Brisbane-headquartered managed services provider Data#3 recorded a $250.7 million gross profit for the 2023 financial year, the company announced at its annual general meeting yesterday.
Data3# board chair Richard Anderson said the company was able to "maintain levels of staff turnover well under industry averages" as IT companies grappled with "the highest turnover the industry has ever witnessed."
CEO and managing director Laurence Baynham, who will be leaving the company in March, said Data#3 is "focusing on growth in our services and software solutions business to support our recurring business."
Baynham highlighted the Integrated Resort Development at Queens Wharf in Brisbane as one of Data#3's "largest multi-year projects."
The company is "designing, building, installing and supporting the digital network" of the resort, which consists of four towers, 50 restaurants and bars, 2000 apartments and 1000 hotel rooms.
The project involves "handling over 60,000 items that make up the network."
Focus on larger, lower margin projects
Baynham said that Data#3 is focusing on winning "larger, albeit lower margin contracts given the significant cross-sell opportunity across our solutions portfolio and services."
"One of the primary reasons we win these large projects is the extensive work we do with vendors such as Cisco, and our track record of successful delivery," he said.
"With the upcoming 2032 Brisbane Olympics we are well positioned to do more of these large- scale infrastructure projects."
Security is also a focus area for Data#3.
"Security continues to be our fastest growing area and a top priority for customers as they respond to the ever evolving and increasing threat of cyber breaches, seen by many as their number one business and risk management imperative," said Baynham.
Digital transformation a growth driver
Baynham said helping organisations with digital transformation presents a significant opportunity that still has room for growth.
"Digital transformation is the primary driver of growth in our industry," he said.
"Every one of our customers, whether public sector or larger commercial customers, has a digital transformation agenda and increasingly their digital strategies are the same as their business strategies."
"We are still in the early days of digital transformation with plenty of headroom for growth."
"Our role is to provide the foundation layer of cloud, modern workplace, data and analytics, connectivity and security and there are very few, if any, other organisations in Australia that have the breadth and depth of our solutions and services."
AI opportunities and vendor partnerships
Baynham said Data#3 is "looking at opportunities to apply AI within our own business to further improve operational efficiencies."
Last month, the company became one of the first in Australia to gain access to Microsoft 365 Co-pilot via its Early Release Program.
Baynham also highlighted the value of Data#3's vendor partnerships.
"One of our greatest points of differentiation is our vendor relationships and leading position with Microsoft, Cisco, HP and Dell," he said.
"Leadership can be measured in many different ways, however in FY23 we succeeded in winning the Cisco global security partner of the year, selected from 60,000 Cisco partners globally."
"We also secured two Microsoft global awards, which is no mean feat given Microsoft's global footprint."
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