New IT in the works for Companies Office |
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Posted 6 November 2009 by
Tim Lum (Senior e-Business Advisor)
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The Companies Office is developing a new IT platform that will improve the services for all of our registers including Companies, the new Financial Service Providers Register and our other corporate entity registers such as Incorporated Societies.
Taking a quick look back in history we started introducing our electronic register in 1996 with an electronic search. Since then we have introduced multiple new services such as:
- Director, shareholder and address searching (1997)
- Online company incorporation and credit-card payment options (1999)
- Annual return filing (2000)
- Certificate of Incorporations (2002)
- Change of company names (2003)
- Companies Office G2B services (2004)
- The joint IRD service for tax application (2005)
- GST registration (2007)
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…to name a few.
Following this approach, we will launch the new IT platform, called Enterprise, over the course of several phases starting in Winter 2010.
Enterprise means we will have a new look and feel, and some brand-new services in addition to all our existing ones (advanced searching, online filing and incorporation, and 24/7 availability). Our clients will benefit from:
- better and innovative services to the business community
- a higher quality of register information to the public
- increased integrity of the information on our register
- improved internal processes.
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One great thing about our new IT platform is that it will use a generic database to store all of our registers (which saves us a lot of money). At the same time we can still tailor services for each register to cater for their different needs and legal requirements. We will also be able to share information across our registers to improve service to clients (for example, linking information for an individual who is director of several companies).
Clients will encounter Enterprise in three phases:
- The new Financial Service Providers Register (www.fspr.govt.nz) will be the first launch of Enterprise in the first half of 2010. This new register will require everyone who provides, or offers to provide, a financial service to register as a Financial Service Provider.
- The second phase will move the Companies Office Register, including limited, unlimited, co-operative and overseas (ASIC and non-ASIC) companies to Enterprise in mid-2010.
- The third phase starts at the end of 2010 when we will begin to move all remaining corporate entity registers (Incorporated Societies and Trusts, Building Societies, etc.) to Enterprise.
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Enterprise offers us exciting possibilities to deliver new and better services to you, our clients. We’ll be talking more about the new platform and its services on this blog, so stay tuned and let me know what you think!
Tim
Hi Tim
When do you expect that specifications for the new webservices will be released?
Cheers
Daniel
Hi Daniel,
We are currently working out the detailed plan for the transition. The strategy will be to maintain the current Web Services platform in parallel to the new platform to allow for sufficient time to migrate. Release of specifications to the new platform will probably be around Mid 2010.
Regards
Tim
Hi Tim,
Out of curiosity, what technology platform do you plan to use to deliver these web services from ? Do you plan to continue with AXIS ?
Thanks
Hi Mike,
For any new Web Services introduced on this IT platform we will be using RESTful. There will, however, be a migration period in which the existing Web Services will be available with the new IT platform before we move those over to RESTful, too.
Thanks for following our blog.
Regards,
Tim
Hi Tim
Good to see various register information being made increasingly available and accessible, but…
With respect to company searches, would it be possible to:
1) Provide a “go back” browsing option to allow me to – (a) conduct a quick name search, (b) check a company search result, and (c) go back to the quick search results and choose another result without having to re-enter the search again? e.g. I’m looking for a company name, but see five results for the same company. I have to check each result, and re-enter the search criteria to bring the same list of results back.
2) For the quick search option, include for each company result – its registered number – oftentimes the same company name has been used by more than one and its difficult to identify the correct result / one I’ve already viewed from the quick search results.
Regards
Hi Ralph,
Thank you for your post. We plan several enhancements to the search functionality e.g.:
- Quick search by name or company number
- Enhanced display of search results for the advanced/keyword search including address information, company status and body types (e.g. limited vs. unlimited)
- ‘Back to search results’ function.
In due course we will be releasing more details on the new IT system on this blog, so stay tuned.
Regards,
Tim
Hi Tim
This sounds great. The linking of common elements will be great. I don’t suppose this is possible for some existing data though, as it would (I presume) be impossible to link existing records based just on names, etc.
A while ago I noted a couple of other wish-list items here:
http://www.burgess.co.nz/law/nz-companies-office-kudos
Regards
Guy
Hi Guy,
Thanks for your post and the post on your own blog, too. You are quite right that we will not do any automated linking of records but the new IT platform will provide some smart tools that will facilitate users to link related records, providing they have the authority to do so.
We will post articles on those new features over the next few months on this blog, so stay tuned!
Regards,
Tim
Hi,
I just wanted to say I’m impressed with your website solution and company incorporation process. I’ve incorporated 2 companies in NZ and apart from a small issue with my latest company, they went very smoothly (much friendlier than the UK system!)
Cheers,
Bob
Action Online – Affordable Web Design Online Marketing
http://www.actiononline.co.nz
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the positive feedback! We are working on improving our services further and will be posting more details on the exciting new services our new IT platform will offer on this blog.
Regards Tim
Hi,
Do you have any plans to support ASIC’s EDGE filing system? Or other direct filing from 3rd party software?
Regards
Luke
Hi Luke,
Thanks for your comment. The new IT platform will be Web Services based, which will enable to us to offer a new range of services, including filing options. Just to be on the same page, we will not support the EDGE format itself but aim for a different technical solution offering a similar service.
The first release will focus on delivering the services we currently offer on our new platform (mainly searching via PC or a mobile phone devices) and we will introduce new services subsequent to the first release. This should be available towards the end of 2010/beginning of 2011.
Regards Tim