It’s been the way of things forever – in this part of the world, we produce quality raw materials for the Northern Hemisphere, from food and fibre to mineral resources, and in return we buy the high-tech products they make and give visitors a great time.
But underneath that ancient narrative, a tectonic shift has quietly been moving the world in a different direction – and we’re doing everything we can to power that along.
Last year Microsoft launched the Scaling SaaS Exports Initiative for our New Zealand partners, which is all about building, selling and growing Kiwi SaaS companies at scale. It’s about Microsoft taking the load when it comes to reselling in international markets – think tax, currency and regulations – to enable local businesses to focus on innovation and their growth strategy. Via the Azure Marketplace, companies with clever software products can transact around the world with Microsoft as their reseller, getting Microsoft’s support to co-sell to customers in new markets without needing a presence in-country.
This year, we’re taking that a step further, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). Like our Austrade partnership, which helped Australian SaaS companies find success in the US, this is aimed at selling local innovation to the world.
There are around 100 people at NZTE in New Zealand, and more overseas, whose role is to help exporters grow. With the new MOU, they’ll also increase their support by helping businesses understand the opportunities and requirements of the Azure Marketplace, enabling them to list their business. Both commercial and official partnerships, like Scaling SaaS and the NZTE MOU, are the best ways to accelerate New Zealand success overseas, leveraging the best of global knowhow and local connections for everyone’s benefit.
In New Zealand, tech is now the second largest export sector, with around 1,400 members of the kiwiSaaS community selling their products digitally. The old slogan about becoming a knowledge economy is finally within reach, bringing with it the opportunity for carbon-free exports, with no shipping costs, no land constraints and no worries about distance from overseas markets.
According to Mark Debenham, a Customer Director with NZTE: “Our agreement will help local innovators connect with Microsoft’s networks and, through them, the world. We recognised the potential for Microsoft’s Azure Marketplace to enable many more software start-ups like Safe365 to reach greater heights in overseas markets, and be able to compete on cost and ease of procurement in a way they haven’t been able to before.”
Instead of Finland, Ireland or Israel, other small countries who have been held up as examples of tech leadership, we want to see Aotearoa talked about as the tech player to rival any nation in the world. More innovative trade partnerships, a focus on skilling for SaaS and on-shore hyperscale cloud can make that a reality.
Walking the talk
Local SaaS business Safe365 is a perfect example, aiming to grow its customers to 100,000 in short order as a co-sell partner newly listed on Azure Marketplace. NZTE has supported it ever since it was a start-up with two employees, helping it grow into markets like the UK where its customers now include Tripadvisor, Amazon and Heathrow Airport.
“The challenge for any business is connectivity in a new market. NZTE opens doors, having great contacts with clients, connecting Kiwis with other Kiwi businesspeople who have relevant experience, hosting roundtable events and providing training, as well as helping with testing and validating a new market. In the UK, our marketing spend is minimal because we’re growing so well through our networks. And the Azure Marketplace listing gives us the opportunity to accelerate that growth,” says co-founder Nathan Hight.
Being a Marketplace partner will make it easier to attract even more customers by streamlining procurement, and Microsoft is already supporting the Safe365 team with early access to new AI releases, product development and introductions to other SaaS businesses across Europe and the UK to learn from their local experience.
And back home, Nathan and his team are excited about being able to offer more to their core market with the arrival of Microsoft’s Aotearoa hyperscale datacenter region. On-shore hyperscale cloud is set to super-charge growth and innovation, provided Kiwi organisations seize the opportunity.
“In the UK, I wouldn’t be able to do business without a local datacenter, and having the ability to store data locally in New Zealand too will be a great selling point,” Nathan says.
While our datacenter region is located in Auckland, the benefits will be seen throughout the regions, supporting innovation from Tauranga-born LawVu to Nelson success story ShuttleRock.
There are several reasons for that. Software innovators will have access to virtually limitless processing power and storage on their doorstep, as well as the latest technologies such as the Open AI-based GPT-4. Suddenly, barriers to adopting those technologies disappear, including requirements from customers around data residency in New Zealand and the ability to get real-time insights and zero latency.
Nathan also points out that SaaS companies and their customers are also increasingly interested in ESG. Not only does Microsoft’s hyperscale datacenter technology have the ability to reduce carbon emissions up to 98 per cent compared with on-premises datacenters, the local datacenter region will also be using carbon free energy from day one – meaning developers using it to host and process data can market their products as low-carbon too.
Amplifying the New Zealand brand
Growing New Zealand’s SaaS sector grows regional economies just as much as the national economy, providing employment opportunities for youth and jobseekers wherever there’s a computer and a creative idea. In the next few years, industry partnerships, hyperscale cloud and the democratisation of AI will turn local SaaS from “the sector to watch” to the sector to beat.
As Nathan says: “This isn’t just about our success, this is about amplifying the New Zealand brand. Our company started in a garage in Whangamata, and I’ve observed so many world-beating, fantastic products being created from behind little roller doors. New Zealanders are really capable of punching above our weight.”
Kiwis will always welcome overseas guests and innovation to their shores. But heads up, folks – they’re also coming to yours.