DWS Limited
Annual Report
2013
CLIENT FOCUSED
FUTURE FOCUSED
CONTENTS
1 Business Profile 2 Chairman’s Report 3 Year in Review
4 Chief Executive Officer’s Report 6 National Practice – iSolutions 7 National Practice – Insight Analytics 9 From the Brisbane Office
10 From the Sydney Office 11 From the Canberra Office 12 From the Melbourne Office
13 Case Study: Australian Taxation Office, E-Tax 13 Recent Acquisition: Apt Business Solutions 14 From the Geelong Office
15 From the Adelaide Office 17 From the Perth Office
18 DWS and Boréalis Joint Venture: BD Consulting 21 Executive Management Team
22 Practice and Regional Management Team 24 Board of Directors
26 Financial Statements 69 Corporate Directory
BUSINESS PROFILE
DWS Limited (DWS) is a leading Australian IT services company,
providing services to a diverse range of blue-chip clients since 1991.
DWS has grown to now have in excess of 580 employees with offices in
Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra, Brisbane and Geelong.
DWS provides a broad range of IT services and solutions including
systems development, application-managed services, business process
automation, and high-end business analytics and information
management. These services are delivered to clients via a proven
methodology and engagement model which is continually being
enhanced and adapted to meet our clients’ requirements.
“ Despite the economic gloom,
DWS has continued to succeed.
Market expectations in terms of
revenue and profit performance
have been realised.”
Dear shareholders,
As I come to write this letter to shareholders, we are witnessing some fundamental changes in technology, its delivery and client expectations. It is always exciting for an IT company to be part of such a change, even though the global economy still appears to be in the doldrums and economic conditions are tough here in Australia.
While growth for business is a rare
commodity, management focus everywhere is on innovation and cost containment. This is of some benefit to us in the Information Technology sector where new systems and procedures remain a priority. We are also seeing more and more jobs being placed offshore as the developing world catches up with us on the education and language fronts, and customer expectations on cost reduction increases even further.
For DWS this has created new management challenges.
Some of our clients are now asking for a “blended” workforce of Australian and offshore specialists. They want the security of knowing that their IT projects are being managed locally, but that they can also
benefit from the economies of a skilled overseas workforce. DWS will move to meet this challenge in the year ahead and has already committed project work under this new arrangement. After all, our philosophy has always been to provide our clients with a first-class outcome that represents real value for money.
Despite the economic gloom, DWS has continued to succeed. Market expectations in terms of revenue and profit performance have been realised. We continue to have zero debt, our cash position is strong and our dividend policy remains unchanged; something that I believe our shareholders appreciate and value.
The year ahead will be challenging but our senior management team is a committed and diligent group, ably mentored by our Chief Executive Officer, Mr Danny Wallis and supported by Mr Lachlan Armstrong. I would particularly like to thank Messrs. Wallis and Armstrong for their effective leadership of DWS over the past 12 months. I and my fellow Board Members look forward to working with the Executive Team in the year ahead. As a cohesive group they have
already demonstrated their capacity to deal with difficult times. I am confident that they will continue to do so. As in previous years, I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of all the staff at DWS. Our people, through their dedicated commitment to excellence, make our Company what it is. Thank you for that. Finally, a thank you to my fellow Directors for your support and guidance in the past year.
Harvey Parker Chairman
25 September 2013
YEAR IN REVIEW
Adapting to the Market
For 22 years DWS has been providing clients with high-quality IT services. Every year the demand profile of our clients changes slightly, reflecting technological advances and emerging industry trends. DWS has and continues to successfully adapt to these changes, which demonstrates a resilient business model based on putting clients’ interests first whilst providing a great place for our people to work.
The Operating Environment
There is little doubt that 2013 has been a difficult year; clients have been deferring capital projects until the political turmoil abates, and there has been a strong focus on cost reduction rather than business expansion. With challenge comes opportunity though, and DWS acquired the business assets of Apt Business Solutions further expanding our application-managed services capability. We have invested into our iSolutions Business Process Automation product capability (iApply), which is resulting in strong demand for services nationally. Our strong balance sheet means we are positioned to add to these capabilities going forward, which assists stability when traditional markets are contracting.
Moving Forward
DWS will continue to seek out and invest in earnings per share accretive opportunities which provide annuitised revenue streams to our business. These will include cloud software technologies which will complement our existing iSolutions Group, and other annuitised services businesses similar to Apt Business Solutions which have long-term contracted revenue streams. We will do this while maintaining our strong focus on client service and nurturing our people.
Revenues
$109.05m
Down 1%EBITDA
$24.32m
Down 8%NPAT
$16.86m
Down 7%Total Earnings Per Share
13¢
Dividends Per Share
11¢
Cash at Bank
$11.79m
Financial Highlights
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 NPAT ($ million) $16.02 $18.52 $17.39 $18.22 $16.86Operating cash flow (before interest and tax)($ million) $25.36 $25.54 $21.65 $30.39 $24.55
Earnings per share 12¢ 14¢ 13¢ 14¢ 13¢
Cash balance ($ million) $12.16 $13.66 $10.98 $15.21 $11.79
Net tangible assets per share 20¢ 23¢ 23¢ 24¢ 21¢
Total Revenue ($m)
EBITDA ($m)
120 100 80 60 40 20 0 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT
To my fellow shareholders,
It is pleasing to present a solid result in an extremely tough environment. Revenues were almost identical to last year whilst NPAT was down 7 per cent in a year that can only be described as challenging, uneventful and flat.
There were many headwinds to navigate throughout the year including a minority government that had difficulty explaining policy. Never before has a government in Australia announced an election some eight months in advance. This had a negative impact in that there has been a broad deferral of expenditure which resulted in a subsequent deterioration in the overall business environment. The political sideshow that involved Kevin Rudd installed as Prime Minister and along with some sudden changes in policy sapped whatever business confidence was left. This has also resulted in a very weak start to 2014.
DWS’ success in 2013 was in part attributable to our strategy of finding new sources of revenue. The DWS iSolutions business continues to contribute positively to the business and I believe the practice will continue to grow into the foreseeable future. We now have behind us a number of successful implementations across both government and corporate environments. The Business Process Automation technology offering of our iSolutions
team is a point of competitive differentiation that enables DWS to engage with a broader range of clients for both iSolutions as well as our broader service offerings. During the year we executed a number of acquisitions. The acquisition of Apt in Canberra for $5.7 million in cash has brought many benefits including a number of long-term contracts with the Department of Defence. In anticipation of further growth in Defence we are upgrading the Apt premises in Canberra that incorporates all of the Defence Force data security and general security requirements. Once the new premises are complete in early 2014 we will be one of only a handful of companies with an office that is compliant with the security requirements for the offsite hosting of protected data and development of high-security applications. We anticipate that this will give DWS a competitive advantage when seeking additional Defence contracts.
