Jo Wilson from Abletech joins us in this member showcase to fill us in on life at Abletech.
What does being a local NZ company mean to you?
Abletech was founded by Kiwis and, although we work internationally, we love being based in Wellington. Increasingly, local businesses and organisations are embracing innovative technology and we enjoy helping them to make the most of it. We work online and live in the coolest little capital in the world and that’s just how we like it.
How has technology changed our relationships in your everyday world?
As a culture we are more connected than we used to be. High speed internet enables real-time relationships wherever people are in the world. We communicate online as a team, with customers and with clients, regardless of location. We also have access to cutting-edge technology as it emerges. We’re working with that very technology to create and support popular products and services.
What’s the biggest business lesson you’ve learnt?
From the beginning, Abletech has grown from a commitment to logical technology choices. We’ve learnt that big businesses and large government organisations want to engage with people who understand their systems and processes, and take them to the next level. Personally, as a company, we’ve learnt that people matter most. We are discerning about our team and in turn they are our company’s biggest asset.
Why did you get involved with NZRise?
There’s a real IT buzz in New Zealand. We are proud to be NZ owned and operating and we’re happy to support our industry through our membership with NZRise. From time to time there are issues and topics that require representation and it’s great to have a leadership group ready to provide a collective IT voice.
What problem does your company solve and for whom?
We have in-house products and services. An example is AddressFinder which web developers use to gain accuracy in their address data. We also create and maintain software as required. We have a background in big business and large organisations but we work with projects of any size. Most clients approach us because they’ve seen solutions we’ve built for others. They want the same for themselves. Businesses have specific needs, and a budget. They know that we understand their unique problem and their context. We deliver what we say we will deliver.
If someone wants to know more about what you do, how can they contact you?
We’re a friendly bunch here at Abletech. Our website’s got all our contact details to get in touch by web, phone or foot!
We’re happy to chat. Sometimes people just want to talk about an idea. Often, clients approach us with a fully formed plan and ask us to build it. We talk with them, we plan the solution together, then we iteratively design and build it, keeping them in the loop. It works well.
What do you find most challenging about being a NZ company?
The New Zealand market is great for assessing things. It’s got everything we need to test new products and services. It doesn’t provide us the scale we need so we rely on exporting from day one, to justify the costs of development. We have a similar time zone to Australia and we find that market good. It’s generally important for us to get credible New Zealand customers then these act as a springboard into other places.
As a NZ company we’re innovative and hard-working and we love working with businesses who are equally enthusiastic about the potential and speed of cloud development, wherever they are. Because we build Software as a Service it’s possible to do that internationally and accommodate the time differences.