News: 2003 Telstra Small Business Award

Zamro International CEO, Carmelo Zampaglione was presented with an Award at the Telstra & Victorian Government Small Business Awards 2003 Dinner. Zamro was selected as a State Finalist in the Cisco Systems Business Category.

Marsha Thompson, Minister for Information & Communications Technology and Minister for Small Business said “ Award programs such as these are all about celebrating achievements, drawing attention to best-practice and exposing small businesses to role models and alternative ways of doing things. It is a great achievement for your business to have made it as a finalist and I know that you will have benefited from the experience ….”

Zamro stated in their submission that key factors to their success were attributed to extensive industry contact, a ‘can do' attitude and a Quality culture which was a focus of the Company from the beginning as Zamro understood the importance of delivering a quality outcome.

Zamro's vision for the future is to broaden their geographic coverage together with their client base and to provide greater value-added services to their clients.

Stated differentiators are their business philosophy of providing end-to-end strategic management consultancy where the strategy is formulated and then Zamro assist in the execution of that strategy – creating win-win opportunities for both the client and Zamro. Within the Systems Integration business Zamro competes in a narrow niche. Zamro states their differentiators here as their understanding of their customers' business requirements, commitment to quality and meeting deadlines with minimal fuss.

Customer satisfaction is also of high importance as it is a recognised driver of repeat business. All Zamro's assignments focus of providing the customer with what they want, the quality of the deliverables and a commitment to meeting deadlines and budgets. As part of the Quality System (ISO9001) all major projects require a Client Review – this is an important element in Zamro's quest for continuous improvement.

Retaining and developing people is another focus of Zamro as they recognise the importance of people in the quality of its' deliverables and customer satisfaction. All Zamro people are inducted in Zamro's key values – Ensuring customer satisfaction, Quality outcomes, creating a safe workplace and to encourage compliance a reward system is based upon these key values.

Zamro has adopted a cautious approach to managing their workforce – choosing to variablise some of its workforce but engage a dedicated core management team. This gives Zamro the advantage of a flexible workforce but more importantly, allowed the management team to identify good resources who fit the culture. Carmelo Zampaglione states that “we are only too conscious of the risks associated with a flexible workforce, therefore it has always been a focus to develop Zamro as an ‘employer of choice'”.

Carmelo Zampaglione and the management team believe that business improvements come from the staff up. As such, communication of ideas, business development opportunities, process improvements, etc. are encouraged and often adopted.

Zamro is a technology driven company. Firstly, the business is driven by the adoption of new technology within the telecommunications industry. Also the adoption of technology within Zamro has enabled it to grow into a national organisation – with the prevalence of the Internet and by adopting a paperless office, Zamro personnel can be located anywhere and have access to all the information required to effectively undertake their roles.

Jacinta Carboon, National Manager – Awards Programs stated that “Your comprehensive and insightful submission, together with the positive impressions the site visit left with our judges, clearly demonstrates the reasons for your business success so far”.