As with 2012, one of our concerns has been managing margin pressure. Once again we have been unable to increase rates in a very competitive environment and the outlook to increase rates is not very strong. The relationship between DWS and Boréalis continues to strengthen. At the end of 2013 we formally moved a number of DWS employees into the new joint venture
company, BD Consulting. This company is 50 per cent owned by both DWS and Boréalis. Jason Simms, formerly the State Manager for DWS Queensland, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of BD Consulting. Even as the mining boom slows down we are confident of growing BD Consulting both within Australia and Asia. As the IT Services market has changed over the years, especially amidst growing competition from offshore providers, we continually need to keep our business model relevant. Our strategy is to continue to seek alternate sources of revenue and as we enter FY2014 we are increasingly focused on opportunities that include intellectual property. We have experienced the benefit of IP with the purchase of iSolutions and discovered that it is a lot easier to open doors to new client partnerships when you can offer IP. Therefore, it is expected that future acquisitions may bring Proprietary IP. Cloud computing continues to attract a lot of attention internationally. DWS is continuing to monitor the progress of the cloud environment and is actively looking to increase the relevance of cloud to our service offerings and to develop a long-term strategy whereby we can substantially
“ As the IT Services market
has changed over the years,
especially amidst growing
competition from offshore
providers, we continually
need to keep our business
model relevant.”
benefit from this evolution. It would be fair to say that at this point in time, DWS is likely to resist the opportunity to invest in cloud infrastructure or develop a strategy of software offerings dedicated to the cloud. DWS is a proven and leading provider of consulting services and we may look to strengthen our consulting offering via the cloud environment, which may be through acquisition or organic growth.
Over the past year DWS has been developing an offshore capability in conjunction with one of our clients. This has progressed and we can now offer an offshore capability based in Manila. I would like to thank all of our major stakeholders in the business: our staff, directors, shareholders and clients for their continued support. I would also like to thank our management team for their contribution over the past year and I look forward to working with you throughout the year ahead.
Whilst FY2014 will be a tough year, I am confident that a majority Government will provide companies with the confidence to invest in our country’s future.
Danny Wallis
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director 25 September 2013
Pictured (left to right): Mark Maybloom – Consultant Stephen Preece – Consultant Glenn Myers – Consultant Russell Amner – Consultant
Robert Finlayson
Practice Lead iSolutions
iSolutions is a national DWS specialist practice that invents and provisions software-as-a-service cloud product utilities. In its second year of operation iSolutions experienced solid growth and customer demand, doubling revenue from last year and delivered positive client outcomes.
The strategic focus of the practice is on the innovative iApply utility – a cloud business process improvement solution that can implement business processes via a convenient online experience. iApply is an Online Forms Automation Solution delivered via the cloud. It is a dynamic, flexible and highly adaptable solution that automates many business processes quickly and cost-effectively. It makes creating online data capture forms easy and provides greater accessibility to these processes by delivering them with cloud technology. Paper-based processes are removed, thus improving service delivery and reducing administrative costs. iApply is built using iApply’s Intentional Programming model. The main strength of this approach is online forms can be created with complex controls, validations, business rules, calculations and section sequencing without developers having to become domain experts. Intentional Programming
separates the software domain (created and maintained by DWS consultants) from the business domain (maintained by the domain experts).
The intellectual property of iApply is researched, developed and owned by iSolutions. Clients are licensed to use the iApply utility as a product subscription. Designed to match the software-as-a-service offering of iApply, the subscription type is determined by the actual usage of iApply. The iApply product licensing provides iSolutions with a recurring revenue model. FY2013 was a breakout year for customer acquisition in iSolutions. Moving beyond the strong financial services client base, iSolutions successfully penetrated new markets including aviation, federal and state government departments and healthcare. The challenges across all industries are common; remove non-value-adding
National Practice
iSOLUTIONS
“ FY2013 was a breakout year for customer
acquisition in iSolutions. Moving beyond the
strong financial services client base, iSolutions
successfully penetrated new markets including
aviation, federal and state government
departments and healthcare.”
processes (cost containment) and provide a best-of-breed online experience. iApply is well positioned to meet these challenges. Another major iSolutions milestone was the increased collaboration and approach to market of iSolutions across all regions. The success in selling cloud utilities to our clients can directly be attributed to the strong client relationships DWS has always maintained.
This is the first year software-as-a-service has truly been accepted into the enterprise. All of our prospects have identified the desire to move their business processes into the cloud. What is really exciting about this market opportunity is that iSolutions is just getting started.
David Myall
National Manager Insight Analytics
With just over 12 months since rebranding to DWS Insight Analytics the practice is an established brand of DWS both within our client base nationally and the broader business analytics industry. The practice presents itself as a thought leader in business analytics and information management with the scale, stability and proven capability of DWS. We are trusted partners in this increasingly important business function. This in turn drives business not only for the Insight Analytics practice but also for DWS more broadly. In all of the Insight Analytics lead solution delivery projects completed in the year there was a mix of Insight Analytics and DWS non-practice consultants achieving a core goal of the practice. A refinement of the operating model in the first quarter of the financial year cemented Insight Analytics as a specialist capability, which complemented the existing DWS offering resulting in tighter integration and greater collaboration with the DWS regions. For the financial year the practice returned a satisfactory EBITDA result with overall high consultant utilisation. The greatest challenge for the practice in the year has been recruitment. There are three related factors driving this challenge. The first being that the DWS recruitment process is unapologetically tough, ensuring we bring only the best into the team. Secondly, whilst there has been some softening of the IT recruitment market particularly in the second half of the year, business analytics and information management continues to be a ‘hot skill’ within the market, soavailability of quality resources has not increased in the same proportion as other IT skill sets. The third factor is in addition to the high DWS standards, Insight Analytics requires experienced senior and principal consultants who possess a thought leadership capability. Whilst recruitment has been the highest priority for the practice in the second half of the year, the factors above have resulted in having less consultants in the practice than targeted for the end of the financial year. One DWS Insight Analytics differentiator is the diversity of the formal partnerships DWS maintains. Whilst many of our competitors focus on one core technology partner DWS maintains partnerships with IBM, Microsoft, Tableau Software, MIT Sloan, and others not related to business analytics. This means we can offer our clients a software agnostic, best-fit solution backed up with access to MIT Sloan Management Institute research and best practice case studies. A marketing event held in May with an MIT researcher
National Practice
INSIGHT
ANALYTICS
“ We are trusted partners in this increasingly
important business function for many clients.
