Intergen's newsletter, Smarts, now available for online reading. Intergen provides information technology solutions across Australia, New Zealand and the world based exclusively on Microsoft’s tools and technologies.

1. I S S U E S I X
>> 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
INTERGEN NEWS >>
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Out and about. Recently the
Intergen team has been busy attending
the Portal conference in Auckland
and the Software Developers conference
in Wellington. Here seen in action is
Bruce Smith from the Business
Development Team.
Exciting things in store
An intro to Microsoft CRM.
We profile Microsoft’s Customer
Relationship Manager (CRM) product
and how it can help manage your
company’s relationships with
individual customers or stakeholders.
See page 8.
Intergen has had a great start to the year
and we are looking forward to more
excitement and challenges in the
months ahead.
There appears to be no end to the demand to apply
new technologies and techniques to solve business
problems. We are working very hard to ensure our team
is well trained in the technologies that we use, is well
versed in “best practice” and supported by the best processes.
You will read elsewhere in SMARTS about our Services Oriented
Integration Framework, and about Jeremy’s appointment as
an MSDN Regional Director and the Microsoft Technology Preview
that Derek attended. These are important parts of our strategy
to stay at the forefront of our field. All of our developers attend a
11/2 hour training session each week to ensure that knowledge gained
is distributed throughout the team. We also place a great deal of emphasis on
individuals obtaining relevant Microsoft certifications.
A continuing theme for us is the requirement to implement Service Oriented
Architectures that give organisations flexibility to extend their legacy systems
to service their ultimate end user. We are finding that technologies such as XML
< Copyright 2004 Intergen Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission of Intergen Limited >
Web Services and products such as BizTalk are becoming increasingly important
in the e-Commerce and e-Government projects we are working on.
On Derek’s recent trip to Microsoft in Redmond, he met some developers from
a company based in the United Kingdom. He was talking to them about
the work we had been doing for clients based on Service
Oriented Architectures. They were very surprised to find
anyone actually doing it at all, let alone an organisation
with the experience that we have. I guess it just goes
to show that even though New Zealand may be
falling behind in some areas of technology
adoption, we are still right up there in others.
Our Creative Studio is continuing to refine its
very successful Navigation Prototyping approach
featured in the last edition of SMARTS. It is doing
extensive research and development to ensure that
our government clients get the most functional solution
possible while ensuring the highest degree of
compliance to the e-Government Web Guidelines.
Over the past 12 months our staff numbers have grown by
a third and so starting from this edition of SMARTS we show
readers each of our teams. The photo features the Business Development team.
We now have a significant presence in both the Auckland and Wellington markets
and we are currently planning our entry to the Christchurch market. We are looking
forward to a great year and being of service to you, where ever you may be.
INTERGEN PEOPLE >>
SEARCH ENGINE NEWS >>
INTERGEN NEWS >>
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS >>
From left Andrew, Wayne,
Bruce, and Paul.
tony.stewart@intergen.co.nz
INTERFACE DESIGN >>
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS >>

2. >>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 S I X >
Regional Directorship
directed Intergen’s way
Just call me a “Technical Evangelist” says Jeremy
Boyd when asked to explain the breadth of his new
role as Microsoft Regional Director.
Nominations take place every two years and JB’s appointment for 2004/2005
places him as one of only two Regional Director roles in New Zealand, with just
140 worldwide.
The new role will see him working closely with Microsoft via mentoring,
speaking, strategising and facilitating opportunities to ensure
the wider New Zealand developer community gets
access to ideas and information on existing and
future Microsoft products and technologies.
The idea is that by bringing independent developers,
architects and other experts together, it promotes
the best and most informed link between Microsoft and
developers worldwide.
“Think of a Regional Director as a direct communication
channel with Microsoft and you’ll see the significance.
I will be taking views and issues to Microsoft, learning about
new products and developments, and passing ideas back
to New Zealand clients. Definitely it’s an excellent voice
for Intergen customers.”
“As a Technical Evangelist I look forward to talking
more specifically about directions of new developments.”
