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Movers and shakers: John Holley, Lincoln Watson and Clare Swallow

Movers and shakers: John Holley, Lincoln Watson and Clare Swallow

A roundup of the latest business technology executive appointments and events in New Zealand and Australia.

John Holley
is joining the Manukau Institute of Technology as IT director starting on 16 February. He is wrapping up his role as regional operations director at Jericho Digital Communications.

He joined Jericho after his six –month stint in South Sudan, as deputy planning officer for the military component of the United Nations in the newest country in the world. Holley is a reserve officer in the New Zealand Army, and has held a raft of business technology roles, including general manager operations for Visible Results and CIO of the Auckland Regional Council.

“My focus will be, initially, working with the ICTS team to work on the MIT digital strategy to enhance educational outcomes for staff and students, while ensuring MIT leverages the value of the investment made in the new MIT Manukau campus," says Holley.

Lincoln Watson is now chief operating officer at Perpetual Guardian. With Perpetual Trust and Guardian Trust joining forces under the Perpetual Guardian brand. Watson was appointed the Infrastructure and IT Integration director. Now as COO, his responsibilities include driving the organisation’s digital strategy and operational performance.

Clare Swallow of Cucumber: Entrepreneur and digital leader

Clare Swallow, Cucumber’s GM for Digital, has won a Westpac Millennial Women of Influence award recognising the “next generation of entrepreneurial, ambitious and social media savvy New Zealand businesswomen”.

The Millennial Women of Influence awards were set up to run alongside the main Westpac Women of Influence awards and designed to find the top five young digitally savvy women who are making a difference in their chosen field.

From 200 nominees, the top 10 were selected by the team at Westpac and then the public decided (all 5000 that voted) who the top five would be.

Swallow was one of five winners and, as part of the prize, met with Kathryn Wilson, Diane Forman and Sinead Boucher.

I am passionate about seeing more females enter this crazy, exhilarating, dynamic industry that is technology.

Clare Swallow, Cucumber

“The awards not only celebrate and recognise the amazing work the winners were doing, but also inspire other people, not just women, to go on and do great things with whatever it is that they are passionate about,” says Swallow.

“For me, that is seeing more females enter this crazy, exhilarating, dynamic industry that is technology.”

Swallow supports programs encouraging more women in technology focused roles.

For the last few years, she has been a mentor to high school girls in the Young Enterprise Scheme, along with mentoring start-up organisations through local Startup Weekends.

As GM for digital at Cucumber, Swallow leads a team of 22 strategists, designers, developers, project managers and marketers.

More ICT executive appointments

Kevin Ackhurst is now managing director, Google for Work APAC. His previous roles included MD, Google for Work for ANZ, vice president, Asia for Juniper Networks, and Microsoft New Zealand country manager.

Read more: Career watch: Why more CIOs are getting MBAs

Google's Kevin Ackhurst
Google's Kevin Ackhurst

PwC New Zealand announces its latest appointments executive appointments: Gareth Galloway as deals partner, Greg Doone as director of digital strategy and data based in Auckland; and Jen Bhula, consulting partner in the Wellington office.

Before joining PwC, Galloway led a New Zealand corporate restructuring team for four years, delivering numerous high-profile Independent Business Review (IBR) reports for Australasian and global banks, syndicates and mezzanine financiers.

Doone has worked on digital strategy in financial services, retail, FMCG, automotive, gaming and entertainment sectors. He led the multi-awarding winning Symphony program for Westpac New Zealand and prior to joining PwC, was responsible for strategy and innovation for independent digital and direct agency, Affinity ID.

Read more: Linda Price of Gartner on a critical CIO focus for 2015: Being a powerful digital leader and influencer

Bhula led the successful implementation of a number of high-profile projects within the public sector as a director at PwC.

Colliers taps Sitecore to deliver “My Colliers” personalised experience

Colliers International New Zealand and Australia websites have deployed SiteCore technology to provide visitors with a personalised, multi-channel web customer experience.

Read more: CIO Upfront: The User Experience guru

The new Colliers websites were built by Sitecore experts, OneClick, using the Sitecore platform and have been SEO optimised from the ground up. This also means they are consistent with the Colliers International United States and Canadian websites which OneClick also develop and maintain and will support the soon to come “My Colliers” feature later this year.

The Colliers websites puts the customer at the heart of every interaction. Visitors can now view more than 6000 active listed commercial properties across New Zealand and Australia as well as news articles and research data. Content has also been enriched through the use of video which enables Colliers to demonstrate key property features.

“We are delighted with the new Colliers International New Zealand website,” says Jeremy Graham, national marketing manager, Colliers New Zealand. “Digital marketing is a key component of our strategy moving forward and it is imperative that we have the best tools and technology at our disposal. By implementing a consistent platform across our operations and by deploying a more sophisticated content management system (CMS), we can now offer our clients a more intuitive experience and flexible accessibility across both mobile and desktop platforms. Intuitive navigation makes it easier for visitors to find out what they need.”

Outlook for IT and marketing jobs in 2015

This year’s jobs market will be characterised by high demand for skilled professionals who can diagnose time or cost inefficiencies and then offer solutions to improve their department or business’s performance, says recruiting expert Hays.

“Employers are hiring and they have positive intentions for the year ahead,” says Jason Walker, managing director of Hays in New Zealand as he releases the recruiter’s First Quarter Report. “In our conversations with employers, it’s clear that the greatest hotspots of demand will be for people who can help a business work smarter, not harder.

“All departments now need people who can analyse performance, review and improve processes, reduce costs and increase efficiencies.''

There is an ever growing need for marketers who have digital experience and skills.

Jason Walker, Hays NZ

The following skills are just some of those in demand in two sectors: information technology and marketing:

Information Technology: Mobile developers with a Java background or iOS, Android, Objective-C and Swift development skills are in demand. Those with local development and commercial experience are particularly sought after in Auckland, says Walker.

Marketing: Digital marketing specialists who can navigate the fields of technology, marketing and communications continue to be sought after. "There is an ever growing need for marketers who have digital experience and skills."

Send news tips for CIO 'movers and shaker' to divina_paredes@idg.co.nz

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Tags PwCdigital strategywomen in technologyJohn HolleyLincoln Watson

More about AffinityAPACCMSColliers InternationalCucumberFacebookGoogleHaysJericho Digital CommunicationsJuniper NetworksMicrosoftMITPerpetualSitecoreTechnologyUnited NationsWestpac

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