This in turn drives business not only for the
Insight Analytics practice but also for DWS
more broadly.”
presenting a best practice case study on business analytics generated significant new discussions with the client base and in one instance lead to winning a project that displaced a competitor. Our ability to challenge our competitors has been, and continues to be, evident with a number of wins against incumbent competitors. Looking into the new year recruitment remains crucial. DWS Insight Analytics has a consolidated and proven value proposition. We have an excellent operating model and continue to build on marketing through case studies plus client and industry events and our brand awareness continues to grow. This gives the practice a confidence to achieve sustainable growth in FY2014.
Bruce Linaker
General Manager Brisbane
DWS Brisbane has delivered a strong result in FY2013, notwithstanding the tough market conditions.
By the end of the year, DWS Brisbane had a team of over 80, an increase of approximately 20 per cent from the previous year. This performance was driven on the back of an ongoing recognition by our clients that DWS delivers outstanding results and can be trusted with critical business and technology projects.
This recognition was evident in DWS’ involvement in a critical project to replace Virgin Australia’s reservation system, dubbed the ‘Unify Program’. Unify was Virgin Australia’s enterprise-level business and system transformation initiative. Unify re-engineered Virgin’s internal end-to-end passenger processes, replaced 60+ of their core systems, and retrained over 4,000 people to transform the corporation to a ticketed network carrier (based on Sabre Airline Solutions). Unify was ambitious with a large scope and compressed timeframes. DWS was integral to Unify’s success with DWS consultants contributing across the spectrum of program activities. DWS’ technical strength and deep Virgin partnership/knowledge allowed our people to be introduced at short notice into key positions, working under high pressure and during cut-over covering 24 x 7 shift work, to ensure the successful mid-January launch of this ambitious enterprise program. The above illustration of DWS’ ability to respond to our client’s needs was supported by our investment this year in a graduate recruitment program. In keeping with our bias towards building capability that is
ensures new graduates are offered a worthwhile career path while positively contributing to the outcomes of client initiatives. This investment in the local ICT industry was complemented by our continued investment in our chosen technology verticals within the IBM and Microsoft stacks. As a result, DWS Brisbane was able to offer the market a significant value proposition in the Applications Development and Integration arenas, allowing us to add six new clients to our already impressive list of businesses benefiting from our service.
DWS Brisbane remains committed to the ongoing development of new services and in support of that has been instrumental in DWS’ investment in an offshore facility. With significant opportunities emerging in the Managed Services space, our ability to bring a blended onshore/offshore proposition to the table further enhances our status as Queensland’s best value IT Service Provider.
A key driver for DWS Brisbane in FY2013 was to strengthen and extend our brand in the market to ensure that all potential clients were aware of the significant capabilities that exist within our business. As the competitive environment within Brisbane increases, our depth and breadth of capability will be a key differentiator.
From the
BRISBANE
office
“ Unify re-engineered Virgin’s internal end-to-end
passenger processes, replaced 60+ of their core
systems, and retrained over 4,000 people to
transform the corporation into a ticketed
network carrier.”
While DWS prides itself on only hiring the very best practitioners in the market, it will be our ongoing investment in practices that offer the market that necessary point of difference. As Brisbane-based clients, including those in the public sector, gravitate further toward service-based arrangements; it will be DWS’ Intellectual Capital that will increasingly set us apart from our competitors. We will of course remain nimble and easy to do business with and so be unapologetically client centric, however the continual maturing of the DWS service offering will compel clients in Brisbane to select DWS as their IT partner of choice. Towards the end of the financial year, Bruce Linaker took over as General Manager for Queensland, replacing Jason Simms who took on a new role in a joint venture between DWS and Boréalis. Bruce brings nearly 30 years of experience in professional service roles, with the last 18 years based in Brisbane. Bruce intends to build on the success and reputation that DWS already has locally and introduce DWS to new organisations. Bruce is also committed to investing in the key practice areas within DWS; using them as a key differentiator to secure new opportunities.
David Farquhar
General Manager Sydney
DWS’ Sydney operations performed admirably notwithstanding the difficult market conditions. Trading was hindered by a lack of confidence in the business sector, which resulted in many clients deferring capital projects and focusing on expense reduction initiatives.Without a doubt the highlight for FY2013 was the successful development and release of the first Mac version of e-tax for the ATO, together with the successful release of the Windows version for the 2013 tax year. The Mac version project work commenced in FY2012 and was heavily dependent on emerging technology which sufficiently matured to achieve a stable platform that would meet the rigorous quality expectations of the client and 2.6 million plus tax payers. NSW revenue comes from a spread of clients across Federal and State Government, banking, telecommunications, building products, publishing, agriculture, utilities and not- for-profit organisations. Our strategy is to continue to focus on the industries and companies that we know well, with growth coming from broadening our reach with current clients and creating a wedge into strategic new clients.
A notable feature of our NSW client market is the amount of repeat business that arises due to the great job done by our consultants. The positive written and verbal feedback we receive from our clients is testament to the great work that is being performed out
in the field. Many assignments result in continuing extensions for support and maintenance work, or new projects that emerge. Our revenue streams stem from a mix of managed services contracts, resource augmentation and solution delivery. Over the past six months the focus has been on increasing the proportion of solution delivery and significant early success has been achieved in the mobile apps space. The benefits of training many of our consultants in Agile delivery methods has paid dividends as our clients are moving from the traditional waterfall methodology to Agile. However, the NSW market is highly competitive and therefore we are always seeking ways to demonstrate greater value to our clients through being innovative, and by going the ‘extra mile’.
Looking ahead to the next 12 months, NSW revenue will continue to flow from the e-tax managed service contract, and a continuation of our professional services with long-term and new clients. It is
From the
SYDNEY
office
“ Without a doubt the highlight for FY2013 was
the successful development and release of the first
Mac version of e-tax for the ATO, together with
the successful release of the Windows version
for the 2013 tax year.”
expected that new revenue will result from recently created alliances with technology partners. We are vigorously working with these new partners on a number of opportunities which are expected to benefit FY2014 and beyond. An increasing proportion of our revenue is expected to come from digital solutions. The message that we are communicating to our clients is that we are a trusted IT professional services partner providing cost-effective high-quality services which are responsive to the rapid rate of change that most businesses now demand.
