1. What is your role at Cloud Plus?

Sales Assistant. I engage with Partners and Clients alongside the Channel Account Executives to ensure they are getting the support they need. I am mostly busy working on quotes. Then I send forms when a Partner / Client is ready to proceed and provide special instructions as needed to the Service Delivery team.

 

2. How long have you been in that role?

I have been working in my current role for the last 3 years. Previously, I worked in a Service Delivery role for about a year and a half. There I accepted and tracked orders from Partners and Clients, placed those orders with various carriers and manage them until completion.

 

3. How did you get into the ICT industry?

After a short stint working in customer support for Toshiba, I somehow ended up in tech support for TPG Telecoms way back in 2006. I took on a more senior role after I was moved to another team assigned to provide support for “Chariot”, which was acquired by TPG. My last role before leaving was in Networks as a MACD engineer where I attended to Network related MAC’s (moves/adds/changes).

 

4. What do you enjoy most about the ICT industry?

It makes sense, things are created to work in a specific way and there is a process that they all follow in order to operate properly. So if it breaks down, you just need to retrace those steps in order to fix things.

 

5. What did you do before Cloud Plus?

Provisioning Engineer at M2 Group. Mainly handled the ordering of the ADSL2 and NBN services. I also handled number porting.

 

6. What’s the best thing about working at Cloud Plus?

Flexibility, close knit group, and a boss that I can be proud of.

 

7. What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?

Racing Mini 4WD. It’s a hobby that allows you to exercise your creativity in assembling and setting up your cars, and at the same time, enjoy racing them against fellow enthusiasts. To give a brief history, there was a boom in the late ’90s and early 2000s that came with Anime being shown locally. At the time, I just graduated, so the kits and tools I used were limited due to budget and technology. Eventually, I had to retire, and the hobby started fading as well. Recently though, there has been a resurgence, and races are being held everywhere. I can now spend more on kits and tools and race even more competitively compared to two decades ago. The fact that I have started winning after recently coming back makes me happy and is fueling my desire to keep racing.

 

8. What is the first music tape/CD/record you ever purchased?

Guns N Roses – Use your Illusion I and II.

 

9. Best holiday destination?

My Bed. But if I had the resources, I’d probably go to Japan and race in their Mini 4WD Japan Cup Tournaments.

 

10. Favourite movie?

Disaster movies like The Day after Tomorrow and 2012. These types of movies with big budget productions have imagery that are so massive in scale and I appreciate watching on a big screen.

 

10. Looking to the future… In five years I will be:

Too old.

It has been three months since we first brought you information on the JobKeeper Package. As Australia continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated challenges it brings, Cloud Plus is doing its best to provide our valued Partners and Clients with as much support as possible.

In addition to the direct support our dedicated team has been providing, we are also keen to ensure that Partners and Clients are making effective use of initiatives like the JobKeeper Package. There have recently been some updates to this initiative and in this blog post we hope to share the essential details so that you can best capitalise on the benefits available for your business.

As with the previous article regarding the JobKeeper Package, the content below has been syndicated in cooperation with Modoras, a highly-valued client and Cloud Plus’s accountants for many years. We trust it will prove to be informative for many of you.

 

Starting from 28 September, the current $1,500 per fortnight JobKeeper payment will be reduced to $1,200 per fortnight, and $750 per fortnight for employees who work less than 20 hours per week.

The scheme will change again from 4 January, with the rate falling to $1,000 per fortnight and $650 for people working less than 20 hours a week. This program will run through till 28 March 2021, taking the entire JobKeeper scheme to a total of $86 billion.

This change in payments comes in the wake of complaints about the flat rate payment, as a quarter of JobKeeper recipients received an income rise.

 

Hours worked per week	Current Payment until 27 September 2020	28 September 2020 – 3 January 2021	4 January 2021 – 28 March 2021
Less than 20	$1,500 per fortnight	$750 per fortnight	$650 per fortnight
20 or more	$1,500 per fortnight	$1,200 per fortnight	$1,000 per fortnight

 

New eligibility tests

These changes come along with new eligibility tests for businesses wishing to remain on JobKeeper payments post September:

1. Business will need to demonstrate an ongoing significant decline in turnover using actual GST turnover rather than projected GST turnover.
2. From 28 September – businesses will be required to show at least a 30% drop in turnover for the September quarter, compared to the same period in the prior year
3. From 4 January 2021 – business will need to reassess turnover to demonstrate the decline in turnover test has been met for the December 2020 quarter.
4. Alternative tests at the discretion of the Commissioner of Taxation will still be in effect.

