intergen smarts 4 (2003)

Gold Partner status forCollaborative Solutions

I S S U E F O U R

>> HOT NEWS:

>> T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E

< Copyright 2003 Intergen Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission of Intergen Limited >

Intergen have recently been awarded Gold Partner

status for Collaborative Solutions. This adds to

our Gold Partner status for E-Commerce Solutions

which we have held for the past two years. To the

best of our knowledge we are the only double gold

in New Zealand and we are the only Gold Partner

for Collaborative Solutions.

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, we have passed the highest level of

requirements from Microsoft. The Gold Partner status means we have demonstrated

the most robust, efficient and scalable implementations of Microsoft technologies.

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, we have a track record of success in

providing advanced solutions, backed by customer references.

To achieve this status we were required to provide at least three customer references

for deployed solutions with a project focus on collaboration. Further, Microsoft

Gold Certified Partners need to have four premier-level certified professionals

on staff. We meet this requirement and our team is growing all the time.

As a result of reaching the required standard for Gold Partner status we receive,

and therefore can provide you the benefits of: prioritised access to advanced

training opportunities, MSDN access for

exclusive technical support, pre-releases

of Microsoft business products, and

monthly updates on the new products

and solutions.

Call us today to learn more about our experience and how we can work

with you to make the most of your technology.

>> B U S I N E S S S O L U T I O N S BUSINESS SOLUTIONS >>

INNOVATION CENTRE >>

TECHNICAL >>

PROJECT CASE STUDY >>

NEWS >>

CREATIVE STUDIO

& LEISURE >>

INTERGEN CONFERENCE >>

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The buzzword is “BizTalk”

As organisations have grown, so has the need to

deploy multiple applications and platforms to

fulfil their business needs. For example, accounting

has its own systems, as does finance, sales and

manufacturing. Most applications are run

independently with little or no integration.

The Creative Studio has recently

been refitted to provide room for

growth and an even more functional

working environment.

For more on the Creative Studio and

examples of what they have been up

to recently see pages 6 & 7.

Give us your feedback via the

questionnaire accompanying this

edition of SMARTS and be in to win

a bottle of wine.

Full story Page 2

< S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E F O U R >>> B U S I N E S S S O L U T I O N S

Integration projects have focused on the

development of interfaces for specific

applications to meet an immediate

business need. Each integration project

is usually conducted in isolation, essentially

reinventing the wheel each time. The result

is considerable costs due to lack of

commonality and the increased effort

required to maintain unrelated interfaces.

Louder than ever,

organisations are asking

“How can we bring

disparate systems back

under control?”

To solve such issues, Intergen has

successfully utilised the considerable

advantages of Microsoft BizTalk Server

across projects in the private and public

sectors for the last 18 months. Projects

have included the integration of disparate

internal systems into a common XML

driven standard, through to the

automation of a previously manual paper

driven business process.

BizTalk allows organisations to connect

disparate systems in a common framework,

>>2

eliminating the traditional problems of point-to-point interfaces. Using standards

like electronic data interchange (EDI), XML, and SOAP frameworks, BizTalk Server

ensures flexibility and interoperability with any business partner, regardless of

their choice of application, platform or transport.

For example, when using BizTalk, a complex process such as fulfilling a purchase

order can be automated. The PO must be received and processed – often requiring

information to be passed between a number of systems including inventory,

financial and CRM. BizTalk can bind these systems together, controlling the entire

process from PO receipt to inventory, financial and CRM updates, through to invoice.

Previously, separate interfaces would have existed between each system, unrelated

to a particular order. BizTalk enables a process such as purchase order and

invoice generation to be managed as a single entity, allowing an organisation

access to real-time data on the progress of orders.

Microsoft BizTalk Server enables businesses to achieve application integration

through five key processes: document transport and routing, data transformation,

application integration, scalability and manageability services, and process

automation. Each process is achieved through receive functions, channels, ports,

schedules and tools.