John Kennedy
General Manager Canberra
This past year will be remembered as a significant pivot point for DWS’ Canberra office. We have diversified our client base considerably, we have broadened our capability and offerings, and have continued to grow on the back of a targeted acquisition. Of greatest significance for the Canberra office is the footprint established at the Department of Defence via the recent acquisition of Apt Business Solutions. Defence and the Defence Material Organisation (DMO); two of the largest buyers of ICT in Australia. The acquisition of Apt Business Solutions results in long-term stable revenue through application-managed services and related projects. This acquisition has also further strengthened our Microsoft development capability. Importantly, Apt Business Solutions brought with it a security accredited Defence facility with offsite access to Defence networks. Such a facility opens up opportunities unavailable to many of our competitors.In the Federal Government marketplace our potential client base has increased fourfold over the preceding 12 months reducing our reliance on one or two key accounts. This achievement was facilitated through the appointment of several new panels opening access to otherwise closed clients. During the year the ACT team has delivered solid outcomes for nationally significant programs of work. One such example is the
Insight Analytics-led engagement into the Department of Health and Ageing supporting the critically important National Health Reform (NHR) program.
Important inroads were made this year leveraging national service offerings such as iSolutions. In particular, the DWS iApply software-as-a-service product continues to generate a lot of interest among government buyers. Indeed DWS successfully delivered large complex iApply projects into Austrade and Disability Care Australia. At Austrade DWS successfully migrated the cumbersome manual application process, supporting the Export Market Development Grants program, into a fully automated online capability. Using iApply Austrade can now realise significant organisational efficiencies. At Disability Care Australia, iApply was selected to support the high-profile National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Both iApply projects allowed DWS to engage its broader ICT services and project delivery capability.
From the
CANBERRA
office
“ Important inroads were made this year leveraging
national service offerings such as iSolutions. In
particular, the DWS iApply software-as-a-service
product continues to generate a lot of interest
among government buyers.”
Exciting new offerings such as iApply are perfectly aligned to emerging whole of government policy directions. For example, the Digital First strategy mandates that all significant Government interactions with both citizens and service providers are to be delivered online. iApply also aligns nicely with published whole of government strategies in cloud computing and mobile devices. Federal Government will increasingly seek solutions such as iApply that align with strategy, that can increase productivity, that drive efficiencies using the cloud and are capable of being deployed on multiple devices.
Whilst FY2014 will be challenging, the DWS ACT office is in a strong position to build further upon the inroads made over the past 12 months.
Andrew Rose
General Manager Victoria and
Director Offshore Operations
DWS Melbourne had a solid year despite challenging market conditions and continues to be a key foundation stone of DWS. Our reputation for providing industry leading consultants and an ‘easy-to-do-business with’ engagement model have been invaluable in this climate.DWS Melbourne gained real benefit from the specialist practices this year. Both Insight Analytics and iSolutions have created opportunities for us to leverage our existing client relationships and combined networks to win significant pieces of business. Without the specialist practices we may not have even been considered for these projects. Importantly, in most cases not only do these projects utilise the practice resources but they also require consultants from the Melbourne team. This demonstrates the incremental growth that our specialist practices can create for DWS and the unique expertise that we can offer clients in combination with our consulting services. Another breakthrough area for DWS Melbourne this year has been the development of our Enterprise Testing Service (ETS) methodology called Quality One (Q1). Q1 is an industry leading quality service delivery framework that has been developed based on years of testing knowledge and execution from multiple customers and assignments into a complete end-to-end ETS. The first step is an Analyse phase where we benchmark the client’s current processes against best practices, understand the in-scope applications, establish RACIs and most importantly ensure all stakeholders are engaged and locked in. The next phase is the Establish phase. In this phase we begin to put the
processes and teams in place, transition services to our team whilst ensuring minimal disruption to BAU. We then move into the Operate phase where we have full accountability for the defined testing services. We continually measure the quality and throughput to the metrics gathered in the earlier phases to prove the advertised efficiency and quality gains. Automation testing is deployed where appropriate gaining even more improvement. Q1 provides DWS consultants with the necessary processes, templates, standards and guidelines to deliver a service to the highest quality standards and enables our clients to gain the advantages of years of investment in our IP.
The Melbourne business has continued to diversify across clients and industries. In real terms this means we are less reliant on one or two major clients and can better manage situations where these major clients have ‘freezes’ for periods of time as they react to market conditions. We have also seen great growth in some of our smaller clients as they have initiated programs of work to execute their strategies. We are actively seeking out new client partnerships through our ‘New Customer’ initiative and whilst this will be an ongoing initiative, early results have been pleasing.
From the
MELBOURNE
office
“ The Melbourne business has continued to diversify
across clients and industries. In real terms this
means we are less reliant on one or two major
clients and can better manage situations where
these major clients have ‘freezes’ for periods of
time as they react to market conditions.”
The skills of our consultants continue to be key factors in winning business and there remains a big emphasis on up skilling and cross skilling our consultants. Our industry leading training framework is providing ongoing professional development opportunities for consultants that delivers a mutual benefit for consultants, DWS and our clients.
In FY2014 year we will explore further opportunities utilising our specialist practices. These provide a point of differentiation which is extremely important given the challenging market conditions. Our newly established Quality One methodology has been well received by clients and we will look for additional opportunities to sell our ETS capability using this framework. At the same time we will continue to provide great service to our core business and grow that. Our New Customer initiative will remain as a key component of our overall plan for growth and we will place an important emphasis on tier 2 clients who aren’t always as well serviced by tier 1 providers. DWS is in an excellent position to offer these clients superior skilled consultants and superior services.
Case study:
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION
OFFICE, E-TAX
Recent Acquisition:
APT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
The client
E-tax is a free service provided by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that allows Australian tax payers to prepare and lodge their personal tax returns electronically. The e-tax software is used by over 2.6 million tax payers annually.
Automated pre-fill, and the implementation of complex checks and calculations in the software ensures that lodgements prepared using e-tax have a very low initial error rate, thereby delivering lower processing costs to the ATO and faster assessment of tax returns to the tax payer.
DWS has maintained and enhanced the e-tax software on behalf of the ATO since 2006.
