Melbourne-based IT services provider, Kiandra IT, posted a FY2011 earnings growth of 23 per cent, down from 32 per cent in 2010.
Kiandra IT managing director, Cameron Brookes, told Computerworld Australia that he was still pleased with the 2011 results, which are in line with the company’s growth expectations.
"The 2010 figures were inflated due to 2009 being depressed with the global financial crisis [GFC],” he said.
“During the GFC period, we did not cut staff because that was our strategy not to lose anyone, so we took a hit in the growth figure.
"During 2010 the market was like a different world for us which is why we had an inflated figures during that year."
During the fourth quarter of 2010, the company increased its staff numbers by 29 per cent due to a growing demand for its software development services.
The company now employs 53 people, with three of them based at the newly opened Perth office. Brookes said that he had expectations the headcount in Melbourne and Perth will grow by 15 per cent in the next 12 months.
"We are forecasting revenue growth for 2012 to be up 49 per cent and we are hoping to capitalise on the headcount we are now at," he said.
"The markets we play in for software development are fairly even split at the moment between start-ups, government and corporate customers.”
Kiandra IT's Perth staff are also focused on software development, as its strategy is to get involved with the resources and mining sector.
In July, the company signed an ICT services contract with the WA Government to offer business intelligence (BI), SharePoint and custom software development services to all of its departments.
In addition, Brookes did not ruling out taking the company into other states such as NSW.
"Our longer term strategy will be to have a greater national footprint but at this stage, we are tackling the states one by one,” he said.
“Sydney is a big market that we are not capturing at present, but we are still able to attract clients in multiple states.
“With software development, we do work with companies in Sydney and Queensland."
Although the company traditionally plays in software, BI, SharePoint and infrastructure management, one of its staff engineers completed training to become a certified ethical hacker.
"The engineer is leading the charge in regards to providing penetration testing and auditing services, especially as cybercrime is a growing concern for our customers," Brookes said.
During 2010, the company also started working with some new customers, including Coles in customer-facing Web services and Jenny Craig on a transition of IT services.
Kiandra IT also extended existing customer software development partnerships with Victoria Police, the Commissioner for Law Enforcement and the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
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