History
1960s
Datacom was founded as Computer Bureau Ltd in 1965 by two Christchurch accountants, Dr Bernard Battersby and Paul Hargreaves. A group of clients put up the original capital for the company - £30,000 - and an order was placed for an ICL 1902 computer, which didn't arrive in New Zealand for another year. The company hired its first systems analysts and programmers in August 1965 and installed the first computer for a client in September of the following year. In 1968, the company, now called CBL added additional offices in1970s
In 1970, Hargreaves quit his family's accounting firm to run CBL full-time, and the business expanded to Auckland via the acquisition of the Fletcher Computer Bureau. In 1971, the Datacom Group holding company was established. CBL began offering remote on-line services through onsite terminals beginning in 1976.1980s
CBL expanded its software development arm, introducing User-11, the first 4GL (Fourth-generation programming language) seen in New Zealand in 1981. The company also set up a data communications network and a New Zealand-wide timesharing service in the early 1980s initially using DEC PDP 11/70s and then added DEC VAX 11/750s and PDP 11/84s. These systems were also used for Facilities Management customers including the Canterbury Building Society and Hertz Rental Cars. In 1983, CBL was the first to bring Oracle database technology to New Zealand for the New Zealand Dairy Company (now1990s
In 1991, Datacom signed its first large outsourcing contract in Auckland with Telecom Directories. The same year Datacom Wellington merged with the IT department of2000s
During the 2000s, Datacom made a series of acquisitions that spread its services to other locations in Australia. In 2004, it purchased GlobalCenter for $7.15 million, its second data centre, and the following year, the company purchased NetOptions to establish a presence in2010s
Datacom Technical Security Services is founded by former DSD security expert, Richard Byfield. Datacom opened a sister facility to Orbit, Kapua, in Hamilton in 2013. In 2013 Datacom also sold the contact centre arm of its Asia business, but continued to serve the market with IT services. In the same year Datacom acquired aFinancial Results
At the conclusion of the 2018/2019 NZ Financial Year, Datacom reported revenue of NZ$1.29bn, an improvement of 17% like for like over FY18. Datacom Group has adopted the NZ IFRS 15 accounting standard that has a material impact on the Group’s accounting policy but the company has not restated FY18 figures. Net profit after tax was NZ$42.02m.{{cite web, url=https://www.datacom.co.nz/About-Us/Our-News/Datacom-Reports-Revenue-Growth,-Announces-Appointm.aspx, title=Datacom Reports Revenue Growth, Announces Appointment of New Board Members, date=2019, access-date=6 October 2019, archive-date=27 November 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127100604/https://www.datacom.co.nz/About-Us/Our-News/Datacom-Reports-Revenue-Growth,-Announces-Appointm.aspx, url-status=deadFurther reading
* {{cite web, url=http://www.datacom.co.nz/Datacom/media/Digital-Assets/Documents/Datacom-History.pdf, title=50 Years of Datacom - a complete timeline (PDF), archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322111611/https://www.datacom.co.nz/Datacom/media/Digital-Assets/Documents/Datacom-History.pdf, archivedate=22 March 2017References
{{reflist, colwidth=30em Information technology companies of New Zealand Conglomerate companies of New Zealand Information technology companies of Australia Companies based in Wellington Conglomerate companies established in 1965 Privately held companies of New Zealand New Zealand brands New Zealand companies established in 1965