Anyone wanting to hear more about Jeremy’s new appointment –
contact him on jeremy.boyd@intergen.co.nz
racing keelers for his thrills. He is also quick to point out that he doesn’t own
these craft, but “relies on people much wealthier than me”!
Bruce has joined the yachting fraternity comparatively recently, but is on to
his fourth vessel already, so isn’t wasting any time playing catch-up. Speaking
of which, he has also crammed a life time of “learning experiences” into the
past seven years. If you ever want to be cheered up, ask him about his
Picton performance…
Given that Intergen is in growth mode, our Development & Integration team
has been expanding too and amongst the new developers is Nick, competitive
keeler crewman extraordinaire. Nick is the most active of our sailing set and
gathers a regular Monday audience for weekend tales of the high seas.
Suitably enthused, an assortment of the rest of the Intergen team was recently
inspired to embark on an introductory evening lesson on the RPNYC Sailing
School’s two Muir 8.2 training boats. The novices were all smiles before they
departed from the marina and discovered that the light breeze was in fact
gusting at about 45 knots!
Our skipper cheerily described it as a “baptism by fire”. Paul demanded more,
Elaine desperately wanted a cigarette, John-Daniel just wanted to be back on
shore. All in all, a great team outing!
Plain Sailing
Following on from the unexpected
attention generated by the
“Automotive obsession?” article in the
last issue of SMARTS, many of our
team immediately cried out that not
everyone at Intergen is a Petrolhead!
In fact the author of that article is also
a keen sailor, so this feature centres
on matters nautical.
Long-time staffers AJ and Gabe have
been solitary voices in the car-fixated
wilderness for some time, but recently
there has been an influx of keen yachties
to bolster their chorus.
In recent months we’ve ramped up our
Business Development team with two
great finds, Paul and Bruce. Proving that
our recruitment policy is not exclusive
to car freaks, these guys are both
extremely enthusiastic and experienced
yachties. Paul started in dinghies shortly
after learning to walk and has never
looked back. Progressing up through the
ranks he is now a versatile crewman,
preferring the team environment of
All smiles before the “baptism by fire”!
>> I N T E R G E N P E O P L E

3. >> I N T E R F A C E D E S I G N < 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 S I X > >>3
If you’d like to learn how Intergen’s e-Government website
design experience can benefit your project, contact our Creative
Director Eamon O’Rourke at eamono@intergen.co.nz
website for the State Services Commission
was one of the first websites to have the
standards applied. Since then we’ve racked
up a broad range of applied eGWG
experience with government departments,
local government and state sector
organisations. We are also harnessing
Intergen’s vast experience using Microsoft
Content Management Server to build
robust template designs that can be self-
managed by multiple business units.
We are currently engaged on e-Government
projects with Land Transport Safety
Authority, State Services Commission and
New Zealand Immigration Service (more on
these projects in a future SMARTS). Our
applied experience with the guidelines
means what you see is what you get. We
only present concepts that can be built and
maintained in an eGWG compliant manner.
We know the eGWG document in detail,
but don’t lose sight of the big picture –
making your customers’ website
experience positive!
New Zealanders are the
winners with e-Government
Web Guidelines
The e-Government Web Guidelines (eGWG) are a hot topic with the decision
to make Version 2.1 the compulsory minimum standard for New Zealand
government department websites from January 2006. Intergen’s Creative
Studio has taken a positive and optimistic stand on the issues for the
industry and the ultimate benefits for the New Zealand public. We firmly
believe that the eGWG will improve the quality and consistency of experience
for all Kiwis whose interactions with government departments are
increasingly conducted on line.
Intergen’s “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” is to touch every New Zealander positively
every day. The State Services Commission eGWG 2006 initiative is going to assist
us in ensuring that the experiences of the users of our government web projects
are positive. Our user interface design methodology has been in a constant state
of refinement since 1996. We advocate the disciplined application of best
usability oriented design practice to all websites we create. Our approach is
based on evolving internationally accepted standards, and parallels the intent
and purpose of the eGWG.
In our experience, applying the eGWG standards to government website and
application interface design projects ensures that the final solution has the most
value for the majority of users. Put simply, it guarantees the site is fast, simple
and intuitive – the golden benchmarks for effective mass market interface design.
