MetService's forecast: Innovation

MetService has a dual persona – a state owned enterprise with full commercial operations worldwide. It is a unique setup that keeps CIO Alistair Vickers and his team on the leading edge of business technology.

No wonder Vickers, CIO of MetService, has a ready smile each time he hands over
his business card.

A cursory look at the card also reveals another one-off – he is also CIO of
MetraWeather, the offshore company of MetService.

Alistair Vickers on the leading edge of business technology as concurrent CIO at MetService and MetraWeather. (Photography: Brooke Woollett)

Across New Zealand, MetService is the weather authority, delivering the official
forecasts and warnings 24x7, 365 days a year. But overseas, it is known as
MetraWeather, a major provider of innovative weather information services for a
range of organisations.

Its customers varyThe application support team keeps the roads open.”

Taking on the hat of an entrepreneurial CIO is a critical part of his job at the state
owned enterprise. Recently, he and CEO Peter Lennox went to Europe to meet with
a number of companies they are doing business with, including the BBC.

MetService CIO Alistair Vickers and CEO Peter Lennox in front of the Weatherscape screen – which it provides to television stations around the world through its offshore company MetraWeather.

MetService provides weather information that can impact operations and decisions
both in the corporate and consumer markets. For example, one of its subscribers is a
local photographer who needs to know whether it will be a good day to schedule a
photo shoot. There are also food manufacturing and consumer companies that need
to know when