Category Archives: Whatever Happened To?

Peter Court has established his own SAP Consultancy StepChange, and has established a very good reputation for SAP project integration, completions, and mop-ups.

No, David Christie has not retired, died, sold, or has been bent, spindled, folded or mutilated.

DCA has been trading continuously since 1991, and now, downsized, trade as a boutique, elite but not elitist.

CareerCafé is a new name, entity, and the name is a new, fresh presence for a fresh outlook. CareerCafé now looks after fewer clients with more personalised attention.

IBM Song

Finally we can announce David Hattrick’s move from IBM-its “forward Men, forward Men!” as David Hattrick departs IBM forever onward to Oracle Corporation in an E-Commerce role that largely recreates his experience when last at Sun Microsystems. (En camera from left, David Christie, Graeme Speak, and David Hattrick, circa 1992)

Danny Harwood was GSS Operations Manager, ANZ for Sun, but was retained by Oracle because they thought he was funny. He still lives in Sydney, likes golf, walks in the park and beer.

Phil Foxwell is now working in Brisbane as the Big Kahuna of Grace. If you need to move it, store it, shove it or shelve it Grace.com.au

Peter Kazakos will not die. He formed Kaz Consulting, sold it to Telstra for a delicious profit who then sold it on Ebay to Fujutsu for $200M. Now he has made an ICT Pizza, with ingredients including Hostech, Anittel, Accord, Axxis (from Dubbo, huge firm), Asprience and the company will be called PKBA. Sounds like a chewy.

No Barker here

Brad Barker is now Datamine Australia General Manager. They have recently been acquired by CAE, who announced the acquisition by CAE to further its entry into the mining sector. This acquisition is part of CAE’s long-term strategy to leverage its modelling, simulation and training capabilities in new markets that have the same imperative to reduce risks and enhance operational efficiency as the civil aviation and defence sectors, where CAE is a world leader. This acquisition follows CAE’s announcement last June to invest, with the participation of the Quebec government, up to C$274 million in research and development, over seven years, in three new growth areas: healthcare, mining and energy. CAE is already providing professional services to the mining industry as well as expertise in human factors, modelling and simulation, and process optimization.

With 29 years of experience in the mining industry, Datamine has an extensive product and consulting portfolio ranging from exploration data management and geological (orebody) modelling to mine planning and mine operations management. Datamine is the recognized leader in multi-parametric orebody modelling in open pit optimization where its solutions map not only mineral grade and geological structure but also geotechnical and geometallurgical parameters in order to determine the optimal strategic mine plan.

Datamine has customers in over 70 countries across the globe including all of the major mining houses. The company has its research and development centre in the United Kingdom and a workforce of 110 employees in nine sales and support offices in Australia, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Peru, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. (www.datamine.co.uk)

“We welcome Datamine’s employees to the CAE team. By combining Datamine’s expertise and credibility in mining with CAE’s 60-year experience in modelling, simulation and training, we will develop the industry’s most compelling technology and services to increase safety and efficiency of mine operations. We will introduce simulation-based mine planning, scheduling and training in an industry where safety is paramount and costs of training are very high,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE’s Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Development. “As with our healthcare and energy initiatives, these are early days but we are convinced that we can develop a meaningful position in these areas over the long term.”

“I am pleased that Datamine is now a part of a world leader in modelling, simulation and training solutions,” said Nick Beaton, Chief Executive Officer of Datamine. “We immediately recognized CAE’s strengths for large dataset management, scenario simulation and operator training. Mine planners need simulation to validate production schedules, and then, just like in aviation, the operators need to be trained extensively to follow the plan while using the equipment safely and efficiently. CAE’s capabilities will expose equipment operators to a virtual mine environment in order to gain both competence and confidence while reducing the cost of training on real equipment.”

CAE is a world leader in providing simulation and modelling technologies and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry and defence forces around the globe. With annual revenues exceeding C$1.6 billion, CAE employs more than 7,000 people at more than 90 sites and training locations in more than 20 countries. We have the largest installed base of civil and military full-flight simulators and training devices. Through our global network of 29 civil aviation and military training centres, we train more than 75,000 crewmembers yearly. We also offer modelling and simulation software to various market segments and, through CAE’s professional services division, we assist customers with a wide range of simulation-based needs. www.cae.com. The Perth staff of Datamine will be required to greet each other with a cheery ”Bonjour” in the mornings, and adopt a jaunty stance and a Gallic shrug. *** Stop Press*** Update soon while BB learns how to bend bannanas.

John Lewis sold Consultech at the right time and is now seriously kicking back.