Why have a compulsory standard?
Up until now government departments and agencies have been able to self-
regulate in terms of deciding what minimum standards of usability design are
acceptable for their audience.
By imposing the compulsory eGWG standards now, all government websites will
be required to be structured, designed and built in a way that guarantees users
will be able to access a site and have a familiar and consistent experience.
This ensures that online provision of information is equitable, allowing all web
users access, not just those best resourced or on metropolitan connections.
Ultimately this will enable more New Zealanders to understand, interact with
and participate in government.
What lessons can be learned from the experience?
eGWG compliant websites do not have to be dull and boring. Too many web
designers are intimidated by the prescriptive standards and don’t realise
the opportunity to create friendly and effective interfaces within the limits
of the standards.
Government departments reviewing their web presence now have a set of
universal criteria to audit against and a reasonable time frame to achieve
compliance. The challenge for the project teams will be to move from respecting
the intent of the guidelines, to achieving complete compliance. This will require
increased effort particularly in the areas of:
accessibility for users with a disability or those on slow internet connections.
bilingual/Maori content presentation.
acceptable presentation degradation for older version browsers.
rendering all PDF content in HTML.
managing degradation from technologies like JavaScript.
providing robust content management templates that preclude non-
compliant population.
Intergen Creative Studio has been designing and building eGWG compliant
websites since the inception of the standards. Back in 2001 the www.jobs.govt.nz
trcnz.govt.nzjobs.govt.nz wbopdc.govt.nz
–

4. >> INTERGENITE:
Alan Doak
What do you do?
I’m a graphic designer in the Creative
Studio. I design websites and
interactive new media like CD Roms
and DVDs...
How do you make a difference?
In my previous incarnation I was
an illustrative photographer shooting
for many of New Zealand’s top ad
agencies and design companies.
The knowledge gained from that
experience helps me apply design
solutions from both a creative and
business perspective. Basically
I’ve got a big foot in both doors which,
in the long run, is beneficial for
our clients.
What do you love about your job?
The variety of work…making things
look good…the ‘V’ in the fridge…the
people…the morning teas…the Friday
get together…what’s not to like?
A bit about yourself?
I’m learning the guitar…again. I try
and listen to country music when my
two year old twin boys have finished
listening to “Bob The Builder” for the
29th time in a row….
< 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 S I X >>>4 >> I N T E R G E N N E W S
Intergen has 6th sense
for winning…
2004 Intergen Twilight
Seminar Series
Intergen has once again (for the third time) been ranked sixth in New Zealand
in Unlimited magazine’s annual Best Places to Work survey.
It’s now official – Intergen continues to be one of the best places to work in
New Zealand. Intergen has once again placed sixth in the annual Unlimited
Magazine Best Places to Work survey. This is Intergen’s third year of participation
and the third time it has ranked highly in the top 20 places to work.
>> there are only six companies that have been in the top 20 for three years running
“Well done everyone for creating such a great place to work – because it isn’t
down to any one person – it’s down to each and every one of us being wonderful,
helpful, caring, well-rounded, passionate people. Personally, I think it’s the hugs
that make all the difference.”
PADDY PAYNE – DIRECTOR, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
“Intergen continues to work hard at maintaining an
open and co-operative culture, particularly as the
company grows and matures.”
TONY STEWART – MANAGING DIRECTOR
“Each of the Directors has previously worked in
organisations where having fun hasn’t been a focus
and this has made us even more determined to make
sure our environment is fun for everyone at Intergen.”
WAYNE FORGESSON – DIRECTOR,
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
>> E V E N T S
WELLINGTON 5 May Building usable and functional websites that
comply with e-Govt guidelines
19 May Weblogs – For what?
2 Jun Leaderful practice: A leadership culture that leads
directly to increased productivity
AUCKLAND 5 May Microsoft CRM. An introduction and demonstration
to find out how you can better manage your
business relationships
TIME 4:20 for a 4:30 Start
4:30-5:30 Presentation
5:30+ Q/A, discussion and drinks
Intergen’s popular Twilight
seminar series continues in
2004. These informal late
afternoon sessions are designed
to inform you about current
trends, technologies and
initiatives in the space where
business and information
technology overlap.
