APAC Issue 4 2018 - Dell EMC

20 APAC / Issue 4 2018 , Craige outlines what techniques the team uses in order to stay ahead of emerging developments. “Here at Southern Cross Cables, we must be brave but not stupid. It’s like a surfer riding a wave and there’s sometimes very little between being left behind, having a great ride, or spectacularly falling off the front of the wave. We aim to tackle the big problems in a planned manner, and are lucky to have the valuable support and direction of our shareholders in that regard.” Having established itself as a leader within the market, the team at Southern Cross Cables has had to overcome a variety of challenges in order to be successful in the APAC region. Craige explains how filling the company with dedicated, ambitious and confident staff has contributed greatly to the company’s success. “To succeed in this industry, you need to believe in yourself, and get the best people and partners around you, to deliver the business outcomes you have committed to. Equally, the main reason you’re in business is to fulfil the needs of customers, and with our shareholders as large customers, we are driven to be customer-centric. We recognise efficient service delivery, and no service interruptions are key to the services our customers provide to their retail customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and we are committed to doing our part.” Bringing the interview to a close, Craige reveals to us the developments he foresees for the future, and how the company will adapt around these. “Here at Southern Cross Cables, we only have a small team and don’t often have vacancies. When we do have a vacancy, we are usually selecting people known to us or our shareholders that can bring their strengths and talents to add to the mix. As a small team, we need to ensure we are still challenged and don’t become inward looking. As such, I am conscious of striking that right balance with the people we bring in, and using the productive friction to generate better business outcomes. “Looking ahead, I see increasing competition in all fields of business, even our own. I’m not worried about competition as I know it ensures we all act better and keep the customer foremost on our mind. Also, I know competition and opportunities work hand-in-hand, so if half of some of the demand projections I have seen are true, we will all be very busy doing the best for our customers.” In his concluding comments, Craige predicts an exciting future ahead for Southern Cross Cables Network, highlighting the current project that the team is involved in as a key indicator of the company’s success. Looking to benefit clients across the industry in the APAC region, there are no barriers standing in the way of Southern Cross Cables’ potentially unlimited success. “Moving forward, we are also in the process of a new submarine cable build project, Southern Cross Cables NEXT, which will further augment the capacity and resiliency of international connectivity out of Australia and New Zealand to the Pacific Islands and the United States of America, which is a significant infrastructure investment in the region. The NEXT cable will also provide new branches into Tokelau and Kiritimati islands providing their first cable links to the World. “Excitingly, our company just completed a subsea survey for the NEXT project, which mapped more than 15,000 kilometres of seafloor from Sydney to Auckland, the Pacific Islands and Los Angeles. We have sought to identify any and all hazards across the seabed such as seamounts, trenches and shipwrecks, and mapped the course for the new cable to avoid these potential hazards. Having done so, we can now look to the construction and deployment phases for the cable – the third of ours connecting New Zealand to the rest of the world – which we expect to finish in 2020. This third cable will add significant internet speed and capacity to New Zealand’s network while decreasing the risk and impact of a potential outage.” Significantly, a crucial aspect of Southern Cross Cables’ success is the team’s striking ability to simply do their job and achieve the best results. The team is looking to achieve the successful implementation of the Southern Cross NEXT project, meaning New Zealand industry and communication users should continue to benefit from the efforts that the team is making currently for the next 30 years or more.