|
|
|
|
BY Brad Howarth | I DECEMBER 2001-JANUARY 2002
BUSINESS ONLINE
|
| |
Innovative use of e-business technology has propelled ServCorp to the top of the
serviced office industry
Using technology to build a leadership position is a long-held practice at the
global serviced offices company Servcorp. Over the past 20 years, the company
has introduced a range of techbical innovations in its industry, based around
billing systems, high-speed communications access and, more recently,
e-business and Web-related services.
Established in 1978, ServCorp provides a range of business services to small
companies and branch offices of multinationals, including rental of serviced
offices, clerical and other staff, communications infrastructure and IT
support.
In 1986, Servcorp began creating the technology infrastructure that has enabled
it to keep a step ahead of its competitors. Although managing serviced offices
may appear a simple business, the myriad combinations of services that can be
used by a customer creates a nightmare when it comes to working out a
comprehensive billing system.
The company's regional general manager and chief information officer, Marcus
Moufarrige, decided Servcorp should develop its own billing system in-house.
"One reason we have a strategic advantage over our competitors is that they
tend to buy off-the-shelf applications and apply them to our industry which
doesn't necessarily work," Moufarrige says.
In 1993, Servcorp revamped its application to include weekly and monthly
breakdowns of clients' bills, which Moufarrige claims was a first for the
industry The latest version, due in February 2002, will allow clients to view
their bills over the Web, which Moufarrige says is another first.
The second leg of Servcorp's online strategy is the broadband internet access
service it began providing in 1998. Called Smart Office, it provides clients
with a high-speed link to the Intemet, for which they are billed on a
per-minute basis.
"That's given us an amazing competitive advantage, because we were the first to
offer a standard intemet offer that was high-quality and instant, so you can
just walk in [to a Servcorp location] and plug in," Moufarrige says.
The success of Smart Office is 'highlighted by the fact that close to 100% of
Servcorp's clients chose it ahead of dial-up connections or ISDN services.
Servcorp has also introduced a range of e-business services to its Web page.
Customers can now sign online for their own virtual office, where they are
allocated a telephone number that is answered by a Servcorp receptionist and
then directed to any phone number, anywhere in the world.
However, the newest and most ambitious component of Servcorp's e-business
strategy is a Web-based information and software application delivery system,
or portal.
The portal, Hot Desk, allows Servcorp clients to log into the companyÕs online
service via a Web browser from anywhere in the world and have their files and
applications appear on screen as if they were in a Servcorp office.
"Smart Office has given us a hardware platform that is a doorway into every
single client's office," Moufarrige says. "And everyone who's thought a portal
was a good idea dreams about having 2500 clients cabled on to their network."
Hot Desk features the full Microsoft Office range, as well as an hourly news
service provided by f2 (the online subsidiary of John Fairfax Holdings, the
owner of Business Online) and an online procurement system from Kiboodle, a
subsidiary of National Australia Bank. Clients can also use the portal to book
Servcorp facilities at any of its offices around the Marcus Moufarrige,
Servcorp world, and for access to files they have stored on Servcorp's central
servers.
"One reason a lot of information portals have failed was they try to put too
much in. Keeping it really simple is the key," Moufarrige says.
The Hot Desk system was developed by the Sydney IT development company Rumble,
and is being rolled out at Servcorp locations around the world now.
Moufarrige says the combination of the virtual office and Hot Desk systems
gives true mobility to Servcorp's clients, who can now work easily from
anywhere in the world. Clients can also use Servcorp's computer network to
print documents at any Servcorp office around the world.
Moufarrige is considering additional services for delivery through the portal,
such as a courier-booking service, a method for companies to organise their
communications, and possibly a video conferencing system.
Servcorp is also in the process of setting up a new telephony system based on
intemet technology that will give clients additional options, including
integrating their c-mail and telephone systems.
Moufarrige is guarded about the amount of revenue that will be produced by
initiatives such as the portal, saying instead that the new technology should
be viewed as part of Servcorp's ongoing ambition to improve its range of
services.
"My job is to sell offices. If people can see that you're committed to
providing them with services that are going to make their commercial life
easier, then you're going to sell more offices," Moufarrige says.
"I'm not looking for this to be a huge profit coup, or to destroy our
competitors, and I'm certainly not looking to compete with the open market in
terms of portals, even though we have a pretty serious competitive advantage.
Just making our clients' lives easier is a massive competitive advantage."
Servcorp's financial performance has been strong. For the year to June 30,
Z001, it reported a profit before tax of $18.9 million, up 110% from $9 million
in 1999-2000, on revenue that increased 50%, to $I22.7 million. At the end of
September, however, the company advised the Australian Stock Exchange that it
may not meet its pre-tax forecast of $18 million for the year to June 30, 2002,
because of tough economic conditions.
Although the company's share price of $4.15 is down on its 12-month high of
$7.20, achieved in March, the company is rated as a buy by the broking firm UBS
Warburg. Moufarrige claims the company's current market capitalisation of $350
million is now greater than that of its largest competitor, Regus, which was a
partner of Servcorp until 1997.
Moufarrige believes that Servcorp's billing systems and Smart Office have been
key parts of the company's success, and have placed Servcorp two to three years
ahead of its rivals in terms of technical innovation. Both systems were
developed internally by IT department.
"One of the major underlying factors in us making money is that we have a
stable IT platform that we've built on," he says.
|
|
|
|
