October 2007

This is a printer-friendly version of the October 2007 edition of Empower News

Empowers powers ahead backed by new owner

Empower Masterpay has announced that it is business as usual, backed by the financial strength and long-term strategic commitment of its new owner, Jade Software.

Earlier this month, Jade Software Corporation Limited from New Zealand announced its acquisition of Empower Masterpay. For Empower, this marks its transition from the hands of its founding owners - two of whom retired from the business last year - to join a dynamic multinational group which now achieves critical mass in the Australian HR software sector.

Jade's purchase was motivated by Empower's strong market presence, its long-term contracts with major customers and its innovative HR & payroll technology.

Jade Managing Director Dr. Rod Carr said Jade had provided HR and Payroll services in New Zealand for nearly 20 years. Its clients include Toll NZ, the Department of Conservation, Housing New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the New Zealand Exchange Limited (NZX), Fuji Xerox and many government, local government and private sector organisations.

“Our decision to expand in Australia in a sector we are already involved in and to do so through acquisition is consistent with our overall strategy to grow organically, through channel partners and by acquisition in selected markets,” Dr. Carr said.

Empower Masterpay has more than 160 customers throughout Australia including Just Jeans, RM Williams, Tasmania Government, ASX and Reuters. The 23-year-old company manages the payroll for over 400,000 Australians.

Empower Masterpay Chief Executive Alan Greig will continue as CEO with no immediate changes planned to staffing, branding or the core technology or service offerings.

Mr. Greig said: “The link with Jade will provide both organisations with the ability to service companies with staff on both sides of the Tasman and brings together significant industry experience in designing, implementing and servicing enhanced services such as employee self service, e-recruitment, complicated rostering and sophisticated management information to support talent management.”

Ms. Karen Dale, who manages JADE Star, Jade’s HR and Payroll business, will join the board of Empower Masterpay and will work closely with Alan Greig to ensure customers and staff benefit from the association.

Ms. Dale said: “The combined business will have a staff of 50, annual revenues approaching $10 million and the critical mass to invest further in product and market development in the Australian market.”

About Jade Software Corporation

Jade Software Corporation (JSC) is a specialist technology services company with more than 25 years experience in helping organisations quickly respond to business, customer and supplier demands. We create targeted solutions that enable responsive businesses to rapidly manage specific and complex information requirements. By combining our expertise and agile development methodology, we’ve enabled customers worldwide to deliver business-critical information that provides strategic impact with the reliability and robustness that comes from a mainframe computing heritage.

More than 3000 organisations across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific use Jade solutions to manage their specific information requirements. Our customers span multiple sectors, including logistics, shipping, finance and insurance, national security, health, education, human resource and payroll management, and enterprise risk assessment.

A privately owned New Zealand based company, Jade has offices in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information about Jade Software, visit: www.jadeworld.com  

If you want to discuss these changes, contact your account manager at Empower Masterpay or contact Empower CEO Alan Greig on 08 8332 6988 or email alan.greig@empower.com.au.

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Empower appoints client managers as your first port-of-call

Empower Masterpay has appointed a client manager for each customer as a first contact point to discuss business plans, gather feedback and hear suggestions about product directions.

Empower clients will receive letters shortly notifying of the client manager allocated to their organisation. At the first convenient opportunity, client managers will arrange a meeting to work out how this initiative can best support your business.

The initiative formalises and extends an approach that has proved beneficial to a number of existing clients. As well as drawing on more people within Empower, it will take advantage of the company delivering its online and in-house services based on a single application platform.

Empower Masterpay Hosted Services Manager Christine Hudson said appointing client managers was designed to establish closer relationships with the people using Empower-HR. “Dedicated client managers will assist our clients on a number of levels,” she said.

“Firstly, they will be a lot closer to the client’s business, so they can work with them in order to identify how Empower can assist their business to go forward. Many organisations don’t’ take full advantage of Empower-HR, so this will help them learn how to get more value from the system.

“The initiative will also give clients a main contact point and an escalation person if they are not getting what they want. Client managers will keep them up to date with planned changes in the product and provide hands-on experience about how they can apply product updates.

“A very important dimension is that client managers will gather feedback from the people who use the Empower-HR system about how they’d like to see the product develop.”

Empower Masterpay is committed to providing its clients with even better service through the client manager program. With a new owner that has a long-term commitment to the business, Empower will continue to develop its Empower-HR technology in Australia with strong input from its customers.

Ms. Hudson said client managers would provide significant benefits to Empower Masterpay itself. “It gives us a chance to get out and listen and make sure our products and services are heading in the right direction,” she said.

“We benefit by ending up with happier clients because they get more value from our products.”

For more information, contact Empower Hosted Services Manager Christine Hudson on 03 8517 2200 or email christine.hudson@empower.com.au.

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Empower Masterpay moves to new Sydney office

Australian Human Resource software company Empower Masterpay has moved its Sydney office to new premises at the South Sydney Corporate Park in Alexandria.

The company vacated its former site in North Sydney after the expiry of its lease to occupy a more modern office, protected by biometric access security, which is more conveniently located for its staff.

Empower’s new office is part of the South Sydney Corporate Park estate, which contains high quality office and warehousing as well as great on-site facilities including a licensed café, a gymnasium, a swimming pool and a regular shuttle bus to nearby train stations.

Empower’s Sydney team performs payroll processing and marketing activities. The centrally-located office, close to the airport, also allows the company to fly in specialist consultants on an as-required basis.

Empower Masterpay provides HR and payroll systems and services for a Who’s Who of Sydney-based customers including Kone Elevators, Australand, Sydney Turf Club, the Australian Securities Exchange, ABN AMRO, Reuters, Penrith City Council and Startrack Express.

CEO Alan Greig said the new Sydney office would allow Empower to provide even better service for its customers. “The more stringent security and modern fitout make it an ideal facility,” he said.

“For us and our people, this is a much better location because it avoids the peak hour bottlenecks of crossing the harbour. We’re only 10 minutes from the city and the airport, so we can bring in and deploy our specialists quickly to meet the needs of our customers.”

Empower Masterpay is an Australian company that specialises in providing functionally rich software solutions for Human Resource (HR), Payroll and Time & Attendance (T&A) management.

Founded in 1984, Empower Masterpay offers "HR Payroll - Your Way", with a complete range of in-house and online (ASP) HR-Payroll solutions. Empower clients include the State Government of Tasmania, Bendigo Bank, Queensland Investment Corporation, Newcrest Mining, Thiess, Just Jeans and RM Williams.

The new Empower office is located at Level 3, Westside, 75-85 O'Riordan St, Alexandria NSW. The postal address for the new office is:
Empower Masterpay Pty Ltd
PO Box 7023
Alexandria NSW 2015

For more details, contact Empower CEO Alan Greig on 08 8332 6988 or email alan.greig@empower.com.au. .

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