Greg Davidson (Datacom)
The new investment for full ownership would facilitate more aggressive investment in that platform as well as the company's DataPay platform, which was also cloud-based, with an emphasis on new features and a better mobile experience.
Datacom's local government software platform Datascape also made progress with more than 65 per cent of New Zealand councils currently using modules from the suite.
"We've been really pleased with the continued adoption and uptake in and around Datascape," Davidson said.
"Obviously it's a very long running investment for us to build a product in that space. We are hugely heartened by the way customers and potential customers across New Zealand have responded to it."
An early foothold for the platform had also been established in Australia and that was the one to watch over the next year or two, Davidson said.
Multiple customers had committed to the entire suite and a major go-live lay ahead, he said.
Uptake of Datacom’s digital services continued in Australia as well with 60 per cent growth in the local government team there.
Davidson said the year ahead would see Datacom, and the rest of the industry focus on talent with the ongoing immigration challenges reducing the talent pool in both Australia and New Zealand.
"We've hired over 200 people into the New Zealand business since the beginning of the financial year," Davidson said. "Given customer demand we intend to keep doing that."
That would involve a vastly increased graduate intake and training people into areas of emerging and growing demand and the talent challenge would dominate management thinking.
"I think if people talk about that as an eternal pain point, I haven't seen pain quite like this," he said.
Datacom had 6539 employees as at 31 March spread over 26 locations.
Datacom is a privately held company but New Zealanders have a stake in it after the NZ Super Fund bought 35 per cent of the company in 2012, valuing it at the time at $405 million.
According to the accounts, shares in the employee share scheme were valued at $123 at balance date, valuing Datacom now at a shade more than $770 million.
