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Cyber-threat security consultancy named Australia’s best business

20 Aug 2010 Download Press Release

An ACT business that provides vital security services for the digital economies of Australia and South-East Asia has taken top honours in the 18th National Telstra Business Awards in Sydney tonight.

stratsec is a world-class provider of independent information security consulting and testing services for blue-chip government and commercial clients in sectors including defence and national security, banking and finance, critical infrastructure, health, mining and telecommunications.

stratsec won the Telstra Australian Business of the Year Award after earlier being named the 2010 National Winner of the Panasonic Australia Medium Business Award.

Other winners of the 2010 Telstra Business Awards were teachers.on.net (SA), City Ceramics (NT), Soprano Design (NSW), Northern Project Contracting (QLD) and Kelly Engineering (SA).

Telstra CEO David Thodey said stratsec was an outstanding business selected from a group that had prospered despite the tough business conditions during the global financial crisis. “All of the finalists and winners are role models because they have demonstrated that they have vision, resilience, competitive edge and a passion for serving their customers,” Mr Thodey said. “Telstra’s 18-year support for the Awards is all about recognising the achievements of businesses such as stratsec. “The owners of these businesses are innovators across a range of sectors and they deserve their success for the contribution that they make to the Australian economy.”

Established in Deakin in 2004 by Doug Stuart and Peter Lilley, stratsec added a third director Nick Ellsmore with a merger with Sydney company SIFT. The company employs 50 consultants, has offices in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne and is pursuing international expansion from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur offices.

Telstra Business Group Managing Director and Telstra Business Awards Ambassador, Deena Shiff, said stratsec provided services in more than 20 countries. It has won contracts with governments in Australia and overseas, international software companies and Australian and offshore banks in competition with large multinational players.

Ms Shiff said stratsec has an energetic and focused management team that led the company profitably through the global financial crisis and completed the successful merger with SIFT in 2009.

stratsec is a critical part of the digital economy, giving people the confidence to transact online. They are leaders in cyber-security services, exporting Australian expertise in this emerging service,” she said. stratsec CEO Peter Lilley said: “We remove the jargon that is so prevalent in cyber-security and provide advice that helps business managers to make informed decisions.”

Mr Lilley said his company had undertaken massive changes in the past few years in no small part due to the lessons learnt through entering the Awards in previous years.

“Winning the Telstra Australian Business of the Year Award is a vindication of the considerable work undertaken to strengthen our company and increase our professionalism,” Mr Lilley said.

stratsec won its first major Australian contract with the Department of Defence in 2005 and its first international contract with the Malaysian Government in 2007.

Panasonic Australia CEO Steve Rust commended all national finalists and congratulated stratsec on an outstanding effort among such tough and deserving competition.

“Like stratsec, Panasonic Australia believes that understanding business opportunities, being innovative, open-minded and customer-focused is central to business success in today’s environment,” Mr Rust said.

The winners of the 2010 National Telstra Business Awards are:

  • Telstra Australian Business of the Year and Panasonic Medium Business Award   stratsec.
  • businessowner Micro-Business Award   teachers.on.net, a South Australian company that was a pioneer for internet-based recruitment of teachers for Australian schools when launched in 1999. About 3700 schools used the low-cost alternative to print advertising in 2009 with the monthly total of job vacancies advertised on the online site topping 1000 in October 2009.
  • MYOB Small Business Award - City Ceramics (NT), a Northern Territory retail and wholesale ceramics business established in 1999 by former tiling tradesman Robbie Sheppard who adopted a strategy of marketing direct to developers, architects and interior designers.
  • AMP Innovation Award -  Soprano Design, a NSW software development company that creates innovative applications and infrastructure that meet the mobile messaging needs of enterprises. The business has grown significantly, winning contracts with Telstra and telecommunications companies in the Middle East and northern Europe.
  • Sensis Social Responsibility Award -  Northern Project Contracting, an Indigenous-owned company with offices in northern, southern and western Queensland that specialises in contracting and training services for the mining and civil construction industries.
  • Telstra-MYOB Regional Business Award -  Kelly Engineering, a family-owned manufacturer and exporter of custom-made agricultural machinery from regional South Australia. Evolving from a hobby repairing machines in a farm workshop, the Booleroo Centre business develops farming machinery that contributes to sustainable agriculture.

Media contact:
Marcela Balart, Lighthouse Communications
Ph: 02 262 3868; M: 0422 483 371

Telstra:
Rod Bruem
0438 288 010

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