With concepts like AI, cybersecurity and the value of data on a seemingly exponential rise in significance, it’s an exciting time to be an analytics company – especially in New Zealand’s largest city. Datamine has been helping clients in Auckland unlock the value in their data for nearly 25 years, and over that time we’ve watched the birth and growth of a number of other innovative and successful businesses that, like us, exist to help people make better use of their data.
When our consultants meet with prospective clients, they’re often asked about other Kiwi analytics businesses operating in this space. If clients are asking this question, we figure our readers are as well – and as counterintuitive as it might seem, we think it’s important to give credit where credit is due (competitor or not)!
Without further ado, here are five of Auckland’s best big data and analytics companies to keep an eye on in 2020.
Easily the oldest and most well-established on this list, IT management and storage company Datacom has been kicking ass and taking names on the world stage. Founded in Christchurch in 1965, they’ve since expanded to 30 global offices and over 6,500 staff, with a particular focus on the US and Australian markets – 2019 saw some ‘big wins’ in the US for Datacom, with representatives saying they’ve secured a number of undisclosed marquee multinational clients and firmly established their foothold in the Americas. In Australia, the corporation has also won a $2m Microsoft Dynamics support contract with the Department of the Environment and Energy, which they’re hoping to bolster with more office locations (such as Perth, which opened September 2019).
Don’t let the international expansion fool you – Datacom is still a major player on its home turf, having recently invested $52m into its NZ data centres, the largest of which is in Auckland. In addition to its primary focus on software and IT management, Datacom offers a number of other services like consulting, cloud services, payroll and HR systems and enterprise solutions. Notable Kiwi clients include the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), Toll NZ and Yellow.
Qrious has been doing some pretty cool stuff over the last couple of years, like partnering with the NZ DoC to better protect kākāpō and kiwi through AI and machine learning bird call recognition, which will aid conservation efforts moving forward. Like many of Spark’s successful subsidiaries, Qrious will be an interesting company to keep an eye on in the future as they integrate their newer acquisitions!
In addition to the creative services supplied by the original Little Giant team, Dentsu Group’s network and reach is enabling Isobar NZ to expand into the wider technology and digital marketing space. In the words of Rob Harvey, CEO of Dentsu Group New Zealand, “This rebrand strengthens both Dentsu and Isobar’s presence in the New Zealand market, scaling the network’s local creative and digital capabilities, and giving Little Giant the incredible opportunity to ramp up their creative and technology offering, transforming and growing businesses.” To fully round out their offering, Dentsu Group has also acquired Davanti Consulting, a Kiwi firm that specialises in digital transformation.
In 2016, Valocity split out from Data Insight to allow each entity to grow and specialise. Since the split, Data Insight has moved more into analytics consulting, body shopping and auditing out of its Auckland HQ, working with a number of significant retail, media and utility businesses across the country.
Sources (in addition to information from 11Ants, Datacom, Qrious, Isobar and Data Insight websites and LinkedIn pages):