Happy Holidays from all at Zavanti

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our colleagues, clients, partners and suppliers a very Happy Christmas and we look forward to working with you all again in 2009.

Our last day of business for 2008 will be Friday 19th December. We will reopen in 2009 on Monday January 12th.

For Support during the holiday period contact 1300 302 358 (Australia) and +64 9 447 1080 (NZ) and leave a message or email support@zavanti.com and we will endeavor to get back to you ASAP.

Take Control with Zavanti Property and Construction ERP

Our pre-Christmas e-campaign for our Property and Construction ERP Solutions (above) focuses on how Zavanti Property Developer and Zavanti Construction Manager can help managers take control of their projects and move forward with confidence. This is particularily relevant with the current economic climate, as organisations look to manage risk and protect their margins.

Our Property and Construction ERP solutions have been designed to guide you through each stage of the project lifecycle. With one, centralised solution, you don't need to worry about updating spreadsheets and disparate systems - enter your data once and our toolset will do the rest, providing real-time, live information when you need it most.

Supporting your business as it grows, Zavanti will ensure that you:

• Never lose track of any part of your projects
• Deliver on-time and within budget
• Take full advantage of your resources
• Focus on the projects that generate the best ROI
• Spend less time tied up with administrative work, enabling you to focus on waht you do best

Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you gain insight, visibility and control across all your projects.

Work Smarter with Zavanti Enterprise Software

Our latest e-campaign for our Enterprise Software Solutions (above) focuses on Zavanti Portfolio Manager (Project and Portfolio Management) and Corda (Performance Dashboards).

With uncertain financial times meaning smaller budgets and leaner staff, market-leading organisations need to:

• Focus on the investments and projects that will generate the best return
• Take full advantage of resources
• Monitor and track Operational KPI's
• Manage Employee Performance
• Uncover untapped revenue
• Fully analyse data about customers, product and sales
  

Zavanti can help you achieve these goals through effective Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) and Performance Management Dashboards.

Contact us today to learn more about these enterprise solutions and how we can help you power ahead and seize new opportunities in 2009.

Zavanti feature at iTSHOWCASELIVE

Zavanti were pleased to be a part of the recent iTSHOWCASELIVE exhibition, at The Old Trafford Football Stadium in Manchester on December 3rd.

Zavanti featured along side some of the UK's leading software specialists for accounting software, CRM, ERP software, construction management, job costing, estimating software, manufacturing management, retail and hospitality systems, at the one day event.

Despite the recent down turn in the economy, with the construction and property market been one of the sectors hardest hit, the industry is still keen to move forward and implement systems that enable them to manage their projects more efficiently and effectively.

We hope to feature at the next iTSHOWCASE event in the New Year - visit iTSHOWCASE online for more information.

Inaugural Gulf States Building Awards

Organised by Building magazine and endorsed by the Emirates Green Building Council, the inaugural Gulf States Building Awards were held in Dubai on November 13. The awards highlighted the most exceptional projects across the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).

Atkins was named Engineering Consultant of the Year following its work on projects such as the Bahrain World Trade Centre, while EC Harris, beat Davis Langdon and Mace to win the Construction Consultant of the Year Award.
The hotel project of the year went to Shangri La Qaryat Al Beri Hotel in Abu Dhabi, while the the infrastructure project of the year award was won by the Al Garhoud Bridge, a 14-lane road bridge in Dubai. Downtown Burj Dubai won the BIW Technologies sponsored award for best mixed-use project of the year for boasting the world’s tallest tower and world’s largest shopping centre.

For the event sponsors, such as Davis Langdon, Mace, and Leighton, the awards provided an opportunity to raise their profiles in the eyes of many of the Gulf region’s major contractors and consultants. BIW Technologies' General Manager Middle East, Asif Sharif said, "BIW's sophisticated project control platform is already widely used on major mixed use developments in Dubai. This sponsorship will have boosted recognition of the BIW brand across the Middle East region."

A full list of category winners, sponsors, and photos from the night are available from the Building website

Retirement Villages the next Construction Boom

At the Property Council of Australia's recent Ageing of Aquarius II Conference, Peter McMullen, National Director for Health and Aged Care Services for Jones Lang LaSalle, presented his research paper, "Is Supply Meeting Demand or Missing the Mark?"

McMullen says that Australia's rapidly ageing population has resulted in an abundance of retirement village development opportunities across the nation. "To meet this surge in demand, it is predicted that up to 140,000 new dwellings in retirement villages are needed over the next 15 years, equating to an investment of about $42 billion (in 2008 dollars) in new construction,"
he says.

He also found that Retirement Village living is also becoming more accepted as participation rates are continuing to increase. "At present, approximately 5.25 percent of the over-65 population live in retirement villages, a significant increase from the 3 to 3.5 percent benchmark from only eight or nine years ago."

At present, there are more than 500 new villages with more than 51,000 new units either proposed, approved or under construction. In existing villages, another 20,7000 new units are either proposed, approved or under construction.

McMullen believes that, "despite the current softening in market sentiment in all property classes, the long-term future of the Retirement Village industry is secure with significant opportunity for investment."

For more information, see the full article in the November Edition of "Property Australia".

More information on the Ageing of Aquarius Conference is also available via the Property Council's website - http://www.propertycouncil.com.au/retirement/

Visual Evolution 2008 a success for Corda Technologies

Corda Technologies annual four-day Visual Evolution conference brought together executive dashboard and data visualisation users, developers, prospects and partners, along with industry leaders from around the globe, including Zavanti’s own Corda Developer, Jason Marshall.

Wayne Eckerson, author of “Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business” was the keynote speaker for the event. Wayne is also the Director of Education and Research for The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI). Other industry expert speakers included Ron Powell, Co-founder of The Business Intelligence Network, and Peter Traynor, Editor in Chief, Dashboard Insight.

Corda’s expert Dashboard Technologists delivered presentations on CenterView™, PopChart®, OptiMap™ and Highwire™, giving best practices for all levels of users and developers. In addition, participants attended sessions to learn how to create attractive dashboards, extend the dashboard interface, transform data from data funnels, and to explore best practices in choosing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). They also participated in round table discussions, where they had the opportunity to learn from other users and developers, as well as case studies from leading industry executives.

The Data Visualisation Lounge was a new feature this year, here attendees could practice the tips and tricks learned at the conference, see how other customers are visualising business intelligence, or work on their own dashboard projects - with the help of expert Dashboard Technologists from Corda.

“Visual Evolution continues to be a terrific success as our signature annual event,” said John Purvis, CEO and president of Corda. “The world’s best minds in data visualisation, business performance management, and performance dashboards gather together to learn about and successively refine what it means to truly manage performance.”

Click here to access the session presentations from the event