gen-i Awarded Preferred System Supplier Status

Agriculture Training Giant Awards gen-i Preferred System Supplier Status

Auckland - October 17, 2000 - Internet Integrator gen-i limited, today announced that it has been selected as preferred systems supplier to design and implement a specialist trainee management system for one of the largest training organisations in New Zealand, the Agriculture ITO.

The Agriculture ITO's trainee programme ensures agriculture trainees receive on the job training with highly experienced farmers. The practical approach is also backed up with 'off-the-job' theory based training at a local private training establishment or polytechnic.

The agreement, which commences this month, will bring enhanced field service, productivity improvements and a reduction in both internal training and administrative costs to the Agriculture ITO.

gen-i will supply a core business systems solution to enable field staff to access the central training database offsite and synchronise the training tasks of the field staff with the administrative tasks of the national office in Wellington. Further, it will be responsible for designing and implementing software using JADE, for approximately 50 remote users based throughout 22 geographical areas.

"gen-i proposed an application that will ensure we move from manual untimely processes to fully timed integrated processes," says IT Manager, Myles Gustofson, the Agriculture ITO. "With its impressive track record, strong customer base and proven capabilities in this area, we had no reservations about selecting them as our preferred supply partner."

The Agriculture ITO's request for proposal required those that tendered to provide or display the following: * improved functionality * flexibility to customise software * reduction in internal system and administration costs * productivity enhancement * trainee field access * service performance

"gen-i are pleased that the Agriculture ITO has awarded us this software development contract," says gen-i Client Director, Alan Clyne. "This is core business for our Ventures capability, and the use of JADE is ideal for both the initial development and to cater for future enhancements and business changes. We will work closely with the Agriculture ITO to develop a showcase Trainee Management System."

It is expected that the transition will be completed by May 2001.

### About gen-i gen-i limited is the first and largest New Zealand-based e-business Internet integrator, focussing on designing, building, implementing and supporting e-business solutions and systems for large corporate customers. With over 400 people at offices in major centres in New Zealand, gen-i extends customer support worldwide - both online and through a network of service partners.

gen-i has four major areas of focus and expertise: Infrastructure, Ventures, Field Force and Procurement.

gen-i Infrastructure is geared to providing and supporting all the hardware, software and networks required for today's e-business - and to achieve that in a number of new ways. gen-i Ventures is an Internet innovation operation geared to providing knowledge and experience, including building e-commerce sites, Intranets, extranets and implementing and supporting a wide range of e-business & traditional applications. gen-i Field Force is New Zealand's leading technology engineering onsite capability, expertly trained and ready to deploy or maintain the country's leading technology networks. gen-i Procurement provides a fast, easy and cost-effective way to select, purchase, install and maintain office technologies.

Prior to its name change in 2000, gen-i traded successfully for more than 20 years as Wang New Zealand.

About the Agriculture ITO One of the largest training organisations in New Zealand, the Agriculture ITO provides training for people in the agriculture industry in New Zealand. It was created by the Government and industry to deliver high quality training and education in agriculture. The training of people is organised (not conducted by the Agriculture ITO) for both on-job (practical) and off-job (theory). In the course of one year, the Agriculture ITO provides training opportunities for around 8,000 people throughout New Zealand.

For further information please contact: Garth Biggs, Chief Executive, gen-i limited, tel: +64 9 306 4603, email: garth.biggs@gen-i.co.nz Nimita Morarji, Account Director, Botica Conroy & Associates, tel: +64 9 303 3862, email: nimitam@bca.co.nz

© Scoop Media