'Ideas Boom' still a whisper in Canberra

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull may have taken his “Ideas Boom” into the July federal election with the promise of greater investment in technological innovation, but the tightly contested vote hasn’t helped those IT companies that rely on government spends.

Brendon Major from Canberra’s MIT Services said it was a “tough slog” getting through the turbulent election period. “The [federal] government’s not spending as much because of the election and everything in Canberra has just ground to a halt. We still had growth, but departments are scared of spending.”

The seven-year-old company’s growth surged last year when it transitioned from a managed services approach to more “outsourcing” for schools in Canberra. The shift helped MIT achieve 131.8 percent growth and $2.4 million in revenue. The company placed No.5 in the 2015 CRN Fast50.

MIT now provides complete end-to-end IT solutions for schools from basic support and devices to budgetary policies. MIT also employs a full-time staff member to work on‑site to complete the outsourcing service.

Major said the ACT went through an 18-week slowdown around election time. MIT remedied the situation through sponsorships with SIDS & Kids and the Narrabundah Ballpark, which was renamed as the MIT Ballpark. “It’s about giving back to Canberra,” Major said.

Even though MIT’s growth plans were stymied this year, new locations aren’t off the table. Major said MIT recently had an offer to take over a customer in Melbourne and is regularly asked to take on outsourcing for clients around the country. For the moment, MIT is content to keep winning new customers in the ACT.

“I’ve worked in Sydney and Melbourne, and working in Canberra is a lot more laid-back,” Major said. “It regularly takes six months to get a deal across the line. But if you mess up with one customer, you’re done. Everyone knows everyone, so you don’t stab each other in the back. That goes for IT companies, too – there’s plenty of work to go around.”

One significant win came this year when the company landed a $500,000 win with a government department to provide a new telephone system and 200 Xirrus wi-fi access points across Australia.

Major’s success has seen more vendors knocking on his door, rather than the other way around.  Most recently, MIT signed up with cloud file-sharing startup Foldr.

Major hinted at the possibility of M&A, but he’s not in a rush to sell the business. “I’ve had a couple of the big boys knocking on my door – but I’m allowed to have a number of offers.”