Southern Cross opens Sydney office

Systems integrator Southern Cross Computer Systems has opened a new Sydney branch and appointed a manager for the NSW region to support several recent and potential contract wins.

Former NetApp Australia northern region manager Greg Scholten has been appointed to look after the burgeoning Sydney business.

Southern Cross operates predominantly out of its Melbourne headquarters, and one month ago opened a new office in Perth. The Sydney office marks its fourth location, alongside a Canberra presence.

Scholten has spent the last 18 years across an array of tech companies, including a stint in the US with several software start-ups such as LongReach Software, Platypus Technology and Intermine. 

Scholten returned to Australia and joined NetApp in 2006, where he stayed until 2011 when he became the A/NZ country manager for software provider FireScope.

Scholten is tasked with growing Southern Cross' Sydney business. He said several new deals with "large enterprise organisations with a services-led approach" were in the works but would not disclose details.

Chief executive officer Mark Kalmus said the company was on a hiring blitz for more sales and technical staff across Australia, including Sydney. 

Southern Cross recently scored a five-year, multi-million dollar deal with the Victorian Government's education department for the provision of managed services.

The contract is both a renewal and extension of services Southern Cross currently provides.

Southern Cross has supplied Citrix and VMware core infrastructure services to Victoria's Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) for the past two-to-three years.

Kalmus declined to comment on the value of the contract, but CRN understands the deal is worth $10 million over the five-year period. 

The company is also involved with the Victorian Government under its eServices panel, and has similarly just renewed a managed services contract with the Public Records Office of Victoria for two years. It had been providing backend managed services and support there for two years.