>> C AN YO U MAK E IT?
Let us know if you would like to receive more information about the Intergen twilight
series or any of the topics listed. To be added to the Twilight seminar series invite
list contact Gina Harper at ginah@intergen.co.nz
While achieving this is a fantastic feat there are a number of interesting facts
and figures:
>> two years ago Intergen was sixth out of 87 companies, last year sixth out
of 117 and this year sixth out of 128
>> Intergen had the highest response rate of all companies in the Top 20 –
98.9% of employees responded

5. >> B U S I N E S S S O L U T I O N S >>5< 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 S I X >
The SOIF addresses the problem of reuse
at the solution level by considering the
place of the existing services provided by
the Microsoft product set. By understanding
the integration points between the products
and the extensibility interfaces exposed,
solutions can be assembled from the
components provided. This top-down
assembly approach differs from the bottom
up build approach in that the only plumbing
code that is written by developers is “glue”
code. Custom code must always be developed
to provide the specific functionality to solve
the business problem, but this will always
be exposed via a service interface which
allows it to simply be treated as a building
block of the solution itself.
The hub of the integration framework is
BizTalk 2004. The use of BizTalk allows for
the composition of the various component
services into a more complete representation
of the solution to a business process. The
flow of information between systems,
transformation between message schemas,
and co-ordination of the business activities
is controlled by BizTalk. The diagram to the
right (top) presents this in a visual form:
A typical implementation of a SOIF solution could include the products shown
in the shaded area of the diagram to the right, but always includes BizTalk.
Use of the SOIF implementation by a client application can be described as
a collection of services provided by one or many of these products to solve
a business problem.
The Intergen SOIF (Services Oriented Integration Framework)
In a follow-up to the articles last year on BizTalk and Service Oriented
Architecture we continue to discuss how to make integration happen in
a multiple component environment.
For example, how do we provide a solution that needs CMS, Exchange,
and SQL Server? Classically, we would have implemented all three products
and provided data access and business logic to provide functionality in an
unbrokered manner, where one of the products (usually the one in which
most functionality is sourced) is chosen as the master. To apply the SOA
architectural pattern to a solution of this type, we need a common method
for exposing and consuming the services that these products provide, and
a means of intelligent coordination of their function. This is the Service
Oriented Integration Framework.
ProvideOrchestrateConsume
BIZTALK 2004
EXCHANGE CMS LEGACY SYSTEMS
Microsoft Enterprise Server Products
SQL
SERVER
BESPOKE
SERVICES
BROWSER APP INFOPATH MOBILE APPDESKTOP APP
T H E S O I F D E F I N E S :
>> Rules of engagement using BizTalk (messaging, translation, workflow, etc.)
>> Rules for systems integration
>> Best practice approaches
>> Architectural patterns
>> Design guidelines
>> Suites of common BizTalk components.
COMMERCE
SERVER
BIZTALK
2004CUSTOM WEB
SERVICES
SQL
SERVER
EXCHANGE
SERVER
EXTERNAL
APPLICATIONS
HOST
INTERGEN
SERVER
CONTENT
MANAGEMENT
SERVER

6. >> INTERGENITE:
< 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 S I X >>>6 >> S E A R C H E N G I N E N E W S
Mondosoft wishes your customers Many Happy Returns
Neal Blomfield
What do you do?
Developer in the Development &
Integration Team. My job involves
working as part of a team to develop
solutions for people to do something
they were not previously able to do,
or that simplify a previously difficult
task. Currently I spend most of my
time working with C# developing
web-based applications.
What do you love about your job?
I enjoy solving the problems that
arise as part of developing and
delivering software solutions to
business problems. I count myself
lucky to be working with some of
the most talented people I have
known. Working at Intergen
doesn’t often seem like work and
if that’s not the best kind of job to
have I don’t know what is!
A bit about yourself?