The challenge
The e-tax software is updated each financial year in response to cyclical changes to individual tax legislation and administration, and changes in the technology landscape. The e-tax system must be operational by 1 July each year regardless of the amount of cyclical and technical change specified for that year.
The most significant technology development affecting e-tax in recent years has been the increasing use of Mac OS X, estimated to hold a market share of 7 per cent of all Australian desktop computers and a much higher share of the personal computing segment. E-tax was originally designed for the Windows operating system. The ATO recognised the need to provide a Mac version of e-tax for this growing population of OS X users.
The solution
DWS provides the Tax Office with a dedicated software development team to maintain, modify, enhance and support the e-tax system, and co-located consultants to assist the ATO with analysis and design, quality assurance and operation of the e-tax system from year to year. DWS’ expertise in the technologies used to develop and operate the e-tax system and in the taxation domain ensure that the e-tax system is production ready for tax time each year.
The Mac version of e-tax was released in July 2013. This required migration of the e-tax application from a mature, stable Windows-oriented technology base to a framework that supports cross-platform development. Cross-platform frameworks are relatively new technologies and, as such, are still maturing and stabilising during their early adoption phase. DWS has been actively involved with technology suppliers to the e-tax project to ensure that the cross-platform development framework, component set and compilers provide the feature-set, performance and stability needed to build a production-quality, cross-platform version of e-tax.
In December 2012, DWS acquired the business assets of Canberra-based Apt Business Solutions. The acquisition was funded by 100 per cent cash with no further consideration payable.
Apt provides specialist outsourced application managed services to major Federal Government Agencies and has contracted work through until 2016 (with options for further renewal periods thereafter) that have been successfully novated to DWS. The Apt team are highly proficient in the Data Warehousing and
Business Intelligence disciplines, and are therefore strongly aligned to DWS’ own core competencies and focus areas. The acquisition included a Federal Government security certified premise for conducting offsite software development. With plans to extend the facility in October 2014, DWS will be positioned to be able to provide greater capacity for additional high security work and increase its application-managed services footprint with Federal Government agencies.
Brett King
General Manager Geelong
The 2013 financial year represents the second full year of operation for DWS Geelong. It can best be summarised as being a solid continuation of the first year. There was no significant change in focus or direction and the good work in establishing the local operation was enhanced and further extended. The most significant and important development is the strength of our two key accounts. One of these clients has been a longstanding client of DWS and the other is an organisation that was established as a client last year. Whilst we also undertook work with a number of other local organisations, the strength of these two accounts underpins our operation. The advantages of the strength of these partnerships is that we have developed a deep and differentiating level of corporate intelligence, which greatly enhances our value proposition. We are easy to work and engage with and we understand their challenges, plans, and environment.A significant difference between this year and last has been the nature of our engagements with clients. Due to many factors (quality of our consultants, better client awareness of DWS and ongoing account management) there is a noticeable increase in the average duration of engagement by consultant. This enables us to implement better resource planning, strategically approach recruitment and significantly improves utilisation. We have had very strong consultant satisfaction and retention and this is evident in the feedback from our clients and the ongoing demand for our services.
From a client perspective, one of the notable changes during this year was the clear and wide-ranging re-focus of many of the larger local organisations to be much more open about engaging consulting organisations. During the early stages of DWS Geelong, many organisations were very internally focused for resourcing and they tended to do most of their work themselves. Over the past six months, there has been a willingness from many of the organisations to partner externally. This shift in focus has partly been brought about by senior management changes in these organisations as well as the business development efforts of DWS Geelong in proving that there are alternative ways to engage. This had limited the organisations that we were able to work with and it is regarded as a very positive move for DWS Geelong going forward.
DWS Geelong remains committed to the Geelong community with local events and investment continuing from last year. We have been able to strengthen our relationships through our close ties with the Committee for Geelong and ICT
From the
GEELONG
office
“ We have had very strong consultant
satisfaction and retention and this is evident
in the feedback from our clients and the
ongoing demand for our services.”
Geelong. At an organisational level, during the year there was a structural change in DWS whereby the Geelong and Melbourne offices join to form DWS Victoria. This has enabled better synergies between the two locations and a closer working arrangement. Looking forward to the next financial year, there continues to be significant scope to work with the Insight Analytics practice with a number of Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing opportunities with local organisations. We are also developing managed service opportunities to build on the outcome-based projects and smaller pieces of ongoing work.
Alan Thomas
General Manager Adelaide
The past year has presented an extremely challenging business climate with the majority of clients reining in discretionary spending. DWS has been able to assist many clients through enabling technology to become more efficient in client-centric interaction and internal interaction, making DWS a valued partner through tough times. DWS clients in SA comprise government and commercial enterprises that have come to rely upon the use of information technology to run their operations. DWS’ strengths stem from the relationships and trust built over many years in successful engagements, augmented by DWS’ flexibility and speed in responding to clients’ needs. Each region is able to reflect local market requirements and conditions to enable clients’ needs to be met in a timely fashion. This model also enables the local branch to leverage national strengths, bringing the best elements to bear to the local market. Examples of this are the national Insight Analytics practice, bringing the latest business analytics and information management trends, techniques and tools to our local clients. This blend of national and local IP have enabled some significant projects to be delivered, most recently in the Defense sector. In addition, DWS iSolutions practice is providing real business value to our clients using emerging services including an SaaS model. Our clients are utilising a pain-free cloud experience and realising significant productivity gains.
DWS was engaged by a large company concerned with asset maintenance and (logistics) engineering. To address a need in compliance/audit DWS developed a whole solution including an enterprise data environment, intuitive information delivery tools and an engineering
maintenance audit application. The resulting solution increased visibility of operational data and allowed for the early identification of any compliance issues. Through these efforts, DWS was able to assist the client to reduce their overall risk, remove rework on audit items and improve the duration of the compliance process.
Locally the System Integration practice has underpinned many client engagements. DWS is able to provide multi-vendor middleware skills, and is well-versed in ERP integration and SOA frameworks. Demand across all major verticals has been strong in this space, and is expected to grow in the New Year.
Mobility is also topical and becoming almost mainstream in order to maximise the benefit of field smartphones. DWS created a custom application for a client to identify
From the
ADELAIDE
office
“ DWS’ strengths stem from the relationships
and trust built over many years in successful
engagements, augmented by DWS’ flexibility
and speed in responding to clients’ needs.”
and track agricultural shipments, from harvest to processing. This enables the client to have a complete picture of ‘cradle to grave’ inventory movement, enabling process improvement and enhancing quality control.
