Although these topics may seem old hat to statesi de Interop and Comdex goers, Australians seem ready to embrace not only the concept of E-commerce but also its practice. We're a nation of early adopters. One reason for the enthusiasm is the potential E-commerce has to shrink Australia's distance from the rest of the world. Although the country enjoys a healthy trade with other nations, it remains isolated by geography and extreme time-zone calculations. And after flying over 15 hours to get here, I really didn't feel like going shopping.
Network management is another area that is finding a home with businesses here.
According to Catherine Buhler, services manager for Com Tech Communications Pty. Ltd., an outsourcer in Alexandria, New South Wales, most companies still conduct management at the element level. Earlier this year, several companies, including Com Tech, entered the network-management outsourcing arena. According to Buhler, the network-management division was the most profitable department this year, surpassing Com Tech's other service department offerings such as online services, video conferencing and security. Earlier this month, Australia's first push service provider, Sorento Communications Australia Pty. Ltd., ended public subscription of its push technology system after it couldn't find enough information to deliver. Introduced last June, the company had aimed to provide a service similar to PointCast Inc.'s PointCast, but with news and information tailored to Australia.