R E C E I V EF U N C T I O N S

M E S S A G I N GP O R T S

M E S S A G EQ U E U E S X M L W E B

S E R V I C E S. N E T C O M

C O MC O M P O N E N T S

S C R I P T I N GC O M P O N E N T S

C H A N N E L S S C H E D U L E S

The buzzword is “BizTalk” continued from coverReceive Functions – monitor HTTP, File locations and MSMQ message

queues for files to be submitted to BizTalk.

Channels – modify the structure of documents, manage encryption,

digital signatures and logging. Also ensure incoming documents adhere

to a formal specification and transform them to meet the target

system requirements.

Ports – send documents to schedules, components or to external

organisations and trading partners. Many third party providers have

developed adapters that allow BizTalk to communicate natively.

Schedules – orchestrate business processes by receiving documents from

a messaging port then passing them to COM components, other BizTalk

Server messaging channels or XML Web services.

BizTalk offers “once only” delivery of documents, comprehensive document

tracking, and logging and support for failover clustering to ensure documents

are delivered to their destination and are not ‘lost’ in the process. It supports the

latest security features available today, including public key infrastructure (PKI),

multipurpose Internet mail extensions (MIME), secure/multipurpose Internet mail

extensions (S/MIME), digital signatures, and more to ensure the security of data.

Think of Microsoft BizTalk as the glue that binds

the enterprise.

In summary, BizTalk will make it possible for you to

easily integrate internal products and technologies,

securely connect with business partners over the Internet,

and rapidly automate your business processes.

Give Intergen a call to discuss how we can deliver

the maximum benefits of BizTalk to your business.

Microsoft’s Innovation Centre is all aboutbeing rich in ideas, not rich in funding

Kahu Kirikiri

Kahu has extensive technical consulting

experience in the government, energy,

and insurance sectors.

What do you do?

I am a Developer with Intergen’s

Development & Integration team.

How do you make a difference?

My background is in customer service

and business analysis, with a strong

focus on business solutions. In my

role as a developer, I now get to use

my technical skills to further hone in

on that business solutions focus.

What do you love about your job?

I love the buzz of solving problems,

creating smart solutions and knowing

that people will get practical use

out of something that I had a part

in developing.

A bit about yourself?

My greatest passion is sharing my life

with my wife and children. Any time

I do get to myself is generally spent

playing soccer in the dizzying heights

of Division 8 and hacking my way

around 18 holes of golf.

>> INTERGENITE:

>> I N N O V A T I O N C E N T R E < S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E F O U R > >>3

You can’t put a price on innovation, and that’s

exactly the angle that the Microsoft New Zealand

Innovation Centre is coming from. At no cost, the

Innovation Centre and selected IT partners such

as Intergen, are working with national and local

government agencies to help turn innovative ideas

into proof of concept prototypes.MAORI LANGUAGE COMMISSION

Solution Overview: The Maori Language Commission’s website was finding

it difficult to maintain fully bilingual content, causing inconsistencies in

the information available to Maori and non-Maori audiences. Microsoft and

Intergen developed a Proof of Concept solution, based on Microsoft CMS

2002 and Visual Studio .NET. All content is now translated efficiently and

consistently into Maori and English, setting an outstanding example for

other government agencies wanting to implement bilingual sites.

By providing Microsoft services and commercial partner expertise for no charge,

government agencies are getting an opportunity to address key business

challenges. They can put a toe in the water to test technologies and ideas that

might otherwise never be tried.

To date, this virtual centre has received two rounds of applications from government

agencies and proof that it is working couldn’t be clearer. Twenty high quality

proposals in the first round have accelerated into a number of projects, with

Intergen being selected to partner on two of the first six projects. The first is an

innovative CMS 2002 solution, to provide the Maori Language Commission an email

driven multilingual workflow engine translating all English content into Maori.

