Per Andersen says his New Zealand business is “a lifestyle choice”

Crossware’s managing director says New Zealanders are very highly skilled

By Vera Alves, Auckland | Friday, 18 November 2011
Per Andersen left his native Denmark and moved to New Zealand with his wife 12 years ago. In Denmark, he still has two adult children and two grandchildren who he sees as often as possible. Among his ‘luggage’, he brought the will to start a successful business in New Zealand.

He has been part of the IT industry since the very beginning of his career, having earned a computer science degree in Denmark and then working as an IT manager before starting his own IT business venture. A long-time IBM partner, one of the companies he has previously directed was a Lotus Notes consultancy.

IBM is still a big part of Andersen’s business these days. Crossware, the company he founded in Auckland 12 years ago, is an IBM reseller with a particular focus on services.

Since its inception, Crossware has developed into more than a reseller and has created its own CRM system, along with its email signature product, Crossware Mail Signature.

The company has a wide network of customers and resellers, both in New Zealand and overseas, but Andersen says that even though national customer numbers are still growing, getting clients overseas is much easier than targeting local companies.

However Andersen says the company is “always looking for more resellers” to help build its customer base in this country.

He says he’s starting to see higher demand for Crossware’s flagship product, Crossware Mail Signature, and believes this is mainly driven by an increased awareness of the benefits of good branding. “Companies are realising they need to align email with the rest of their branding,” says Andersen. He adds that smartphones have contributed to this increase in awareness because a work email sent from a mobile phone usually has no branded signature.

“I also believe one of the reasons is the connection between marketing and IT departments. Marketing has always been left out but now it’s all coming together,” he adds.

Crossware achieved 50 percent growth in the past year and is gearing up for another year of good results. The company currently has 400 customers worldwide and some big names in New Zealand as well, including Ricoh, Honda, Suzuki, McConnell Dowell, and Vero.

“Timezones are our biggest problem,” says Andersen. “I can’t say we’re a 24-hour operation yet but it’s getting there.” On any given week, there are a lot of early and late calls and presentations to overseas clients and partners.

“The other day, I started at 6am with a call to Brazil, at 8am had a call to the US, then exchanged emails with about ten other countries before Australia woke up, then India and the day ended with a call to France,” he says.

With so many early mornings and late nights, why has this Danish businessman chosen to start a business in New Zealand instead of remaining in Europe? “It’s a lifestyle choice,” he answers. “People in New Zealand are really, really highly skilled and I wouldn’t find the same team anywhere else.”

This lifestyle comes at a high cost, though. To grow and maintain business overseas, Crossware maintains a presence at least 12 international conferences and events every year. “It costs a lot but it is worth it,” he says.

Joining the IT industry was not something he envisaged in his very early years. “I wanted to be a cook. Then I thought that if I became a cook, I wouldn’t have time to go to restaurants. So I got into IT and now I can go out to restaurants,” he jokes.

It may have been his desire to afford restaurant meals that drove him to start his own IT business but it was the nature of the industry that led him to stay. “The IT industry is dynamic, there is still a lot of money to be earned and a world of opportunities,” he says.

Through Crossware, he intends to continue exploring those opportunities. The company, which already has a sales representative in the US (in Florida), is now gearing up for further overseas expansion with the opening of a UK office within the next six months.