Within Government, DWS redeveloped an across Government application into MS SharePoint, with significantly improved functionality, look and feel. This has spawned several other application requirements, and bodes well for the coming year.
DWS continues to offer broad-based ICT consulting skills, which augment our clients’ skills and methodologies, and create long-lasting relationships based on mutual trust and respect, which is the basis of success for both organisations.
Paul Abbott
General Manager Perth
The 2013 financial year has been the first full year of operation for DWS Perth and has proven to be a successful year in gaining a solid foothold in a challenging and competitive environment.
During the year we:
established DWS brand awareness; •
continued to strengthen relationships •
with government;
developed new relationships in key •
industries;
completed our move to new offices •
in the Perth CBD;
more than doubled our staff numbers •
to 12; and
delivered a strong set of financial results •
relative to our size.
This past year has seen the solid establishment of the Perth office and the recruitment of high calibre, talented consultants with a strategic focus on providing business analysis, management and solutions development in varied business sectors. Our unique recruitment process has ensured the best and brightest staff are selected; individuals who are committed to best practice delivery and customer satisfaction.
A great deal of work has been done in gaining access to selection panels, identifying new opportunities and forging partnerships to ensure sustainable revenue growth in the year ahead. Inroads have been made into private business sectors such as banking, insurance, facilities
management and customer services whilst we continue to strive towards panel approval in the mining, oil and gas sectors. The Perth office continues to be trusted by Government to deliver and maintain systems in some of its most critical program areas including the creation of a new statewide health network and the implementation of its new world class hospital.
The solid growth witnessed over the past year is expected to continue as the local DWS brand is strengthened and becomes increasingly associated with nimble and innovative consultants delivering value for money services. Continued efforts in solidifying and strengthening our current client base will further increase our footprint within the local market in the coming year. It is anticipated that the work undertaken this past year in gaining access to selection panels in local government will begin to pay dividends as new contracts and contract renewals are put out to tender. With the Perth office still in its infancy, increased leveraging of national capability providing diversified offerings will promote improved market positioning.
From the
PERTH
office
“ This past year has seen the solid establishment
of the Perth office and the recruitment of
high calibre, talented consultants with a
strategic focus on providing business analysis,
management and solutions development in
varied business sectors.”
The coming year is likely to provide additional challenges as local markets continue to seek to consolidate their growth over the past few years. There is anticipation that organisations will show an increased commitment to lean processes, driving efficiencies and seeking improved value for money. Products such as iApply can offer distinct value propositions whilst areas such as Business Intelligence and Analytics are likely to take centre stage as organisations strive to improve the effectiveness of their resources. With an agile strategic focus and commitment to embracing emerging market trends, DWS in Perth has already invested in developing these areas of business and will continue this work into FY2014.
Approximately two years ago, Boréalis, global leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) solutions for the mining and oil and gas sectors, came together with DWS to deliver a solution for one of Queensland’s leading coal seam gas operators. The complimentary nature of their services combined with a strong cultural alignment, led to an ongoing relationship and the delivery of a further four projects. Last year it was reported that our two businesses would create a new Australian Joint Venture company for the delivery of Boréalis solutions to the Australasian oil, gas and mining sectors. On 1 July 2013, BD Consulting (BDC) was born with a mission to respond to the strong demand for Boréalis solutions in the region, as well as foster opportunities to deliver the solution to ‘non-traditional’ Boréalis clients. In forging these relationships, BDC will also be able to offer other solutions that complement the Boréalis stack, although this is viewed as a longer-term strategy. The BDC board is committed to the growth of the business and is confident that it has the right leadership team in place to best leverage the increased focus on CSR and Environmental Performance (EP) in the region. With a heritage equally shared
between the successful delivery of technology projects and the application of cutting-edge solutions to improve CSR and EP practices, BDC is perfectly positioned to integrate sustainable solutions into businesses or geographies not traditionally supported by DWS. BDC’s dedication to only hiring the best people in the market ensures that it is already staffed with a core team of dedicated business and technology professionals, expert in the integration of CSR and related solutions. Our unique recruitment process ensures alignment to a proven set of values as well as the selection of people totally committed to best practice delivery and customer satisfaction.
BDC establishes a unique and complimentary business to DWS’ traditional business model and target clientele. With a commitment by both businesses to leverage the position of strength each holds in their target markets, the Board of DWS is confident that the investment in BDC will be shareholder accretive.
DWS and Boréalis joint venture:
BD CONSULTING
Pictured (left to right): Sebastian Sonneborn – People & Culture, IT Manager Venus Oriel – Recruitment Consultant Andrew Finney – Business Development
Pictured (left to right): Alexa Drury – Consultant Robert Finlayson – Practice Lead iSolutions Josh Schreuder – Consultant
Danny Wallis
Chief Executive Officer
and Managing Director
As CEO/Managing Director of DWS, Danny Wallis ensures the tenets the Company was built on flow through to every aspect of the business across all states. Committed to providing the highest quality consultants and delivering the best total solution to all DWS clients, Danny has been the catalyst in building DWS to the premium position it holds today within the market. Twenty years of experience in the information technology sector have given Danny the knowledge and understanding to be able to position DWS as the IT solutions provider of choice for some of Australia’s most recognised and successful blue-chip organisations and Federal and State Government departments.
Lachlan Armstrong
Chief Financial Officer
and Company Secretary
Lachlan Armstrong joined DWS in 2005 as National Commercial Manager and has been DWS’ Chief Financial Officer since August 2008.
Lachlan is responsible for a broad range of operational and support functions within the DWS Group and as a member of DWS’ Executive Management Team, Lachlan also plays a key role in the development and execution of DWS’ strategic agenda. Prior to joining DWS, Lachlan worked in Chartered Accounting, and International Finance. Lachlan holds a Bachelor of Banking and Finance, Bachelor of Accounting, Masters in Applied Finance, and is a member of CPA Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Lachlan is also the Company Secretary of the DWS Group.
Andrew Rose
General Manager Victoria and
Director Offshore Operations
Andrew has over 25 years of IT management experience with Telstra where he successfully delivered the largest IT transformation undertaken in Australia. Andrew has also worked in an independent consulting role with Amdocs Australia supporting their corporate reorganisation. Andrew brings to DWS comprehensive IT experience, underpinned by a focus on communications, leadership skills and a passion for developing and leading professional IT personnel. Andrew is recognised for his ability to keep teams on very large projects focused and motivated despite unexpected and challenging situations and for being a prudent risk-taker, who balances the needs of business processes and controls with the need for accelerated change.Practice and Regional
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Robert Finlayson
Practice Lead iSolutions
Robert Finlayson is the Practice Lead of iSolutions, joining DWS with the acquisition of Taten’s business assets. Robert started at Taten in 1998 as a software developer, prototyping the first version of NAB’s internet banking product and designing and architecting many major financial services internet projects. Robert led the teams that created the innovative my2ic and security framework products, later moving into research and development and business development roles.