The second also uses CMS 2002 to deliver a first of its kind online learning

programme being piloted for 20,000 students at The Correspondence School.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION THE CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL

Solution Overview: The Correspondence School sought to launch an online

learning program to provide a greater degree of flexibility for students to

collaborate on projects. Intergen used CMS 2002 to create a mini website

that gives students a number of interactive tools and a ‘live’ learning

experience. Paddy Payne, Intergen’s Professional Services Manager explains

“We were selected to partner The Correspondence School because of our

acknowledged expertise in CMS. They tell us we have more than exceeded

their expectations and are delighted at the flexibility the pilot delivers”.

Where to next for the Innovation Centre? The site, itself created by Intergen using CMS 2002, is attracting more and

more attention. Manager Shane Bartle anticipates another round of proposals being called for and encourages

government agencies to act on their ideas. Applications can be made via www.nzinnovationcentre.net.nz

Shane Bartle, Manager of the Microsoft NZ Innovation Centre, sees “collaboration”

as the lynchpin to why the Innovation Centre is working so well. “Achieving

the ‘right fit’ between each government agency and their selected partner is the

real catalyst to results”. “Intergen were able to demonstrate their considerable

investment into Content Management Server 2002 and could support the

Maori Language Commission beyond just development by providing a complete

hosting platform”.

< S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E F O U R >>>4 >> T E C H N I C A L

>> 1 R E L I A B I L I T Y

With the new architecture of the server, the core runs as a

kernel mode driver (runs as part of the operating system), and

then individual web requests are farmed out to processes which

run as standard system users. This allows all 3rd party code

to be executed away from the core web server, preventing

an error prone component or application from crashing the

web server.

Another major feature provided with IIS 6 is health

monitoring/recycling. This feature allows you to configure

on a per application pool (group of websites) basis, the running

characteristics of the pool. Characteristics include expected

CPU usage, memory usage and any temporal restrictions.

IIS 6 then actively monitors this, and will recycle worker

processes exceeding the limits imposed. In this way badly

written applications are prevented from consuming

excessive resources.

Because the web server runs as part of the operating system, requests are caught,

and queued until the system is in a valid state for servicing requests, at which

time the requests are then processed. This allows websites to be restarted without

clients receiving unwanted error messages.

Where “modified kernels” have nothingto do with Corngate

IIS 6 (Internet Information Services) is included with Windows 2003 Server and

represents a huge improvement over previous versions of IIS. Microsoft have

re-engineered IIS from the ground up and have focused on four main areas of

improvement to make a very robust and high performance new web server.

>> 2 S Y S T E M M A N A G E M E N T

Administration in IIS 6 is easier than ever. Command line tools have been made

available to allow scripting against any action under IIS 6. It is now possible to

never use a GUI! Additionally the metabase (configuration) can be exported as

XML for easier offline administration or collation in a central repository.

>> 3 S C A L A B I L I T Y

The new architecture of a kernel mode core and user mode workers, allows for

several performance benefits. High usage websites can now be tuned to have

multiple workers serving requests, whereas a low usage website can stick with

a single worker. Parsing and caching is handled by the kernel mode core,

allowing for extremely fast performance and scalability.

>> 4 S E C U R I T Y

IIS 6 comes locked down by default (initially it only serves static

content), and is not installed by default when you install

Windows Server 2003. This means you don’t have to immediately

worry about forgetting to apply complicated lockdown policies

and scripts. You switch on only what you need for your specific

server instance.

Configuring application pools allows worker processes to execute

under the context of a standard Windows NT account to maximise

ACL based security.

Websites can easily be transitioned from IIS 5 through to IIS

6 by using the “compatibility mode” provided. The need for

this may be limited, but it’s comforting to know Microsoft are

catering for backwards compatibility.

In summary, the four areas of improvement add great value

to what already was a very solid performing web server.

For more information about IIS 6, its functions, and how to deploy it, contact

Jeremy Boyd ([email protected]) or check out the following

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsServer2003/iis/default.mspx

>> INTERGENITE:

>> P R O J E C T C A S E S T U D Y >>5

Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives

Intergen takes Parliament publishing system online

Gina Harper

What do you do?

I am Intergen’s Receptionist/Office

Manager, I greet our clients and keep

the office running smoothly.