Being a bit of a late starter in the IT
industry (I didn’t get my degree until
I was 26), I’m constantly pushing my
boundaries in terms of what I know
and what I want to learn. Outside
of work, I’m just starting to get into
running, swimming and cycling
with an eye towards competing in
a few triathlons (and maybe even
an Ironman).
A Mondosoft solution enables you to maximize the value of information about
visitors’ behaviour, gives power to your web presence, and simplifies the ongoing,
day-to-day tasks of content and knowledge management.
Mondosoft solutions are ideal complements to Microsoft Content Management
Server and Microsoft Solutions for Internet Business, as seamless integration has
been made to ensure added functionality, customer intelligence and support of
the content management workflow.
If you want insight into what your users want and
knowledge of how to make your web environment
more successful, Mondosoft’s solution can help.
Mondosoft enables you to get a better understanding of how to provide a
positive experience for the visitors of your e-commerce site, corporate website,
portal or intranet.
The solution works closely with Microsoft Content Management Server
and Microsoft Solutions for Internet Business and is based on three
interoperating products:
>> MondoSearch™ is an advanced, multi-lingual enterprise search engine.
There is more to it than just keyword searching and lists of results. MondoSearch
delivers categorised search results in context, so users will know what is
relevant to them.
>> BehaviorTracking™ beats all other website analytics software products
because it provides information that you can use instantly to improve response
quality and, thereby, business results. BehaviorTracking makes MondoSearch
smarter with every visit because it tracks each search all the way through to
its successful – or unsuccessful – conclusion and learns from visitors’ behaviour.
BehaviorTracking provides simple and concise reports-on-demand that actually
recommend what actions should be taken to improve sales, cut costs and
retain customers.
>> InformationManager™ is the crucial link between BehaviorTracking, which
provides a wealth of facts about visitors, and MondoSearch, which is your site’s
strongest tool for interacting with users. InformationManager makes it easy to
put the insight obtained via BehaviorTracking into actions and improvements
that will strengthen your communication and help you to give your site visitors
a great experience.
Mondosoft Search Results screen
For more information about Mondo
email sales@intergen.co.nz
and we will be happy to discuss
what Mondo can do for you.

7. >> I N T E R G E N N E W S < 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 S I X > >>7
In mid February Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Seattle,
held a closed “Technology Preview” for the eyes of
its worldwide partners.
Derek Watson, Intergen’s Manager of Development & Integration Services, was
selected as one of just 50 people worldwide to participate in this high-level two
day event. Derek was the only Kiwi amid an international audience of software
architects, development managers and project managers.
Security restricts revealing what was previewed over the 48 hours, but Derek is
emphatic that Intergen customers will significantly benefit from what took place.
“Through experiencing Microsoft’s high level technology preview and by being
part of a forum that allowed us to assess technology and see how it might
affect the directions we are taking for New Zealand customers, we are able
to continue to deliver great benefits. It means we are getting in early in the
game and mitigating risk for our clients by taking up technology as early-
adopters,” says Derek.
“Microsoft is continually aiming to enrich the application development lifecycle
to ensure customer success, and this event was a key opportunity to match
innovative tools with evolving business needs worldwide. By bringing a NZ
perspective to this event, it’s a huge gain for our customers.”
The significance of the event will unfold later in 2004.
More on Microsoft’s roadmap at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/productinfo/enterprise/enterpriseroadmap/
48 hours inside
Microsoft’s Restricted
Technology Preview
Let’s do business better
>> INTERGENITE:
Daniel Reed
What do you do?
Technical Services Team Member.
I work on consultancy, hosting
support, internal support and the
role is broadening as the company
is growing.
What do you love about your job?
The whole work ethic here is
excellent, get the job done, but more
importantly, enjoy yourself while
you’re doing it.
Fantastic group of people with similar
interests which makes for a great
work environment.
A bit about yourself?
I was in the film and TV industry
before deciding to head back to study
for “many” years, first through
Massey then Spherion.
I love the whole technology industry
– especially PC and Xbox.
I joined Intergen towards the end
of September 2003 and am totally
enjoying the whole experience.
