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SCMP Reporter

LOCAL company On-Line Consulting was recently bought by the Australian-based outsourcers, System Services.

  ''We are considered to be the fastest-growing software company in this region,'' said Anil Sathianesan, marketing manager for On-Line.

  ''We now have eight offices and about 300 staff in this region.

   ''In Hong Kong alone, we have close to 120 technical staff who manage projects through contractual assignments with customers.''   The System Services acquisition, finalised in August, is part of On-Line's overall strategy to increase its outsourcing revenues through an aggressive acquisition programme.

  Prior to the deal, facilities management and other outsourcing and systems integration services constituted 15 per cent of the company's income.

  With System Services on board, this figure is set to rise.

  On-Line is still perceived in the marketplace as the leading reseller of SRA self-study training courses.

  While still maintaining a large network of experienced instructors worldwide, On-Line is striving to be recognised as an experienced Asia systems integrator and to consolidate this strength as its core business.

  Systems Integrators are notoriously difficult creatures to evaluate.

  They invariably pitch themselves as ''all things to all people''.

  A large measure of success in this field is the ability to differentiate oneself in terms of one's quality of service and support.

  Not just in terms of performance, but also perception, said consultant Graham Mead, of Graham Mead Associates.

  ''By being perceived in the marketplace as a forward-thinking company with an astute orientation, clients as well as personnel are attracted,'' said Mr Mead.

  This involves intangibles, like understanding and anticipating the particular growth needs of companies located within this region.

  It also involves understanding the peculiarities of the Asia-Pacific business culture, and being able to construct appropriate working relationships.

  Perhaps most important is the ability to create a sense of assurance in the services provided.

  ''Many companies pay for the peace of mind,'' said Mr Mead.

   ''They relinquish control of their computers; farm out data management tasks, in order to concentrate on their core businesses.''   All of the above factors are dependent on having timely access to skilled personnel, and the ability to identify and place them appropriately.

  For this reason, the more than 25 IBM sites supported by System Services are less significant assets to On-Line than the access they afford to a relatively inexpensive, yet comprehensive, skill base.

  ''The acquisition of Systems Services has augmented our resource base of IT professionals,'' said Mr Sathianesan.

  ''We have acquired personnel conversant in IBM mainframe management, and, more especially, the management of migration plans from these mainframes to popular open-systems platforms.''   Independent market research underlines how quickly Hong Kong is moving towards open systems.

  Personal computers configured on to LANs (local area networks) will account for 33 per cent of all PC installations in the territory by the end of this year.

   The figure is expected to rise to 45 per cent by 1996.

  The industry-wide shift to Open Systems has resulted in more emphasis on claiming technical support capabilities of UNIX, AIX, OS/2, MS-DOS and the LAN/WAN (networking) implementations of EtherNet and Token Ring.

      With the August acquisition, On-line can claim to have a broader skill base.

  System Services had been seeking an Asian partner as a vehicle of growth for some time, due to limited opportunities within its home market.

  Therefore, On-Line's 60 per cent stake in System Services appears to be a mutually beneficial relationship - an exchange of markets for skills.



On-Line remains the leader in Asia