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EBS director Paul WoodsMelbourne-based ERP software specialist Evolution Business Systems (EBS) this month celebrated its 10th anniversary, after recording its best business year on record.

With 10 employees and both national and international customers, EBS is now reaping the rewards of a major initiative in 2008 when it began partnering with Microsoft in addition to its historically strong relationship with Arrow Software. EBS has repeatedly won the Arrow Business Partner of the Year award.

Simon JohnsonLeading US economist Simon Johnson warns that the world economy continues to face major problems because the largest banks in the US remain “too big to fail”.

”If one or more of them were in serious trouble, they would be saved by government action – because the consequences of inaction are just too scary,” he observes.

Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, Johnson observes that these “too big to fail” megabanks continue to hold America and the global economy hostage. He warns that they threaten yet another financial meltdown with their risk-taking and toxic “business as usual” practices.

In a cogent, concise and confronting analysis of the economic threat posed by this concentration of financial power, Johnson argues that the best defence against the “megabank” threat is a radical breakup and reconfiguration of megabanks so they become small enough to fail.

Simon Johnson teaches at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He is also a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC, and a member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisers. He is a regular commentator and writer on financial affairs and co-author of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown.

Dean Calvert (centre) with Microsoft’s Evan Williams and Pip MarlowAustralian small business technology expert Calvert Technologies has claimed the Small Business Specialist Partner of the Year award in the annual Microsoft Australia Partner Awards.

Calvert Technologies was presented with the Small Business Specialist Partner of the Year award last night at the Microsoft Australia Partner Conference at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Not only was Calvert Technologies the only South Australian company to win an award, the Adelaide-based business was the only South Australian Microsoft Partner to be recognised as a finalist across all 21 award categories and several thousand Microsoft Partners!

Calvert Technologies specialises in providing IT support and consultancy services to small businesses. The Microsoft Certified Partner focuses on providing quality solutions that don’t “break the bank”.

Australian network specialist MIMP has won another prestigious industry award, this time for a wireless network between two Adelaide zoos that will pay for itself within a year through improved productivity.

Adelaide-based MIMP connecting solutions won a NECA (National Electrical and Communications Association) award in SA, in the Environment & Energy Efficiency category, for delivering a cost-effective low impact communication solution that links Adelaide Zoo with Warrawong, a recently purchased property that could not even get a fast broadband connection.

Established in 1969 by revegetating dairy land with native trees and shrubs to attract native animals and birds, Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary contains 14 hectares enclosed by feral-proof fencing. Once the fence was completed, the bird population flourished and the release of many native animals began, including the elusive platypus. Today, it is home to 100 species of birds and many native mammals, most of which are nocturnal and highly endangered.

When the Royal Adelaide Zoological Society (Zoos SA) took over management of Warrawong, its only connection to the outside world was a low-speed 256 kilobit-per-second service at a very high cost. None of the business applications required by Zoos SA could run efficiently while Internet email was non-existent.