Robert spent three years working from Vancouver, Canada as Technical Lead and returned to Australia as Chief Technology Officer, later as Chief Executive Officer. Robert’s passion is delivering ground-breaking software products to market and helping businesses reduce costs through cloud services.
Bruce Linaker
General Manager Brisbane
Bruce joined DWS at the end of June 2013. He has over 25 years of IT-related experience gained from a successful career combining significant ICT Delivery Projects, Business and Strategic Consulting, and Executive/senior management roles in various industries. Bruce’s extensive network in Brisbane has already yielded new business for DWS.
As the General Manager for an International Professional Services firm, Bruce significantly improved profits and enjoyed extremely low turnover of staff. Bruce also established and ran a very successful Software and Consulting company, further enhancing Bruce’s commercial and business skills.
Bruce’s delivery experience has included being a Program Director for the development and ‘big bang’ rollout of a full CRM system to over 3,500 staff in a finance organisation, and an enterprise-wide business transformation program for a leading superannuation organisation.
David Farquhar
General Manager Sydney
David has been with DWS for over six years, having previously worked for the Tenix Group of companies in various IT and business roles. Since joining DWS David has undertaken a number of roles in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. In December 2011 David was appointed Acting General Manager in Canberra, and in August 2012 David was instrumental in establishing the DWS Perth office before becoming General Manager NSW in January 2013.
David has a combined business and IT background, with tertiary qualifications in commerce and project management. His wide range of experience, which has included business and IT consulting and project management is beneficial in a role which requires business development, sales and solution delivery capability. David has also proactively established a number of partnerships with technology providers where DWS provides the implementation services.
David Myall
National Manager Insight Analytics
David has over 15 years of consulting experience within the Information Technology industry and in the past 10 years has been specialising in Business Intelligence, Financial Performance Management and Information Management as a Principal Consultant and Senior Solution Architect. He effectively translates business requirements into practical, efficient designs and clearly articulates a project’s direction to any audience. He can very quickly build prototypes and present at the executive stakeholder level to gain buy in. David holds four certifications across IBM Business Analytics and Information Management.
John Kennedy
General Manager Canberra
John recently joined DWS following 14 years in the ICT Professional Services Industry where he worked in senior business development and client executive roles, and prior to that as a Practice Manager, and as a Principal Consultant in Enterprise Architecture.
John brings to DWS extensive knowledge of the Canberra market and an indepth understanding of the needs of government clients and of the machinations of Federal Government. He is well connected across Canberra and highly respected within the IT consulting community and with senior executives.
John has a Masters of Business Administration, a Graduate Diploma of Management and an Associate Diploma of Business (Applied Computing). John is an ambitious and driven professional who sees great potential to grow DWS in the Canberra market.
Andrew Rose
General Manager Victoria and Director Offshore Operations
Andrew has over 25 years of IT management experience with Telstra where he successfully delivered the largest IT transformation undertaken in Australia. Andrew has also worked in an independent consulting role with Amdocs Australia supporting their corporate reorganisation. Andrew brings to DWS comprehensive IT experience, underpinned by a focus on communications, leadership skills and a passion for developing and leading professional IT personnel. Andrew is recognised for the ability to keep teams on very large projects focused and motivated despite unexpected and challenging situations and for being a prudent risk-taker, who balances the needs of business processes and controls with the need for accelerated change.
Brett King
General Manager Geelong
Brett’s background in IT consultancy and management were seen as the ideal preparation for this new venture. Brett has worked in the UK and Australia in a wide range of industries with the common theme of delivering systems and processes capable of empowering organisations to make quicker, smarter and better decisions. The General Manager role in Geelong fits perfectly with his expertise and he looks forward to establishing DWS Geelong as the leading provider of IT solutions in the region.
Alan Thomas
General Manager Adelaide
Alan has held a range of senior positions throughout his career, working in a variety of diverse organisations including Telstra, Logical, Marconi, Alphawest and Oracle.
Combining his practical experience with continued tertiary education Alan has earned the following qualifications: Telecommunications Technical Officer, Associate Diploma in Business (Management), and Master of Business Administration (MBA). He is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Laws Degree at the University of South Australia.
Born in Bordertown, SA and now living in Adelaide, Alan has an understanding of and familiarity with the South Australian business environment that is second to none.
Paul Abbott
General Manager Perth
Paul Joined DWS in January from IBM Perth where he worked in Business Development for the past five years. He has worked in the ICT sector in Perth for the past 15 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and industry contacts to DWS.
Prior to moving to Perth, Paul’s career in ICT began in the UK Channel Islands 26 years ago where he worked in IT for Midland Bank. He moved to the Isle of Man to head up ICT operations for Barclays Private Bank where he worked for three years. In 1998 he migrated with his family to Western Australia. Over the following 15 years, he has expanded his knowledge in ICT working for a range of companies in
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Ken Barry
Non-Executive Director
With over 40 years of corporate, commercial, legal and compliance experience with listed and unlisted companies, Ken provides valuable insights to the DWS Board.Ken previously held positions as Chairman of national law firm Deacons (now called Norton Rose Fulbright Australia), Director of the National Electricity Market Management Company Limited , Yallourn Energy Limited and Chairman of Ausdoc Group Limited and Freightway Express Limited (NZ).
In addition to being a Non-Executive Director of DWS, Ken is currently the Chairman of IOOF Holdings Trustee Pty Ltd, Doxa Youth Foundation, Next Generation Australia Pty Ltd and MAP Capital Pty Ltd. Ken is also Chairman of the advisory Board of leading thoroughbred stud Coolmore Australia, and a Director of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia Ltd.
Danny Wallis
Chief Executive Officer
and Managing Director
Danny founded DWS in 1992 and is the current Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. He identified the market opportunity for a high quality, professional, client-focused IT services organisation and in true entrepreneurial spirit, from that vision set about building DWS into the success story it has become today.
