Kordia: Connecting the Global Retail Grid through Telecommunication

Ken Benson, CEO

The 1980s saw the world go through a decade of turmoilon a global scale with nations rising and falling, racial boundaries being broken, walls of discrimination beingtorn down and the limits of human innovationbeing decimated. By the end of this highly eventful decade, the entire world had changed a little and the diversehuman race seemed to have gotten more closeto global harmony than ever before. While this harmony could be attributed to the vividly ground-breaking events of the eighties, the innovations that would continue to engulf our everyday livesfor the next two decades would further play a vital role in shaping the future. Among the various fields of technology that underwent innovation, none hold more value than the field of communication. With ‘Generation X’ at its peak and rearing to go, trivial constraints of communication were never considered a hindering factor in theprogress of life.For the business world in particular this attitude came as a boon that fostered a new culture of conducting business where companies across the four corners of the globecould communicate and produce value. The ICT industry in particular was the fuel to this new era of high-tech enterprises. The contributions of the telecommunications industry to the global enterprise structure so far have been invaluable and can be credited for laying down the foundations on which modern businesses flourish.

The Advent of ICT in Australia

The widespread projection of the prospects of ICT in the early eighties prompted many companies to cash in on the technology. Innovation in this field thereby can mostly be attributed to the efforts of these companies both individually and as a combined entity. One such company that is a pioneer of this industry came from the suburbs of the island nation of Australia. Just crediting Kordia as a pioneer would be an understatement, as the company during the time of its inception in 1983was one of the very few of its kind in a market almost bereft of entities pertaining to the technology. Today a multi-million dollar state owned business, Kordia’s beginnings were humble much like the many IT business that have come to flourish through the influence of time, innovation and a good amount of elbow grease. At the time of its inception Kordia went by the name AAP Communication Services, a small ICT technical services company supporting an AAP communications network comprised of print and media companies. AAPCS initially supported Australian news companies and the networks they established across the nation. Over the years as the business requirements of news and media companies changed, AAPT was spun off as a standalone telco and AAPCS began operating autonomously. Owing to its small size and an agile work force with a “Sure we can”attitude, success knocked early at AAPC’s doorsteps and it was able to diversify and expand to new markets. “By being in the right place and at the right time, the company was able to get a foothold into servicing the new and growing mobile telecommunications site services market, specifically with Ericsson and Vodafone,” elaborates Ken Benson, CEO, Kordia. The services rendered by AAPCS in its early days included the installation of Automated Teller Machines and the installation and maintenance of microwave point to point radios.

The Dawn of a New Era in ICT

For AAPCS the major transformation in its business module happened in 2003 when the company acquired a major outsourcing contract with Vodafone Australia and gained a unique telco engineering capability.

The same year AAPCS was renamed Kordia. Since then the company has invested its time and money on building its telco capability and capacity to cater to the likes of Telstra and Vodafone and has also diversified capability to provide other site, structure engineering and field services. A fine example of this is the specialist heavy rigging team at Kordia’s disposal that is trained to refurbish large broadcast towers. “There were some company ownership changes as well however the management objectives have always been to emerge as a successful customer focused services and solutions company,” elaborates Ken on the transition from AAPCS to Kordia.

While the past 13 years have seen Kordia go through a major overhaul in its technical capability and ability to dispense services, deployment of new technology has always been its strong suite.

It is quite impressive to have maintained such a quality over the course of 33 years, considering the fact that the past three decades have seen the most number of advancements and innovations not just in the field of ICT but technology in general. To most companies adapting to such changing technology over such a long period might seem cumbersome, but for Kordia this is a challenge it relishes. This open disposition toward emerging technology has also aided Kordia in establishing itself as a leading ICT services provider in Australia. For ICT services just adapting to technology doesn’t quite cut it, as the industry demands much more from its resident purveyors.Being one of the pioneers of this industry in Australia, Kordia is quite familiar with the intricacies of implementing ICT services and has developed a higher level of proficiency in getting qualified technicians with the right skill set for the job and the tools required the right location on time. “The purpose of our tools and systems is to manage our skilled workforce to design, install and maintain technology safely,” adds Ken. The technicians at Kordia’s surely have come a long way from the company’s early days when only traditional tools such as simple paper forms and desk phones were at their disposal. Today Kordia possesses highly sophisticated engineering design and field management communications systems with vast amounts of data being transferred around the country. Kordia has also gone through an upgrade in its support systems which have gone from being veryrudimentary to a higher level of sophistication which enables them to acquire third party, accredited and industry recognised quality, health, safety and environmental management systems, Federal Safety Commissioner Accreditation, and Nata accreditation for EME measurements. All these advancements that Kordia has gone through over the years could be attributed to its ability to understand its customer’s needs and device solutions accordingly.

Since then the company has invested its time and money on building its telco capability and capacity to cater to the likes of Telstra and Vodafone and has also diversified capability to provide other site, structure engineering and field services

Crafting ICT Solutions for the Retail Industry

One of the primary industries that Kordia caters to in Australia is the retail sector. The companydispenses its solutions to client sites that are distributed all across the country. This could truly be a daunting task considering the fact that in most cases the condition of the site, tower and details of equipment are sketchy at best. These sites are intended to carry live traffic and any downtime in these places could affect the end customers. “It is very challenging for our clients to safely and cost effectively maintain and upgrade their assets. So this is where Kordia’s capability comes to the fore,” elaborates Ken. Kordia’s services to this end include24x7 Network and Facilities Monitoring, Project Management Office, 24 x 7 National Field Maintenance Metro & Remote 24x7 ANZ Maritime Monitoring Service covering a ¼ of the world’s oceans, Tower and Structure Design and Construction Accreditation, Certification, Safe Working and Insuranceamong many other services.

Having accomplished itself as a leading provider of ICT service with an impressive clientele comprised telco giants such as Telstra and Vodafone, Kordia now intends to grow its presence further in Australia through the many services in ICT it offers. Kordia’s strong local presence in Southern and Western Australia exemplifies the company’s position in the country. In the years to come Kordia seeks to invest in the best available tools, system and training to bring innovation to its customers.