Our 25th year saw a 40% growth in year on year orders, and we’re executing our vision to become Asia Pacific’s preferred supplier for GIS, incident and emergency management, and business continuity management solutions. Staff turnover is near zero, we were finalists in the NZ Hi-Tech Awards, and effectively we’ve achieved our evolution from product reseller to solutions provider. The great thing is, people who need what we’ve got now know they need it. It’s wonderful being able to step in and help them see, share and understand the information that lets them achieve their business objectives and goals and make better business and operational decisions by offering solutions that are unique to them and them only. But is hasn’t always been like this…
When I started my career in the New Zealand digital mapping and geospatial sector (36-odd years ago, but who’s counting?) it was almost non-existent. It was there, but only just. And it became increasingly clear to me over that time that there was a need within Kiwi organisations for geographic information systems that were affordable and intuitive, that would provide in depth information that wasn’t (and never had been) available. So with that firm belief in mind, I founded Critchlow in April of 1991.
It was a step into the unknown – nobody was doing what we were doing, so we only had ourselves to bounce off. I had no skills as a salesperson, but it’s amazing what necessity turns you into. So with a new found sales hat on my head and a few innovative product ideas in my head, off we went. And it soon hit home that what we were doing was right. People wanted what we were offering, there was a lot of demand for the products.
Of course as the years progressed, there were ups and there were downs, but mainly ups. And we always learn solid lessons from the downs, don’t we? However, with technology flying along as it does, at some point the competition in any market will reach boiling point and that’s when the need to diversify comes calling (for us, it was around 2005 with the introduction of Google Maps and the like, to be exact). I was intrigued by the increasing information sharing challenges faced by Australasian emergency managers, so our “diversification” came in the form of introducing the market-leading WebEOC crisis information management systems which, over the years, have become the de facto standard in our region and across the globe.
And with that, things began to take off yet again. Over the years, more and more organisations have realised the importance of relying on a sound, robust, wholly digital incident management system. DIY for critical systems appropriately fell out of favour, and being able to offer this service to top levels of private and government organisations across Australia and New Zealand is something we’re very proud of.
Many people ask me, what now? Where to from here? Well, we continue to grow in every way. Indications are that we’re going to extend further our year on year growth, and we’re developing what we hope to be more award winning IP to help boost NZ’s weightless exports.
Here's to the last 25 years... and to 25 more!
Steve Critchlow
Managing Director & Founder of Critchlow
