10 November, 2009
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The 2009 Age | D&B Victorian Business Awards - IT and Business category winner
POLICE forces around the world use it to track fraudsters and manage intelligence on terrorists. Market researchers use it to develop communication programs to help Australian farmers manage climate variability.
The "it" is the NVivo software designed and developed in Melbourne by local company QSR International and now sold in more than 150 countries.
"We are being deluged with information in vast quantities. Increasingly this information is in unstructured form - not statistical or numerical information," said QSR chief executive John Owen. "It's messy data. It comes in text, video, audio, pictures, databases, off the web - a huge range of information, increasingly acquired in disparate ways."
This is where QSR conies in. "What we provide is a software platform that allows the researchers to organise and structure that information and, importantly, supply more powerful analysis tools to try and extract or identify the patterns or themes that emerge from it, and snake the linkages that are crucial," Mr Owen said.
Based in Doncaster, QSR was formally established in 1995, but had its origins in 1981 when its first software product was developed. Shareholding in the private company is small and tightly held.
The Victorian technology company has international clout. More than 400,000 customers worldwide now use QSR software and more than 500 organisations hold licences for its products. These include the Victorian CFA, hospitals, research centres and nearly every major university in the US, Europe and Australasia.
The company won the Dell small business excellence award this year, has been short-listed for a major British market research industry award, and has triumphed several times in the Governor of Victoria export awards.
Now, it has another notch on its belt: it has taken out The Age l D&B business award for information technology. The awards, which began in 1993, are given in seven categories - manufacturing, rural, building and allied trades, retail, IT, exports and "new company".
The awards seek to promote, acknowledge and reward outstanding business achievement.
QSR's sales increased from $7.1 million in 2007 to $8.4 million last year, and are up 35 per cent this year to $11.5 million. Profits have risen accordingly, as have employee numbers from 42 to 59. Many are software engineers, but sales and marketing, training and consulting services are increasingly important.
Mr Owen said the company realised early that exports were the road to success. "We recognised that Australia is a relatively small market, particularly in the area we operate in - the academic market. There are 50-odd unis in Australia, compared to 2000-plus in the US or Europe," he said.
"This was fairly new - using this technology to solve these types of problems and benefit researchers - so it was a good time to get in early."
Having an early foot in the door has proven crucial as competitors spring up and markets become more mature.
"Europe and the US are our strongest markets, but we are seeing significant growth in Asia and South America," Mr Owen said.
About D&B
D&B is the world's leading provider of business-to-business credit, marketing and purchasing information and receivables management services. D&B manages the world's most valuable commercial database with information on more than 150 million companies.
Information is gathered in 193 countries, in 95 languages or dialects, covering 186 monetary currencies. The database is refreshed more than 1.5 million times daily as part of D&B's commitment to provide accurate, comprehensive information for its more than 150,000 customers.
The Australasian operations were bought out by the senior management group in August 2001. It was the first MBO of a wholly owned subsidiary in D&B's history worldwide.
Today Lazard Carnegie Wylie owns an approximate 90% stake in DBA and the local management team a 10% stake.
Strategies for future growth include developing DBA's commercial and consumer credit referencing business; expanding its receivables management outsourcing business; maintaining its lead in the development of unique credit and risk scoring products; and developing new products specifically tailored to the Australasian market. DBA currently employs over 500 people in Australia and New Zealand.
