
- What's the attraction to get decision makers on IT need to be the target – feed them, regional commitment, Multimedia Victoria,
Getting people along
- Basic aim is to bring people along
- Target participation of 80-90
- Get the right speaker - 1-2 quality speakers
- Capture details of participants through registration process.
- Take a business card of everyone who is there
- Hand out package on the expertise that is in the room prior to event
- Three a year for first 2 years – find another 40 organisations…
- How – example of KPMG Breakfast – SE Asian expert – whole room full – free breakfast…
- Quarterly business breakfast (possibly University led)
- Speed networking
- Visits to other organisations – local sharing
- Trade shows
Communities of interest around IT functions – is there room for this in Ballarat – i.e. specialised interest groups – could fall out in further from interaction.
ICT chapter in Ballarat – has to be a conduit for the communication to go through… National telecommunications example IEEE – conference coming up.
What does the focal point do?
- Need facilitator
- Generate newsletter
- Lists
- Work out events
- Maintain website
- Make the 'marriages'
- Build database
- Profile businesses
- Get people enthused
- Putting businesses together
- Meet and greets
- External speaker
- Government funding
- Oversees marketing
What resources
- Funding – initially state/local government funding/ university
- Buy in by industry based on the size of industry
- Some sort of subscription perhaps sliding scale
- Office space
- Industry led down the line
- Steering committee
Won't be able to get industry to lead in the first instance
- Strategic planning breakfast could be held to gauge industry buy-in
- Consider factors such as type of membership fees / governance structure / type of model etc
- Involve organisations such as IBM, RAV, State Revenue, Ballarat Health Services
Projects generated through the cluster
- What normally happens – you have paid for membership
- Share out costs – major sponsors
Sponsorship from
- UB in return for better connections to industry, work placements, projects etc.
Business and organisational plan for cluster
- Get people to the table first – now can go to formal association structure… confirm buy in… get momentum
Collaboration versus competition
Participant 1
- Quite often when it comes to technology – larger local firms go to Melbourne first – in some instances organisations they secure services from are not any bigger or better.
- Need to let people know what is in Ballarat.
- Use local ICT firms to test water/pick brains but do business elsewhere.
- More partnerships – combined skills – working together pull of larger companies
- Educating the larger firms about SMEs
- SMEs working smarter to service larger contracts
Participant 2
- Cultural cringe in securing services from Ballarat
- More difficult to get contracts locally – probably should have trumpeted the fact that we relocated from Melbourne
- Some do research with local firm and then buy outside region.
- People expect to pay more for securing services from Melbourne
- Collaboration in areas of expertise – better if firms can make referrals to others in the district.
Participant 3
- It has been disappointing to find out about a product developed in Ballarat – we didn't even know about.
- Couple of people now give regular work – built up relations overtime
- ISO9001 – hard to keep up with
- Problems in getting on to preferred supplier list
- Prefer to hire someone to hire you.
Pushing out elsewhere – is that a response to lack of demand locally
- Word of mouth most powerful marketing mechanism with IT – these people came in and sorted our problem – get knock on work from that – otherwise have to make business look more impressive 1 man business can look like 10 man business.
- Scatter marketing just doesn't work
- This is where something like an IT cluster can work – on one level competing on one level collaboration
- Getting recommendations internally would be beneficial
Participant 4
- Agree with all the comment of others.
- Decision support – need to sell what might be possible.
- In the beginning thought it would be easy to make appointment with local government, local industries – but this took ages to get in the door to get the foot in the door to present to local government. Then guy left – then had to start the process again – similar story with other local industries.
- Other parts of state longer relationships
- Research project with local hospital – main motivation was to get in the door locally – very successful research project – nurses have made presentations all round the world – have to work pretty hard locally
Big organisations often locked in…
- Are local IT firms geared up to provide capabilities
Participant 5
- Sole participant – but has existing contacts that can work with
- Could grow business by training up graduates
- Got to keep bread on the table first – before smooching with others.
- Big business wants to deal with big business.
- Credibility – pays out - in Ballarat more so than Melbourne – don't get opportunities.
Participant 6
- Can you sum this all up with the old adage it is not what you know but who you know?
Would the availability of an umbrella group help?
- First step is being aware of the project – got to know the opportunity exists
- Got to get invited in before contracting
To grow Ballarat businesses have to penetrate Melbourne and International markets.
- 'Team Ballarat'
- Cluster could take tender on
- Pull joint ventures together
- Know about the tenders
- As a cluster find a way to respond
- Bring opportunities to region that individual firms would not secure on their own.
- Put together a story that is Ballarat based – has appeal… makes it easier to get over some of the insurance and
- Value for money – bigger bang for buck
- Need structures in place
- Firms right business ethics to trust one another
- In the past the amount of work in making submission or tender – put individuals out of contest.
- This could be a role for the cluster…even having a go at a couple would be beneficial.
- Buyers still think the expertise is based in the capital cities.