I see my job as making my colleagues

working life as hassle free as possible.

I take care of administrative things

and make them seem automatic so

everyone can concentrate on their

work for our clients.


The people interaction, the energetic

fun atmosphere, and the variety.

Each day people require different

things so no two days are the same.

Tell us about yourself?

After graduating from Vic with a

degree in Computer Science I originally

joined Glazier Systems back in 1995

as a programmer. However, I got OOS

and coincidentally at that time our

receptionist/office manager left.

I started filling in till they found a

replacement, but found that I really

enjoyed it, so chose to continue in

this role.

What do you do in your spare time?

I love the cardio machines at the gym,

practising yoga with the Hare

Krishnas and reading novels.

< S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E F O U R >

When the Office of the Clerk of the House of

Representatives was confronted with the termination

of the printing contract for parliamentary publications

and legislation, Deputy Clerk, Mary Harris, turned it into

an opportunity rather than a challenge for the Office.

A programme of publishing projects was implemented

to automate both print and web publishing systems.

Intergen worked with the Office of the Clerk (the Office) and its other IT suppliers

to transform manual processes into a streamlined online web publishing process

using Microsoft Content

Management Server 2002

(CMS) and SharePoint

Portal Server 2001.

Publishing for

Parliament

The Office maintains

records of all proceedings

associated with Parliament.

It must ensure documents arising out of business transacted by the House are

available, in accordance with the parliamentary timetable, and in a form that

accurately represents the work of the House or a committee.

The walls of the Office are testament to the publishing responsibility. Rows and

rows of thick books are stacked to the ceiling, and these have to be updated

on an ongoing basis. The processes to maintain the records were, until last

February, mostly manual.

e-Government

The Office had also been tasked with finding ways to use technology in order

to improve the public ability to access parliamentary materials, as part of the

e-Government initiative; a government-wide initiative to improve the dissemination

of public information through greater use of technology.

For the Office, and many other government offices, if an interested party needed

to read a public document, in the past they would have had to physically locate

it, possibly in head offices or public libraries, and pull the document or book

from the shelf.

Moving Online with Intergen

“We chose Intergen to orchestrate the Web arm of the publication process using

Microsoft software. Intergen had a solid grasp of our needs as an organisation

and Microsoft’s CMS proved to be user friendly, which was one of our requirements.

In addition, Microsoft combined with Intergen’s support and expertise gave us

the peace of mind that we have backup if we need it.”

CMS has enabled the Office to quickly and efficiently build, deploy, and maintain the

Parliamentary website to host many of the documents the Office is required to publish.

Said Harris, “The Intergen solution means we can now write

and edit online and publish directly to the website.”

Increased Access

Said Harris, “We are very excited about the Intergen and Microsoft solution.

Initially we had to focus on getting the entire system up and running. Our next

focus is to improve continually and add to the site, which with the CMS ease-

of-management, we have the potential to do.”

>> N E W S>>6 < S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E F O U R >

“Usability” – another Dotcom buzzword?>> INTERGENITE:

Mark Johnson

What do you do?

I am a Solution Manager in the

Professional Services team.

What do other people call you?

Tina.

Why?

Being the fifth staff member with the

name Mark, my colleagues felt that

a nickname was called for. So Mark

became Mark V, then Mark V Cortina,

then it got shortened to Tina.


I work with clients to help them

understand and define their

requirements. I then work to ensure

that Intergen delivers a solution that

not only meets, or exceeds the client’s

requirements, but delivers value.


The job is about the people. Intergen

people are fantastic to work with,

always ready to go the extra mile.

Our clients are fun to work with, and

there is nothing more satisfying than

a happy client.

Tell us about yourself?

I am a Wellingtonian born and bred.

I have been doing IT stuff for over 14

years. I love sport, but now restrict my

activities to selecting All Black teams,

and critiquing Hurricanes games.

The Dotcom bubble has long burst and with it many “smoke & mirrors” era buzzwords. The one that has endured

and is here to stay is “Usability”. The time has come to stop bragging about the number of “hits” a site has and

to focus on attracting repeat visitors who are able to engage in a quality experience on your website.

