FUTURE FOCUS AS BIZNET IIS CONTINUES TO GROW

It takes a brave decision to divide a thriving company into two and then continue to drive forward the former component parts.

But that's exactly what two of Northern Ireland's best known internet entrepreneurs, Adrian Bradley & Darryl Fullerton, did a year ago or so.

With the business growing in two very different directions, driven in each case by one of the founders, Bradley & Fullerton sat down, took the mature option and thrashed out a very amicable parting of the ways to form two distinct Biznet companies…..one concentrating on the old core business of internet consultancy, the other in the very specialised international oil & gas industry.

Fresh out of the University of Ulster, the pair had founded Biznet Solutions back in 1997 as one of the early crop of internet companies.

“Back then, it was in vogue to have a website, and we rode the wave of customers who wanted to have websites designed and built,” says Adrian Bradley.

“And we were a real back bedroom company….just the two of us in my back bedroom in Finaghy,” he smiles. “Our first major expansion was to take on one employee and move to my front bedroom!”

Within three years or so, Biznet had left the Bradley home in Finaghy and has just over 20 employees working from offices on the Lisburn Road. It was also moving into the big league when it came to internet work.

“We had landed a major deal to work for BP in London on a national basis, and we could add that to quite a few governmental web contracts here in Northern Ireland, and other breakthroughs like the contract to design and build Tourism Ireland's first multilingual gateway.”

In more recent years, Biznet had developed its expertise and services well beyond that of website design and build.

“The business evolved naturally. It became more about systems, software and applications. That's because customers don't just want websites these days. They want a technology infrastructure than can do the business for them going forward.”

In 2006, the consultancy side of the business was growing rapidly, as was the overseas specialist business built around the BP contract by Daryl Fullerton and his team.

“Darryl had his dream and I had my dream. That's it in a nutshell,” explains Adrian Bradley. “He could see opportunities in the oil and gas sector. I could see opportunities in the UK, Ireland and Europe, and a niche in tourism internet consultancy. And, by then, we had 55 people and no more space on the Lisburn Road.

“The result was a de-merger and it was a process which went very smoothly for all concerned. Darryl now spends a lot of his time in the USA and beyond, and we work together across a number of activities.”

Bradley and the re-named Biznet IIS re-located to premises on Dargan Road in the Harbour Estate. A total of 25 staff made the move, but that complement has since risen to 37 in the intervening period.

“Our business these days is all about web technology. It's a very different arena from our early days as a business,” he says. “We talk about the iceberg factor. About 20% of what we do is visible. The remaining 80% is all about underlying technology and infrastructure.

“We help our client companies to look at how they do things. Then we'll home in on every aspect of those processes, and we'll aim to maximise the potential that organisations can gain from e-business.

“Often that can mean managing multiple remote locations. Or it can mean building highly technical solutions. Either way, it's part of the job for us as a team.”

Biznet IIS has had a number of recent wins which have helped to reinforce the firm's position right at the top of the internet sector in Ireland.

The Belfast company has developed the new Discover Ireland tourism gateway on behalf of Failte Ireland, and has also won the contract for Road Safety Ireland and for the Dublin Bus internet presence.

The company has also helped to develop the online activities of the Maxol Group….a company which has won a number of awards for its online business development.

On the other side of the Irish Sea, another notable recent win was City of Westminster Council in London….Biznet's first major break into the potentially lucrative GB local government sector.

Overseas, Biznet's clear experience in the tourism marketplace has led to its winning business from the tourism authorities in Slovakia. Negotiations are also underway with the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.

In Ireland, Biznet has a series of tourism-related customers, including Hotels Ireland, the Town & Country House Association, Trident Homes and Budget Travel.

“We win by being able to offer the full range of services,” says Adrian Bradley.

“From design to consultancy to build and maintenance with 24/7 and 365-day cover. And, backing that up, we have our own web hosting presence based with BT at Telephone House.

“We'll also harness the latest technology. An online strategy these days doesn't just mean having the right web presence and infrastructure. It also means working with the big social networking sites, the likes of You Tube, and the undoubted power of viral marketing.”

Biznet IIS can also build a variety of functions onto its systems. For the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI), it effectively manages the body's membership functions…..raising membership invoices, managing payments, applications, etc, as well as running private member areas on the main site.

“What we have to do,” says Adrian Bradley, “is to continually look to the future. In a few years time, the internet will be in your pocket. Blackberries are already evidence of that happening.

“There are big opportunities….really big opportunities….just around the corner.”

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