Kinetics on top again

An IT solution that helped an Auckland-based business move into the UK market, and resolve some past technical difficulties, saw Kinetics winning the Small Business Solution award at this year's Microsoft Partner Awards.

Kinetics' winning solution for Sistema Plastics involved a major makeover of its somewhat shaky server infrastructure, which had suffered a series of major outages. Sistema's move to set up a UK office had also brought some very expensive quotes from local IT companies. Instead, Kinetics extended Sistema's server with hosted Exchange, SharePoint and Live Meeting functions in the cloud, so its UK and Australian sales offices were able to work independently.

"We integrated the cloud services for the sales offices with the onsite stuff for Auckland, reducing the capital outlays for the sales offices while maintaining the same functionality," Kinetics' Managing Director Andrew Hunt told Start- Up. "We had to put small servers in to support financial systems, but we were able to keep the costs much more affordable than would have otherwise been possible.

Such hybrid solutions are often the best option for smaller businesses, Hunt says. "Using online services enables us to provide much of the same capabilities, and certainly all of the ones that a start-up is typically interested in, at a very small fraction of the price.

Of course, every business is different, and Kinetics prides itself on being able to offer tailored solutions. It's also launched a coaching service, so businesses can use their IT to their best advantage.

"We are focused on helping small businesses to use what they've got better and to understand what they need to do in their business," Hunt says.

Kinetics won the same Microsoft Partner Award in 2007 and 2008, and was a finalist last year. Expect to see its name among the finalists next year too.