Craig Neil joins IPscape as CEO
05/06/14 Filed in: Press
Telstra-backed cloud call centre company IPscape has appointed Craig Neil as its CEO. He founded and was formerly head of NSC, which Telstra acquired last year.
Telstra-backed cloud call centre company IPscape has appointed Craig Neil as its CEO. He founded and was formerly head of NSC, which Telstra acquired last year.
His appointment takes effect from 1 July. IPscape is backed by Telstra, which has provides significant funding through its Telstra Ventures investment arm.
Neil is the former head of NSC Group, which he established as North Shore Connections in Sydney in 1989 as a contracting telephony service provider. He sold the company to Telstra in 2013. At the time of the sale to Telstra, NSC was Australia’s largest locally owned systems integrator for call centres, with 230 staff and 600 customers.
NSC specialised in the design, implementation, management and support of communications and business technology, and grew to seven offices across Australia and New Zealand, specialising in meeting the needs of call centres. It was a major ShoreTel reseller.
The sale to Telstra was Neil’s big payday. But, like many entrepreneurs, he just can’t stay away. After a short break he has been lured back to head up IPscape.
IPscape was founded by Simon Burke in 2005. He will remain with the company, but decided to step down from the CEO role to focus on new growth opportunities for the company.
Deena Shiff, former head of Telstra Ventures, has remained a director of IPscape because she "likes the company.” She told iTWire that IPscape has become one of Australia’s more successful software companies, concentrating on cloud-based contact centre software.
“It now has operations in more than 22 countries worldwide and signed global reseller partnerships with BT and Telstra Global. Simon Burke has done an amazing job, and has brought a lot of passion and effort to the company.”
IPscape’s business growth has been funded by two rounds of capital investment. In 2012 Telstra Ventures acquired a stake in the company and in late 2013 IPscape completed a further successful capital raising to fund the expansion of its presence and partnerships in Asia. It now intends to focus strongly on international expansion, especially in India and South East Asia.
“IPscape is fortunate in attracting a seasoned and experienced entrepreneur like Craig Neil who can take the company through this next important growth phase as it becomes a cloud software provider on a global scale,” said John Palfreyman, chairman of IPscape.
“We also acknowledge the accomplishments of Simon Burke and his leadership team who helped create IPscape and ready it for this stage of its development. We are very pleased that Simon Burke has agreed to remain as an active contributor to IPscape’s future.
“Being able to pass the baton from one talented entrepreneur to another is part of the necessary lifecycle to take Australian companies from commercialisation to international growth stage,” Palfreyman said.
IPscape customers include Telstra Global, MYOB, Publicis Loyalty, AAPT, Smartsalary and BT. Telstra and BT resell IPscape’s cloud call centre product.
His appointment takes effect from 1 July. IPscape is backed by Telstra, which has provides significant funding through its Telstra Ventures investment arm.
Neil is the former head of NSC Group, which he established as North Shore Connections in Sydney in 1989 as a contracting telephony service provider. He sold the company to Telstra in 2013. At the time of the sale to Telstra, NSC was Australia’s largest locally owned systems integrator for call centres, with 230 staff and 600 customers.
NSC specialised in the design, implementation, management and support of communications and business technology, and grew to seven offices across Australia and New Zealand, specialising in meeting the needs of call centres. It was a major ShoreTel reseller.
The sale to Telstra was Neil’s big payday. But, like many entrepreneurs, he just can’t stay away. After a short break he has been lured back to head up IPscape.
IPscape was founded by Simon Burke in 2005. He will remain with the company, but decided to step down from the CEO role to focus on new growth opportunities for the company.
Deena Shiff, former head of Telstra Ventures, has remained a director of IPscape because she "likes the company.” She told iTWire that IPscape has become one of Australia’s more successful software companies, concentrating on cloud-based contact centre software.
“It now has operations in more than 22 countries worldwide and signed global reseller partnerships with BT and Telstra Global. Simon Burke has done an amazing job, and has brought a lot of passion and effort to the company.”
IPscape’s business growth has been funded by two rounds of capital investment. In 2012 Telstra Ventures acquired a stake in the company and in late 2013 IPscape completed a further successful capital raising to fund the expansion of its presence and partnerships in Asia. It now intends to focus strongly on international expansion, especially in India and South East Asia.
“IPscape is fortunate in attracting a seasoned and experienced entrepreneur like Craig Neil who can take the company through this next important growth phase as it becomes a cloud software provider on a global scale,” said John Palfreyman, chairman of IPscape.
“We also acknowledge the accomplishments of Simon Burke and his leadership team who helped create IPscape and ready it for this stage of its development. We are very pleased that Simon Burke has agreed to remain as an active contributor to IPscape’s future.
“Being able to pass the baton from one talented entrepreneur to another is part of the necessary lifecycle to take Australian companies from commercialisation to international growth stage,” Palfreyman said.
IPscape customers include Telstra Global, MYOB, Publicis Loyalty, AAPT, Smartsalary and BT. Telstra and BT resell IPscape’s cloud call centre product.