Localist is all cloud, all of the time

It’s still completely up in the air whether Localist will succeed, or fail, but it seems destined to be a classic case study either way. Name a cutting edge technology or trend, from cloud computing to software as-a-service to open source to crowdsourcing, and Localist’s doing it.

The newcomer will seek to differentiate itself from the incumbent (and, whisper it, Google) with ultra-local focus and community-generated content, funnelled through social networks. One early initiative has seen a panel called “the 100” recruited from all around Auckland to provide opinion content (editors are also being hired, led by Nigel Horrocks, the former NetGuide editor who recently headed the Herald's online community efforts. In a sleight cheat, one of the 100 community volunteers is professional social media and marketing guru Vaughn Davis). Another, whatsgoodaroundhere.co.nz, lets you upload location-tagged images). Community ratings will feed into a business’s ranking on Localist’s website.

The first Localist print directory was due to be delivered around East Auckland this week (by the end of the year there are scheduled to be five, including two for central Auckland). Localist’s online listings are due to go live by the end of this month.

Localist is eyeing expansion around the country, but not with any set timetable. Auckland is its starting point for obvious commercial reasons and, more, because it has a population deemed large enough to generate enough community content.

BOLD PLAYS: LOCALIST'S  LINE-UP

• Storage: Amazon EC2
• Infrastructure-as-a-Service: IBM
• Database search: Google Search Appliances
• Office software: Google Apps
• CRM: Salesforce.com
• Accounting/billing: FinancialForce.com
• VoIP: ISPscape
• Desktop/laptop OS: Ubuntu Linux
• Web browsers: Firefox, Chrome
• Network design/integration: Gen-i
• Main technology partner: Fronde

Blank sheet

Localist is, of course, the underdog in that it had to start with zero customers.

But it also has several advantages. There’s no towering debt, and no headaches trying to pull legacy systems to pull kicking and screaming into the 21^st century.

Localist also has a fair sprinkling of ex-Yellow staff (although many have held other positions in between times). They include chief executive Blair Glubb (whose various roles at Yellow included director of digital media), and head of products and marketing Sheryl Nichols (head of strategy and business development at Yellow). Another is head of technology Ken Holley, who told NBR he relished the opportunity to start with “a blank piece of paper.”

Not towing the company line
And by blank he means blank. You might expect Localist to turn to IT services giant Datacom (35% owned by NZ Post). Instead, there was a competitive tender, won by the smaller Fronde.

“Some strong questions were asked about why we weren’t going with Post technology,” Mr Holley said.

“But in the end the answers were easy.”

Wellington-based Fronde – a local agent for Amazon, Google, and Salesforce.com, among others- gelled with one of Mr Holley’s central strategies: move as many services to the cloud as possible ((a number of Fronde staff are embedded at Localists’ Upper Queen Street office which, on the outskirts off the CBD, is physically as philosophically removed from its parent).

All cloud, all of the time
Mr Holley said his criteria for picking technologies was that they had to be low cost, quick to implement, and easy to modify.

There are no servers at Localist’s Auckland office, where just over 100 employees are based – 90 of whom have joined in the past four months.

In fact, there’s now software that requires an internal log-on; every system can be used via a web browser, from anywhere.

Staff use the online-only Google Apps for email, calendaring, word processing and other day-to-day business software tasks.

The customer relations management (CRM) system is another online, only service, Salesforce.com. Accounting and billing systems are provided by FinancialForce.com.

Localist database searches will be executed by Google Search Appliances (the search giant's hardware server product, also sold for intranet use).

Amazon’s EC2 cloud service is used for storage, while Open Source Specialists manages an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) deal with IBM that provides server power on tap, expandable as required (Localist will be one of the first clients to use IBM’s new $80 million data centre at Auckland’s East Tamaki).

Telecom’s Gen-i IT and telecommunications services division vide the infrastructure layers between Localist and the cloud (as well as designing the company’s internal network).

Mr Holley stresses that his philosophy is new technology, not bleeding edge; everything’s proven.

Still, everywhere you look, there’s something pushing the boundaries.

Staff make calls using a product called IPScape, which only bills for time used.

The Ubuntu flavour of Linux (rather than Apple Mac or Microsoft Windows) is the preferred desktop and laptop environment. Ruby on Rails (also deployed by Consumer) is used for web development. And Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are favoured over Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser. Like many, Localist has a mobile app in the works. But unlike most, it’s strategy is not myopically centred around Apple’s iPhone; a version for Google Android phones is also in the works (and indeed Mr Holley was packing an Android the day he talked to NBR).

Running ahead of the pack
The all-cloud approach is a bold play. Gen-i Australasia chief executive Chris Quin (commenting on broader market trends) recently told NBR that while his company is doing increasing cloud business, most companies still keep some services on local networks. True cloud computing was seven or eight years away for most organisations, Mr Quin said. Growth in fibre would help the transition.

Monkey see, monkey do
Localist has pulled ideas from its online operation to reimagine its print directories, as well. Drawing on its Salesforce.com implementation and its inhouse web development team, Localist worked with its print partner, Digital Arena, to create what it calls WebMonkey – essentially a tool for quickly creating print ads around templates, in the same manner as people are used to doing for web-based services.

Ms Nichols said many small and medium business – lacking designers or ready access to agencies - liked the template-based approach for Localist’s print edition.

Local heroes or local zeroes?
In terms of rapidly setting up a 100-person office, and getting online and print systems up and running, Mr Holley’s approach seems to have worked with no major stumbles.

It’s still to face it toughest test, however, as Localist’s online directory goes live later this month, traffic spikes, and content demands grow more complex.

But so far, Mr Holley seems to be walking on the right side of the fine line between exploiting advantage from new technology, and running around on it.