- Ballarat needs to buy Ballarat product – better chance of selling into region and back to Melbourne.
o What IT businesses – Team Ballarat – because people find it very had to break in – but there are companies that will only work with people outside of Ballarat. Recruitment was another area where buying from Melbourne
o Profiling, Culture, Changing perceptions
o Tender watch service could be beneficial for ICT Cluster members
Interaction within Industry currently
- Prefer to sit in the back room and create product – feel comfortable
- Can't do marketing on own – collectively may have more marketing, media clout, clout with local and state government
- Chit and chat and talk but need someone to drive opportunity – need someone to sell for all members of the cluster – need someone who is neutral – quite a dynamo
- Haven't got the time, someone who is neutral, not scratching own back
- International example of IT concentration grew from 0 -800 businesses in less than a decade – city not that big – businesses come from all over…but critical success factor…local university, local government, local industry groups – put money into running – then as they have an investment they do win the technology park and introduce opportunities
- Nice forum but have to make hard decisions about time – come away thinking all well and good but measure results – don't go.
- Need organisations wanting return on their own financial investment to get beyond lip service to collaboration.
Want runs on the board – can Ballarat ICT Cluster achieve – want to get into big tenders – want cluster to get us into IBM – want delivery of jobs – lots of good people in government – just too busy doing internal committee etc.
Example of IBM – tendering done in Sydney – not aware of opportunity – sounds interesting – does this little mosquito add to our bid – does it add value, risk, increase or diminish quality – in the end the will power was not really there – didn't go ahead.
IT company cannot do everything – need to team up with others – everyone has to want to play in the team.
Participant told story of problems with IP ownership - copies of their reports on another contractor's desk – information was sensitive – product compromised – Demonstrated risk where larger contractor stole IP.
Issue of trust one of the most important – co tender – collaboratively look to work with others all the time – got to really trust those you work with – only 3 weeks to document approach and respond to tender. Cluster may make it easier to trust 'your bedfellows'. Group rules may drive success – your reputation with fellow suppliers impacts on future opportunities.
Broadband – does it create problems in supply of services or in collaboration with others and skills shortages
- Even with university of Ballarat there – still very hard to find labour – seems to be a gap between university and getting staff paying for themselves.
- Only way to get half decent broadband is to use satellite (Scarsdale).
What attracted you to Ballarat?
o Self employed – problem getting finance
o Connection because of growing up here
o Good location for children – easier for them to grow up here – could experiment with the business – not needed two fulltime incomes – financial pressures much lower – lifestyle better.
o Actions in relocation predicated on basis of ADSL rollout plans – but slower in reality…broadband still not in the region – range of web services could overcome but still not feasible to deliver.
IT is in a bit of a downturn – not generally a huge shortage… it becomes easier for commuting from Caroline Springs back to Ballarat
Can we trade off the strengths of Ballarat name?
Support – once you have got that marvellous tender what sort of support can you provide 24 x 7 3 hour response time?
Centralised grouping – versus weakness of fragmentation
Work should come to one place – a funnel for individual to join together – i.e. in case of tender. Marketing arm of the centralised group that gets into the Australian and international markets.
Comment: Most of the opportunities sound like a position description for an organising body.
Centralised body
- Try and put company together
- Scan tenders – do you know about this – put them together…
- Can't afford sales team on our own - pool funds pool resources – employ person – get government $ to sort – bring in spotters fee – keep it lean – got to get sales as a result – to get momentum need a kick start…
- Increase profile of Ballarat as a 'one stop shop' – promote the fact that there is a mechanism by which the cluster can be advertised throughout Australia –
- Familiar with regional and rural area.
- Is there a need…Cluster group to actively engage and encourage inter-firm collaboration –This is most important
- Important to get products to next stage so that those really great things that we have come up with and then moved on can go through a strategy of commercialisation – invaluable to developers
- Export development
- Marketing – new collaborative opportunities
Model? Industry body model
- If the person had the skills set they'd be out in business themselves.
- Affiliation with existing association.
- University of Ballarat has a stake in it.
- State government seed funding
- Business plan needs to show how rest of it kick in.
- Tiered membership.
- Membership needs to give value and benefit back - skills and access to expertise in a cost effective manner
- Who controls the board of executive – can the members oust the board.
- Staffing the association
- Got to be more than information sharing.
- What are the practical things that businesses need
- If it could get me working with other companies in the region to get work that I wouldn't get otherwise – this is the way to go.
- Incubators provide mentoring
- What will ICT Cluster practical benefits be
How do we stage this?
- What is the focus in the short-term
- Capturing knowledge of firms/capabilities on ongoing basis??
- Real risk in starting with touchy feely – building director – give whole cluster a bad name…If you are going to do it you do it properly – from day 1 full service…focus on bottom line business benefit…
- Identify a number of key target markets and then gain work in that area
- Build a success model and others will want to join.
- Opportunity focus – sales got to get these in – feed the family – pay the staff…that's the big carrot… potential of success will give the carrot to invest the time.
Person resourced to scan opportunities
- Need clear well communicated vision of the opportunity to participate in cluster.
- Has to be information sharing, education of each others skills, seminars – there will have to be some ground work before
- Comprehensive database of the members…
- Business to have some sort of profile that they can demonstrate their expertise – it is concentrated – it is in one place – the infrastructure to support is within the group
- Halo effect of benefits – enhance profile of Ballarat – work through particular consortium…etc…don't want talk fest.
Membership funding model – need some barrier to entry to get value
o Royalty based – proportion of value that comes through the cluster.
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