 

	30 March to 27 September 2020	28 September to 3 January 2021	4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021
Decline in turnover	Projected GST turnover for a relevant month or quarter is expected to fall by at least 30% (15% for ACNC-registered charities, 50% for large businesses) compared to the same period in 2019.*	Actual GST turnover in the September 2020 quarters fell by at least 30% (15% for ACNC-registered charities, 50% for large businesses) compared to the same periods in 2019. The decline needs to be met to continue receiving JobKeeper payments.	Actual GST turnover in the December 2020 quarter fell by at least 30% (15% for ACNC-registered charities, 50% for large businesses) compared to the same period in 2019. The decline for the quarter needs to be met to continue receiving JobKeeper payments.

 

Note: Many businesses use their Business Activity Statement (BAS) reporting to assess eligibility. BAS deadlines are generally not due until the month after the end of the quarter, therefore eligibility for JobKeeper will need to be assessed before BAS reporting deadlines.

Assessing if an employee has worked 20 hours or more

Post the JobKeeper changes effective 28 September 2020, payments will be at the lower rate for those employees who worked less than 20 hours per week on average. The period assessed will be the four weeks of pay periods before 1 March 2020.

Alternative tests may be set by The Commissioner of Taxation for those situations where an employee’s or business participant’s hours were not considered usual during February 2020. The ATO will also provide guidance for those employees where pay periods are not weekly.

Do the changes effect my JobKeeper payments between now and September?

The current JobKeeper eligibility test remains until the change of eligibility comes into effect on 28 September 2020. So if your business and your employees have passed the original eligibility tests, and the business has continued to pay employees appropriately, JobKeeper will continue to be claimed until 27 September 2020.

What’s the forecast?

There is currently 3.5 million workers receiving JobKeeper payments. The Treasury predicts this to fall to 1.4 million workers from December 2020 and 1 million from March 2021.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken out about the adverse incentives of JobKeeper, and the need for a two-tiered system as the economy recovers to ensure the payments do not become a dampener on incentives to work.

The changes have been spread out over coming quarters, designed to given business time to adjust to new payment protocols.

If you are already receiving JobKeeper payments, they will remain the same until 27 September 2020 when the new changes come into effect.

More information can be found on the Treasury website here.

Want to know more?

As Government stimulus measures are frequently changing, we are continually updating and creating new tools and information for you. To review the latest materials on COVID-19, please click here. This page will be regularly updated, so please check back in from time to time.

Modoras support

Although Modoras may be working remotely, they are operating as business as usual, and are here to take care of you. If you have further queries please contact Modoras on on (07) 3219 2555 or contacts listed below

 

James Morris CA Director – Modoras Accounting Phone: (07) 3219 2555 Email: james.morris@modoras.com www.modoras.com

Pete Hetherington CA Director – Modoras Accounting Phone: (07) 5570 6150 Email: peter.hetherington@modoras.com www.modoras.com

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This blog has been prepared by Modoras Accounting (QLD) Pty. Ltd. ABN 81 601 145 215. The information and opinions contained in this blog is general information only and is not intended to represent specific personal advice (Accounting, taxation, financial, insurance or credit). Find out more information on https://modoras.com/jobkeeper-2-0-changes-from-september/

When you are first setting up a Managed Service Provider (MSP) business in Australia, you would be forgiven for thinking that you should source all your staff locally. However, as your business grows, workloads increase and competitive threats creep in, you realise how important it is to be competitive, responsive, and able to attract, motivate, and retain good staff. While many MSPs hesitate when considering offshore resources there are compelling reasons for doing so. Indeed, in the global economy, we live in today if you are not leveraging offshore resources you may well be doing your company, your local team, and your clients a disservice. Here are four reasons why you should consider supplementing your team with offshore resources:

1. Lower Costs
   By leveraging offshore resources to facilitate Tier-1, Tier-2, and perhaps even Tier-3 support for your clients, you can re-purpose existing local staff that really know your clients and utilise them where they can add the most value. That might be acting as a higher-tier escalation point, doing onsite work, and/or doing project work where required. As many as 90% of ICT issues can be solved remotely, so it makes sense to build out a team of capable yet cost-effective offshore resources that can assist with remote monitoring and management, troubleshooting or fault isolation and resolution efforts, only escalating to your local team as required.
2. Rapid Responses & 24×7 Support
   Complementing your local team with experienced yet cost-effective offshore support resources will enable a rapid response, and fast isolation and resolution of issues utilising a combination of email, chat sessions, voice or video calls, and remote monitoring and management tools. The majority of issues will be resolved remotely without the need for a site visit, and for those that really do require one, you will be better resourced to get someone to site quickly, armed with all the details they need. And it is easier and far more cost-effective to enable 24×7 support for clients that demand it with offshore resources than trying to do this locally in Australia.
3. Increase in Employee Productivity
   It can be challenging to keep local resources motivated when they are being overwhelmed with a high volume of alerts and support requests. By leveraging offshore resources to complement your local team, you can provide them with an opportunity for advancement. They might act as a higher-tier escalation point, do onsite work, and/or do project work. Regardless of their exact duties, they will be far more motivated to engage and assist as required than they were before adding offshore resources to complement your local team. And as offshore support resources are more cost-effective and there is a bigger talent pool to tap into, you will be able to keep pace with demand and avoid resource constraints that lead to low morale, productivity slumps, and ultimately a drop-in service levels.
   