Integration, B2B, e-commerce or just plain simple
“let’s do business better” is a current topic among
both small and large New Zealand organisations.
In the New Zealand market more businesses are trying to realise value
out of automating, interfacing and streamlining their business processes.
A lot of this is pragmatic good business sense – surely the effort
(and related cost) to manually do a task is higher than automating it?
A good example is the airline industry. Pre-internet days, the average
cost of processing a booking via a call centre was around $8. By
implementing an online solution, this could drop to less than 50 cents.
That all sounds good, but the key is defining and analysing the
business requirements first.
Too often, more focus is placed on the technology
itself, without realising this is just a vehicle to
meeting the problem and solving it.
For example, Intergen Auckland has been
working on several projects around
integration, primarily with BizTalk and XML
web services. A number of these projects
involve interfacing with disparate and
enterprise systems. Our team has excellent
knowledge that could apply to your
business – to know more give Shaun
Donaghey a call on 09 488 1604 – it could
be easier than you think.
Shaun Donaghey

8. < 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 S I X >>> B U S I N E S S S O L U T I O N S
Relating to CRM
Microsoft Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) is an enterprise-wide application that provides
the means to manage information on every aspect of a company’s relationship with individual
customers or stakeholders. Details are captured from different areas across the organisation into
a central repository, effectively tracking interactions at different points throughout the business.
At the same time Microsoft CRM helps to manage work flow, keeping track of
tasks and activities associated with the customer contact, interaction, sales cycle
or service incident, and can automate business processes such as sales quote
creation and order management. The built-in workflow engine helps management
establish consistent business processes and frees employees from time-consuming
tasks, enabling them to spend more time selling, giving quality service and
managing customer relationships.
Key business features and benefits
>> Microsoft CRM is accessible from both an online web portal and offline
Microsoft Outlook integrated client.
>> Full integration with Microsoft Outlook means customer-related e-mails and
appointments created in Microsoft CRM can be viewed and accessed via Outlook.
>> Easy-to-use intuitive interface leveraging the familiar Microsoft Windows look
and feel.
>> Built using Microsoft .Net technology Microsoft CRM is flexible, easily
customisable and configurable to ensure maximised business benefit. Fields
can be added or removed, captions and drop down values can be modified.
Views can be added and configured to include different columns.
>> Total low cost of ownership – designed to ensure maximum flexibility within
an affordable budget, Microsoft CRM can be deployed rapidly, customised
and maintained easily, and scaled to adapt to changing needs.
Intergen has set-up a CRM implementation team to work with business users
to identify the key customer-centric business processes and configure Microsoft
CRM solutions to suit. We are aware that there are many organisations in
New Zealand that, although not sales-oriented, would greatly benefit from the
implementation of an enterprise-wide system that can manage contact details
and interactions. We are currently designing and proto-typing Microsoft CRM
solutions tailored to provide maximum benefit to organisations within several
industry verticals.
The collated information is then available to users across departments in a
customer-centric view, empowering employees with valuable information about
the customer or engagement. This can include details such as existing relationships
both internally and externally, marketing lead particulars, products purchased
and service level agreements as well as both current and historic
interactions/opportunities and service incident details. Having such a wealth of
information gives a greater picture of customer behaviour and preferences, enabling
employees to really know their customers and understand their needs, to provide
superior customer service and make to informed decisions thereby assisting to build
lasting relationships leading to higher satisfaction and service.
Intergen has recently employed Emma Cuttance to help grow Intergen’s CRM
business through: developing expertise with Microsoft CRM; deploying it for us
in-house; pre-sales support for interested clients; defining a methodology to use
in our CRM assignments; and implementing it for our clients.
Emma has just returned from a four year stint overseas, in Australia and the
United Kingdom. She is an experienced CRM consultant, having been with Onyx
Software for three years.
Prior to Onyx, Emma worked as an analyst programmer for Datacom in
Wellington and Sydney for three years. She is an MCP (VB and SQL) and has
a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems plus a post-graduate diploma in
Finance from Otago.
Any queries regarding CRM contact emma.cuttance@intergen.co.nz.