Company Profiles - Enex TestLab
Enex TestLab |
| Founded in 1989 at Victoria's RMIT University, Enex TestLab has grown into a world-class commercial testing facility |
| http://www.testlab.com.au |
The story so far |
| Originally established by RMIT to undertake software training and government procurement testing, Enex TestLab is now a leading global independent provider of ICT testing services. Clients include multinational companies and government agencies in the US, Asia and Europe. Worldwide the company employs specialist staff and contractors to undertake testing for many of the world’s leading brands including Intel, Acer and Apple – saving them millions of dollars every year. After 17 years within RMIT University, Enex TestLab became an independent company in 2005. The deal enabled the new organisation to retain its laboratory at RMIT’s Bundoora campus and continue its academic links. Today Enex TestLab has eight business units, each focused on different aspects of technology testing and reporting including, hardware, software, systems, usability and accessibility, security, gaming/gambling, media/communications, and physical/materials testing. Enex Testlab’s core business is independent scientific testing of ICT software and hardware. Most commonly the company tests technology function and performance, which may include evaluation of technology products, testing a vendor’s claims about their product or benchmarking a technology or system. Enex's Usability & Accessibility unit provides services to organisations during product development, which reduces costly errors and performance issues in new products including websites. They also conduct detailed and ongoing monitoring and reporting services for a variety of multi-million dollar broadband network infrastructure projects. An accredited test facility for Electronic Gaming Machines (EGM), Enex TestLab is involved in testing and evaluating gambling systems. In addition, it also has a website and broadband performance testing product called eMetric, which tests remote users’ upload and download performance as well as other critical factors such as page load speed, network availability, email systems, latency and VoIP protocol testing. For more than 17 years the company has provided independent monthly comparative product reviews for respected IT magazines and journals such as PC World, PC Magazine, ROAM Magazine, Technology & Business magazine and currently CNET and ZDNet. |
Reaching new markets |
| Headquarted in Melbourne, Enex TestLab has offices in Sydney, Canberra, Shanghai and the UK, and is currently exploring options in Hong Kong and the US. Since 2005 the company has grown exponentially. "We've always gone where the markets are,’ said Matt Tett, Director, Enex TestLab. "The US is our biggest market and they have no problem dealing with an Australian company. US companies are used to their technology workforce being spread across the globe. Running projects using video or tele-conferencing is just part of being a modern organisation." One of Enex TestLab's clients is global giant Intel. Enex conducts testing and benchmarking of Intel’s products on a quarterly basis against its competitors and its own products, sometimes testing up to 80 different products at once. Intel uses Enex TestLab as its independent testing authority for the majority of its global divisions. In another coup, Enex TestLab recently secured accredited test facility status in 2007 with the British Government’s Communications Electronics Security Group (CESG), the information assurance arm of the British Government Communications Headquarters. Enex is the only testing facility outside the UK to undertake claims testing under the CESG Claims Tested Mark (CCTM) program for ICT security products. CESG publishes a list of approved security products for government and critical national infrastructure procurement purposes. In April 2008 Enex TestLab negotiated its biggest deal to date, breaking into the lucrative Chinese market. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shanghai Technology Service to undertake testing and training with multinational, state-owned and private enterprises across China. This will help develop embedded systems testing for a vast array of products from hair dryers to chips that control braking systems in cars. |
Why Melbourne, Australia? |
| With lower costs, good infrastructure and an enviable lifestyle, Mr Tett believes Melbourne is the best city in the world for Enex TestLab’s head office and main laboratory. "Travel is easy from here. There are plenty of domestic flights and international flights. I fly to Shanghai very month and there are direct flights every week. The US and Europe are also easy to reach." "Another advantage of Melbourne is how easy it is to get around. The road system here is great. In Melbourne you can fit four or five meetings into a day, while in Sydney you’d be lucky to do three meetings." When it comes to attracting good staff Enex TestLab’s links with RMIT University are a real bonus. "We get the pick of the best students, including international students from China and India, so we have a really great cultural mix." As Australia’s most experienced, independent technology test laboratory, Mr Tett believes Enex TestLab offers international companies and investors the opportunity to establish in Victoria without the expense of setting up their own testing facilities. "They can come here to do software, hardware or systems development and we can do the testing for them." |
The future |
| As part of its agreement with CESG and Intel, Enex TestLab has recently outlined plans to set up another laboratory in Wales (UK) and will initially employ nine permanent staff and contractors to work on a number of projects. Enex is also keen to expand its US business by establishing a sales office in California and a testing laboratory in Nevada. "Some of the biggest international gaming names are based in Nevada so there is going to be a lot of work for us there," concluded Mr Tett. |
