Business

Some samples of my business writing in PDF format (files open with Adobe Acrobat Reader, free download here). For contact details, please see the bottom of this page or use the Contact form to email me. I provide prompt quotations for case studies, customer stories, feature articles or website content.

  • Every IT director’s fantasy: MIS New Zealand cover story about Weta Digital’s technology decision-making on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. This feature was ‘Editor’s Choice’ on the Australian Financial Review website.
  • Dollars and sense: CIO New Zealand cover story profile of Russell Jones, at the time head of group technology at ASB Bank.
  • State of independence: What’s in store for New Zealand’s oldest independent science and consulting organisation as the government reprioritises funding? A science feature about the Cawthron Institute for Unlimited magazine.
  • Vying for the voice of youth: “Vodafone has its sights not only on mobile domination. According to chief executive Russell Stanners the future will be mobile internet, social networking and user-generated content. But setting aside the marketing spiel, does the company have what it takes to outfox Telecom?” A 2007 cover story for Unlimited magazine.
  • The Adventures of Mark and Greg: Two imaginary chief information officers provide a high-concept explanation of “business service management” on behalf of client BMC Software. This was winner of the Asia-Pacific PR Awards Category 7: ‘Business to Business Campaign of the Year 2007’, ‘Regional Campaign of the Year 2007’ and ‘Technology Campaign of the Year 2007’. The book was part of the company’s global staff induction programme and every new employee received a copy.
  • Bright prospects: A feature on investing in New Zealand commissioned by Latitude magazine.
  • Idiot to imbecile and back: A review of Ricky Gervais sidekick Karl Pilkington’s book to accompany the TV series An Idiot Abroad for New Zealand’s Sunday Star-Times.
  • The heat is on: A 2006 feature for CIO New Zealand magazine exposing some of the vendor hype in the blade server market at the time.
  • Selected Versa case studies: A series of New Zealand customer stories commissioned for its website by corporate hosting provider ICONZ.
  • Small business, big web: A web heroes feature for New Zealand PC World magazine. “How do you get more internet for your dollar, while avoiding some of the pitfalls that turned the web into a dirty word in the early days of dot-com? You need a game plan. Six simple steps to building a small business website.”
  • The enemy within: A toolkit article for New Zealand’s Unlimited magazine with some corporate strategies for preventing internal security breaches.
  • Westpower saves hundreds of man-hours annually: A customer case study for corporate client UtilityAP.
  • Blog safe: A survival guide for blogging CEOs seeking to avoid mismanaging their corporate reputations. Another Unlimited toolkit article.
  • The business of living: Philosopher Alain de Botton described the joys and sorrows of work in his book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. A Q&A-style interview for Unlimited magazine about his blueprint for living.
  • C-suite snakes and ladders: Profile of former SmartPay CEO Andrew Donaldson, at the time about to become chief financial officer of Genesis Energy, for the 2012 CFO New Zealand supplement (Fairfax Media Business Group).
  • The new C-change: Former TelstraClear CIO Andrew Crabb leaves IT to get closer to customers, but this doesn’t mean he is turning his back on the transformative effects of well-applied technology on a business (a CIO New Zealand cover story, December 2011).
  • Travelling a virtual line: ‘In brief’ feature about Kelvin Kroll, Flight Centre CIO (for CIO New Zealand, December 2011).
  • Uneasy bedfellows: Review of Granta Issue 117: Horror, previously mentioned in this blog post (Sunday Star-Times).
  • Council IT amalgamation – rate buster or consultant cash-in? For all its pledges of streamlined services and integrated systems how cost-effective is local government? I was asked by iStart to investigate what councils are doing with technology to improve service and find out if IT integration is the answer. I found council IT spending and the removal of technology duplication are touchy subjects.