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Commander denies Queensland cuts

ASX-listed integrator hits back at redundancy claims and says it is on a recruitment drive to boost Queensland sales and headcount

Commander has denied reports it has cut customer facing staff across its Queensland operations and will instead look to drive up its presence in the region.

General manager of enterprise, Steve Evans, admitted the ASX-listed integrator had retrenched one sales manager but said it was looking to expand its business development team.

"Our Queensland operations are going from strength to strength. We have restructured our team there and let one sales manager go because it was an extra layer between the state managers and sales reps that we didn't need," he said. "But we see our biggest opportunities nationally are in Queensland and we are looking for business development managers."

Evans singled out education and government as two potential growth areas. Other verticals Commander has performed well in historically include financial services and health.

"Our performance in Queensland is far less than in other states. There are a couple of organisations with a good stronghold up there. In all other geographies, Commander is the leading IT reseller," Evans said. "We've been very strong in education and government - particularly at a federal and state level. We are not as strong in Queensland, so we see opportunities there."

The reports followed Commander's decision last week to lower its pre-tax earnings guidance last week due to problems with its automated hardware and maintenance processing systems. In an ASX statement, the company blamed stronger than expected transaction volumes for the breakdown. The disruption meant a significant number of orders for hardware and associated professional services had been delayed until the new financial year.

The company claimed it had identified and either "rectified the systems issues or has in place appropriate backup procedures" to overcome the problems.

It is the second time Commander has revised its pre-tax forecasts in as many months. In May, the integrator was forced to lower pre-tax expectations from $95 million-$101 million to $80-$90 million due to delays in implementing its franchise business.

Its latest pre-tax forecast is $65 million before restructuring costs.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

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