From humble beginnings in a one-room operation in Melbourne, DWS now has facilities in Melbourne, Geelong, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra and employs over 580 staff. Danny continues to oversee all aspects of DWS’ operations and provides the leadership and direction to ensure the DWS philosophy of honesty, ethics and transparency is at all times adhered to and that all staff have a thorough appreciation of the importance of the client-centric focus of the business model.
Harvey Parker
Chairman and Non-Executive Director
Harvey brings a wealth of experience in business management and corporate governance from both the public and private sectors to his role as Chairman of the Board of DWS.Harvey’s business career has seen him hold positions as CEO of companies such as New Zealand Post, United Energy and as Group Managing Director, Commercial and Consumer at Telstra. He has also been Director General, Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation for the Victorian Government and Chairman of Pelroz NL, Datacom Investments Australia, Moore Australia, D&B Australia, Intermoco and Emergency Communications Victoria. Harvey was also a Non-Executive Director of the ASX-listed technology services company Volante Group Limited and Animal Health Australia.
In addition to being Chairman of DWS, Harvey also currently holds this position at Pacific Turbine Brisbane and is a former Director of the Riding for the Disabled Association Victoria.
Martin Ralston
Non-Executive Director
A veteran of the information technology sector, Martin has been involved in the IT industry since 1970. Over the span of his career, he worked in various roles with BHP Billiton, Computer Accounting Services and Accenture (previously Andersen Consulting) where he became a Partner in 1985. Filling a number of senior management positions during his tenure with Accenture, Martin held roles of Managing Partner – Technology Competence, Managing Partner – Government Services and Managing Partner – Business Outsourcing and retired from Accenture in August 2001.
Martin holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and is currently a Board Member of the Hawthorn Football Club and Moonee Valley Racing Club.
Gary Ebeyan
Non-Executive Director
Gary has more than 25 years’ experience in the IT industry following his graduation from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Science degree. He established his first IT business at the age of 23 developing software products for the building industry. The business gained reputable customers such as Jennings Industries, Pioneer Group, BP Australia and BHP Melbourne Research Laboratories. After eight years of success, Gary established Expert Information Services to focus on the growing IT services market. Gary’s focus on business excellence was recognised by The Age/D&B Awards with Expert Information Services being awarded Best Victorian IT Business in 2001 and 2002, and Best Overall Victorian Business in 2001. In recognition of his achievements and personal contribution to Australian business, Gary was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to business by the Prime Minister and the Governor General. He also became a finalist in the 2003 Victorian region Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Under Gary’s leadership until he decided to pursue other interests at the end of 2008, Infosys Australia grew to over 2,500 staff servicing the Australian market with consolidated revenues reaching well over $250 million.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
27 Directors’ Report
42 Auditor’s Independence Declaration
43 Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income 44 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
45 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 46 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 47 Notes to the Financial Statements
65 Directors’ Declaration 66 Independent Audit Report 68 Shareholder Information
DIRECTORS’ REPORT
For the Year Ended 30 June 2013
The Directors present their report together with the financial report of DWS Limited (the Company) and of the consolidated entity (or the Group or DWS), being the Company and the entities it controlled during the year ended 30 June 2013 and the auditor’s report thereon.
Directors
The names of the Directors of the Company at any time during or since the end of the financial year are:
Name, Qualifications and Independence Status Experience, Special Responsibilities, and Other Directorships
Harvey Parker, BA, MBA Chairperson
Independent Non-Executive Director
Elected 9 May 2006 Re-elected 29 October 2007 Re-elected 3 November 2010
Former Chairman of Emergency Communications Victoria, Datacom Services Pty Ltd, Dun & Bradstreet, Intermoco Ltd, former Director of Volante Group Ltd and Director of the Riding for Disabled Association Victoria. Current Chairman of Pacific Turbine Brisbane Ltd, Agline Pastoral Pty Ltd and Jumbuck Entertainment Ltd. Mr Parker is also Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
Ken Barry, LLB
Independent Non-Executive Director
Elected 9 May 2006
Re-elected 4 November 2009 Re-elected 13 November 2012
Mr Barry is a lawyer who was the Chairman of national law firm Deacons (now called Norton Rose Fulbright Australia) from 2004–2009, is the Chairman of IOOF Holdings Trustee Pty Ltd, Doxa Youth Foundation, Next Generation Australia Pty Ltd, MAP Capital Pty Ltd, the advisory Board of Coolmore Australia, and a Director of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia Ltd. Mr Barry is Chairman of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
Gary Ebeyan, B. Sci Non-Executive Director
Elected 8 November 2010
Mr Ebeyan is a seasoned professional with over 25 years’ experience in the IT industry. Mr Ebeyan has built several successful businesses within the IT industry including Expert Information Services with which Mr Ebeyan was recognised by The Age/D&B Awards for Best Victorian IT Business in 2001 and 2002, and Best Overall Victorian Business in 2001. In 2004, Mr Ebeyan became the CEO of Infosys Australia following the acquisition of Expert Information Services by the global offshore outsourcing Company, Infosys Technologies Limited. Under Gary’s leadership, Infosys Australia grew to over 2,500 staff servicing the Australian market with consolidated revenues reaching well over $250 million. Mr Ebeyan is a member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
Martin Ralston B. Economics Non-Executive Director
Elected 5 November 2008 Re-elected 8 November 2011
Mr Ralston has over 30 years’ experience in the IT sector and has held senior roles at BHP Billiton, Computer Accounting Services and Accenture (previously Andersen Consulting), where he was the Managing Partner of numerous business divisions until his retirement in 2001. Mr Ralston is currently the joint Vice-Chairman of the Moonee Valley Racing Club, a Director of the Hawthorn Football Club and former Non-Executive Chairman of Transol Corporation Limited. Mr Ralston is a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
Danny Wallis, BCS
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Managing Director
Elected 28 December 1998 Re-elected 24 October 2006
Mr Wallis founded DWS in 1992, and has held the positions of both Managing Director and CEO at various stages since that time. Mr Wallis has over 25 years’ experience in the Information Technology industry, and has led the Company through its various growth and development initiatives, including its Improve, Extend, Grow organisational enhancement program. Immediately prior to forming DWS, Mr Wallis worked with ANZ Bank. Mr Wallis is also a member of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
Company Secretary
Mr Lachlan Armstrong, B. Accounting, B. Banking & Finance, M. Applied Finance, CPA, MAICD, was appointed to the position of Company Secretary on 2 June 2010. Mr Armstrong is also the Chief Financial Officer of the DWS Group, a position he has held since 2008.
