Rod Drury
Encyclopedia
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He is currently CEO of the online accounting software company Xero
Xero (software)
Xero is an online accounting software product for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as for personal finance. The product is sold by subscription requiring the payment of a monthly fee...
, and a key player in the Pacific Fibre
Pacific Fibre
Pacific Fibre is a New Zealand-based company that has proposed to build a trans-Pacific undersea cable that will compete with the Southern Cross Cable operated by Telecom New Zealand.-Notable people:*Mark Rushworth, CEO*Lance Wiggs...
project.
Professional history
In 1995 Drury established Glazier SystemsGlazier Systems
Glazier Systems was established in Wellington in 1995 by Tony Stewart, Rod Drury, Andrew Kissling and Pat Ryan. It was a software development company that specialised in developing systems for Microsoft Windows hence the name....
, one of New Zealand's leading software development and consulting companies. Glazier Systems was acquired by Advantage Group in 1999 and continues today as Intergen
Intergen
Intergen is a New Zealand-based company that specializes in the delivery of Microsoft-based software and technology.Founded in 2001, the company is the largest dedicated provider of Microsoft services in New Zealand. The company has a history which goes back to 1995, with the original establishment...
.
Drury subsequently founded and served as CEO of AfterMail which was acquired by Quest Software
Quest Software
Quest Software is a computer software manufacturer headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California. Founded in 1987, Quest develops, manufactures and supports software used by Information Technology professionals in a variety of industries...
for US$65 million in January 2006 and subsequently won Best Exchange Product at Microsoft TechEd 2006 in Boston.
In 2000, Drury co-founded Context Connect, a US-based company developing technology to increase connectivity across different mobile networks. He continues as CTO for the Boston-based company which now has a US patent for its mobile directory application.
Through his career Drury has maintained a close relationship with Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and was selected as New Zealand's first representative on the Microsoft MSDN Regional Director program, holding the role from 1997 to 2000. He achieved Microsoft MVP status for his work in the early days of Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages , also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated Web pages. Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack Active Server Pages (ASP), also known as Classic...
.
In 2005 Drury joined the board of TradeMe
TradeMe
Trade Me is the largest Internet-auction website operating in New Zealand. Managed by Trade Me Ltd the site was founded in 1999 by New Zealand entrepreneurSam Morgan who sold it to Fairfax in 2006 for NZ$700 million...
, New Zealand's most successful eCommerce internet site, as an independent director. Rod continued to sit on the Trade Me Advisory Board following the sale of Trade Me to Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
in 2006.
In July 2006 Drury founded Xero
Xero (software)
Xero is an online accounting software product for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as for personal finance. The product is sold by subscription requiring the payment of a monthly fee...
, a publicly-listed Software as a Service
Software as a Service
Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...
Accounting software company, of which he is currently Chief Executive.
In August 2006 he joined NZ Trade & Enterprise Beachheads Program Advisory Board. He is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
In October 2007 Rod was a judge for the New Zealand Open Source Awards.
Drury was also awarded the Hi-Tech New Zealand "Entrepreneur of the Year" award in 2006 and 2007.
In August 2008 Drury was conferred the title of Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Computer Society
New Zealand Computer Society
The New Zealand Computer Society Inc is a non-profit incorporated society in New Zealand. As New Zealand's ICT professional body, the NZCS exists to promote education and ensure a high level of professional practice amongst ICT professionals....
(HFNZCS) during the 2008 NZ Computerworld Excellence Awards. He is only the 21st person to be awarded the title in the Society's 48 year history.
External links
- Rod Drury's Blog
- Xero
- Repeat offender, IdealogIdealogIdealog is a New Zealand business magazine dealing with the creative economy, founded in 2005 by Martin Bell, Vincent Heeringa and David MacGregor...
magazine, January/February 2007 - Serial entrepreneurs, Unlimited Magazine, Issue 82, May 2006
- Intergen
- Rod Drury talks about the future of social media and technology Social Media NZ Website