Benefits of the Website Usability Audit include:

The Audit is a fast turnaround process and can usually be completed in around

4-8 days at a cost of $3,000 - $4,000 depending on requirements and the size

of the website involved.

Contact Intergen now for more information on the value of a Website Usability

Audit for your organisation.

To draw a comparison with a conventional communication media, there would

be no point in an organisation investing in an expensive direct marketing

campaign if the printed document did not clearly

communicate the product, price and place to

the recipient. Why then do so many organisations

assume that because a website visitor has arrived

at their site , that they are also prepared to

“work” to find the services or offer?

The increasing breadth of audience expectation,

experience and literacy is creating an ever

widening range of users that need to be

accommodated in both the design of architecture

and interface tools. Usability addresses the issue

of maximising the experience and communication with your customer.

Subtle design and language improvements can deliver significant overall gains

in user acceptance and stickiness (increased site visit duration). Simplification

and Intuitive Logic are the new web objectives for success.

At Intergen we have taken a broad perspective on the term ‘usability’ as it relates

to a website. The Intergen developed “Website Usability Audit” system and

report draws on industry best practice and the experience of our team members

to analyse and recommend improvements to an existing website. The audit and

report covers the assessment of website objectives and audience profiles, content

– including copy, brand and design values – usability, functionality, interactivity,

marketing approach and a general impression.

>> An excellent starting point for the design

of a new site or improving an existing site

>> Assessment against current practices, often

based on new knowledge/understanding

>> Opportunities presented by new

technology standards

>> Identification of inconsistencies in

communication of brand values

and standards

>> Better facilitated communication

>> Improved site ‘stick-ability’ and/or function

>> An enhanced user experience and

associated brand benefit

>> Assistance in relationship development

with the users

Quiet achievers!

It’s a fact. We’re just not very good at bragging about what we do.

Think of us as the stealth team of the web design industry. Since the

last issue of Smarts we’ve been “bum up, head down” getting on with

designing and building some of the best content managed websites

in New Zealand. Just a few snap shots shown here, so get in touch if

you would like a presentation of full case studies.

>> C R E A T I V E S T U D I O & L E I S U R E < S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E F O U R > >>7

state.co.nz

trcnz.govt.nzmeridianenergy.co.nz

serviceprinters.co.nz

Hot on the heels of the design and

implementation of the Meridian Energy

Intranet in Content Management Server last

year, we have just completed a total “clean

sheet of paper” redesign of their online

communication channel. A great result designed

using our Navigation Prototype methodology.

The Tourism Research Council set us an

enormous challenge: To design a usability driven

website that reflects the authority and strategic-

level involvement the TRCNZ has in

disseminating information to the tourism

industry and related sectors. The solution is

fully extensible and e-government compliant.

IAG were looking to achieve synergies with

their State and NZI (www.nzi.co.nz) websites

which we delivered by designing separately

branded user interfaces over a Content

Management Server solution. Both sites have

recently gone live and are already receiving

glowing feedback from staff and customers.

At the Intergen Creative Studio it’s not just about

large enterprise level solutions for our corporate

clients. Earlier this year we completed this

Flash brochureware site for Service Printers –

New Zealand’s pre-eminent offset printers. The

website is a great showcase for their exceptional

work as well as that of our design team.

The tight three: Eamon,

Jillian and Mark have been

Intergen’s leading

interface design team for

over three years.

Tori Amori’s Paua Fritters

Here’s a taste sensation from Intergen

Associate Mark Fowler’s Hawkes Bay clan.

This recipe is the result of much

prototyping and taste testing over the

last five years. It is now, by popular

acclaim, ready to seek the title of

“world famous in New Zealand”.