4. Wider Access to IT Professionals
   It can be extremely challenging and expensive to hire the talent you need in Australia these days. There are not enough young people going into ICT, and there is a lot of competition for those that do. Meanwhile, there is a huge pool of offshore ICT professionals that have the training, skills and experience that is required. And when your business is growing rapidly, and you need to add resources quickly, perhaps even bulk hires, it makes a big difference if you can place people in 2 to 4 weeks as opposed to 2 to 4 months.

 

The ICT market in Australia is going through a period of rapid change at present. New technologies and trends such as SD-WAN, VoIP, video conferencing, and cloud (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS) have been driving this. COVID-19 has accelerated these changes as businesses scramble to ensure that their staff can be effective while working remotely. For MSPs, now more than ever, it is important to ensure that your business is efficient, service levels are high, staff are happy and motivated, and that you can attract and retain good talent as required. Leveraging offshore resources to complement your local team is a critical component in achieving this outcome.

Cloud Plus offers tailored staffing services via our spacious, modern offices in Manila. Staff have access to a well-appointed gym, several conference rooms, sleeping quarters for those working late or starting early, vending machines, a fully equipped kitchen and breakout areas. If you would like to explore how Cloud Plus can assist with offshore resources, please don’t hesitate to reach out via info@cloudplus.com. You can also get more info about our staffing solutions via our website.

We all know the saying ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’… but in the case of VeeamON this year, which was scheduled to kick off in Las Vegas back in May 2020, perhaps a more appropriate saying would be ‘what doesn’t happen in Vegas, happens online’! 

Nobody will be surprised to read that the Las Vegas VeeamON was cancelled this year, like so many other great events for 2020.  But the Veeam team’s dedication to still bringing their partners and clients together for learning, networking, and fun certainly surprised Shane Jameson, Cloud Plus Systems Engineering Team Leader and Veeam Certified Engineer. Shane attended the virtual VeeamOn conference for 2020 and reported back on his experience.

VeeamON 2020 was set to be my fourth VeeamON conference, and the opportunity to increase my knowledge on the Veeam products and liaise with so many like-minded people has become a real highlight in my calendar.  Like so many people, I was disappointed that the conference had to be cancelled this year, and dubious that an online version could be anywhere near as good!  However, I should have known that if anyone could perfect a virtual event, it would be the people at Veeam.

With a jam-packed 2-day conference agenda that included breakout sessions, live demonstrations for each time zone region and deep-dives into interesting features and scenarios, the educational content of the conference formed the basis of success.  I always enjoy hearing about the new features being released, so this year one of the highlights from my perspective was demonstrations of the Veeam Availability Suite V11.  Veeam CDP (Continuous Data Protection) is coming in the next couple of months and is going to provide the ultimate solution for rapid recovery with minimal data loss – with no workload dependency, no hardware dependency and no extra cost!  I was impressed that this feature is simple to use and that these capabilities are all available in a single product.

As usual with Veeam, there are constant improvements to the Scale-Out Backup Repository, and before the end of this year, we will be seeing a new Archive Tier which will provide longer term retention in the public cloud, as well as Google Cloud Storage capability.  The latter is not something we’ve had queries about but it shows the dedication of Veeam to support object storage and really offer solutions for every industry and vertical market.

Most impressive was the Instant Recovery developments, including instant publishing of NAS backup content as a file share, instant recovery of ANY backup to Microsoft Hyper-V as well as instant recovery of Microsoft SQL and Oracle databases, which will be the first of its kind on the market.

To top it all off, there was mention of an upcoming Veeam agent for MAC, which will hopefully be released alongside Veeam Backup and Replication V11.

With all of this information being a little overwhelming, I was grateful that the VeeamON organisers hadn’t forgotten the other important aspects of the conference – fun!

The conference website was set up with chat features that allowed attendees of each presentation to chat amongst themselves, as well as the ability to chat with individuals or groups of peers at any time.  I was able to book meetings with the sponsors in the trade expo ‘area’ and take part in quizzes and games that also taught me a few extra bits of Veeam information along the way.  The customary Veeam t-shirt was available to everyone who registered and is winging its way to me as I type.

For on-demand light relief there was a live ‘puppy cam’ available to attendees, which streamed cute Labrador puppies straight from the kennels at Guide Dogs America.  Veeam did a great job of promoting this organisation and I hope they got a few donations from some happy conference goers, especially after the live concert from Keith Urban on Friday morning Australian time (the only part of the conference that wasn’t time zone adjusted).

(Photo credit @PaulCrocettiTT)

 

I will look forward to being at this conference ‘live and in person’ again sometime in the future, but I was very impressed with the professional virtual experience provided by Veeam this year and I know Cloud Plus is proud to be associated with such an innovative and dedicated company.