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@thunderhead1

I do not have a media/IT background, so there isn’t really much of value I can say about the technical competence/relevance of each individual member of the board.

Ed Harrison does come across to me as a credible manager, though; that is the view I started to form from his address at the last AGM, to start with, and then from the CVs of the people he’s been hiring.

It could be argued (I have heard this argument before) that he has a digital media but not a software background, and that ISD are still running with an old product. There are two objections I would make to this view:

a) If ISD’s software is old, so appears to be pretty much everyone else’s; from the feedback I’ve read/heard, Meltwater (and/or Streem) are not winning customers because their product offer is any better from a technological point of view: it is just cheaper, and some customers (especially at the lower end) are happy with a product which is “close enough” but allows for some cost savings. Meltwater’s win with the NSW government has been a one-off, so far, and they have been struggling to honour the terms of that contract as well. 

b) Based on the previous point, and for the short/medium term, what I think ISD needs the most is not so much a board of visionary technological innovators, but merely one that is capable of running a tight ship, optimising costs wherever possible and allocating capital in a prudent and efficient way. From what I have seen so far, Ed and his team do inspire me with a modicum of confidence in this regard.

Therefore, in the context of a medium-term deleveraging process (which is my investment thesis), I do not have any particular issues with the current board, as long as they are able to deliver on cost optimisation and debt reduction. I’d be a lot more concerned if they were beating the drum for growth at all costs.

Cheers