>> Paua, 4 fresh, finely minced

>> Onions, 2, finely diced

>> Eggs, 2 fresh

>> Salt, 1 teaspoon

>> Black pepper, 10 coarse grinds

>> Spring onions, 3, finely sliced

>> Coriander, fresh, handful, washed,

chopped, including stalks

>> Mint, fresh, ten washed leaves

chopped coarsely

>> Chilli sambal paste, 1 level tablespoon

>> Breadcrumbs, 1 cup for fritter mix,

2 cups for fritter coating

>> Fish sauce, 1 tablespoon

>> Flour, 2 heaped tablespoons

The Mix Mix all ingredients, except the

flour, in a large mixing bowl. Once mixed,

sprinkle one heaped tablespoon of flour

over the top of the mix, and then mix in

thoroughly. Repeat with the second

tablespoon of flour.

Fritters While coating in breadcrumbs,

shape each fritter with your fingers, into

a small round shape: – 3/4” high by 1.5”

diameter. Fritters can be frozen, or fridged

for one day or cooked immediately. Cook

slowly on barbecue hot plate, or in a fry

pan which has a light coating of olive

oil for up to 15 minutes.

Serving Great as a drinks nibble or

entrée. Mix will produce 20-25 small

fritters. Serve warm, on bed of coriander,

garnished with lemon wedges. Sweet

Thai chilli sauce is a great dipping sauce.

A dry quaffing Riesling or Gewürztraminer

is an ideal accompaniment.

>> N E W S

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

For the second year running Intergen

has been ranked 6th in Unlimited

magazine’s annual Best Places to

Work survey.

Over 10,000 employees from 117

companies participated in this year’s

survey. Intergen have maintained

their reputation as a great place to

work even with sustained growth in

revenue and staff numbers.

“While staff enjoy themselves and

we have a tremendous atmosphere,

we continue to be very successful

developing business solutions for our

customers” said Intergen Managing

Director, Tony Stewart.

“Making Intergen so special is just

part of what happens” according to

Tony Stewart. “Intergen’s culture is

enhanced, by among other things,

staff having shares in the company,

the relaxed attitude to dress, recognition

of family needs, and a real sense of

participation in company events.”

Check out www.unlimited.co.nz for

more details and tips on making your

place a great place to work.

< S M A R T S - T H E I N T E L L I G E N T B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . I S S U E F O U R >>> I N T E R G E N C O N F E R E N C E

To be added to the Twilight Seminar invitation contact list email

[email protected], or call Gina on (04) 472 2021.

We look forward to your company. However, if you are unable to attend a

scheduled Seminar for any reason but are interested in the topic let us know.

We are often able to schedule another session and provide presentation materials.

Oct 8 Building castles on sand – Strategic information systems planning

for today – Andrew Jamieson, Paddy Payne

Oct 22 Template Design for Content Management solutions – Eamon O’Rourke,

Mark Orange

Nov 5 XML Web Services, what are they and why should we consider using

them – Derek Watson, Tony Stewart

Nov 19 Microsoft CRM Preview and demonstration – Wayne Forgesson,

Mark Trotter

2003

The Intergen Twilight Seminars are informal late afternoon sessions designed

to inform you about current trends, technologies and initiatives in the space

where business and information technology overlap.

The seminars consist of an interactive presentation followed by open questions,

drinks and nibbles. They are presented by topic experts either from within

Intergen or from one of our business partners. They are not “Sales” oriented but

designed to inform, educate and initiate informed discussion. Guests are welcome

to stay around for a drink and discussion with the presenters and fellow attendees.

>> E V E N T S :

Twilight Seminar Series

Time 4:20 for a 4:30 Start

4:30 – 5:30 Presentation

5:30 + Q/A, discussion and drinks

>>INTERGEN ON TOUR: Early September the annual Intergen conference

was held in Turangi. This year the conference was dubbed Road Trip 2003. Here are some

shots of the team and what we got up to. Clockwise from top: Unsuccessful fishermen out on

Lake Taupo; Air hockey – fierce competition; Gretna Hotel Taihape – a drink on the way; Magic

Bus at Hunterville enroute; Shortcut over Barbed Wire; Rob MC’ing; Parking ticket for AJ in Taupo.

intergen smarts 4 (2003)

Technology