Original Article published via AWS (Amazon Web Services)

When harnessed strategically, Short Message Service (SMS) can be an extremely effective marketing tool. According to Gartner, SMS open rates are as high as 98 percent compared to email’s 20 percent average. Companies looking to run scalable SMS applications often rely on commercial software from independent software vendors (ISVs) such as BNS Group to reach their target audience.

BNS is an Australian software provider focused on secure enterprise SMS and fax messaging. Its software runs on the Windows platform and is licensed to public sector organizations such as the Australian Taxation Office and to private firms like Suncorp. For Suncorp, BNS software handles between 2 million and 3 million monthly SMS messages.

Pursuing a Cloud-Based Deployment Model

24 June 2022

BNS Group Achieves 100% Cloud Migration and Saves 50% On Ongoing IT Costs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory – Australia’s leading Enterprise SMS text messaging software developer has left the world of physical data centres behind and partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to fully migrate both the business and its technology solutions into a cloud environment.

Starting its business in 1989 developing fax server software, BNS added enterprise SMS text messaging server software to its product offering in 2009.   Today BNS Group provides enterprise SIP based FAX and SMS communications cloud based software solutions to some of Australia’s leading government agencies and corporations.

In a significant restructuring of the business operations and client infrastructure, BNS Group has achieved what many similarly placed organisations have not; 100% migration to a cloud-based environment.

Following months of research and discussion, Co-Founders Laurence Buchanan and Clive Pereira focused on simplicity and efficiency in their move to AWS, opting to build new virtual machines and relicensing software development tools rather than what other organisations appeared to be doing, in migrating, lifting, and shifting.

What appeared to be a significant obstacle in replacing their physical Optus SIP trunk in the data centre was made easy with Switch Connect CEO Rohan Milne, who commissioned a hosted session border controller supporting T.38 Fax protocol, resulting in BNS Group’s AWS-based fax technology being able to talk directly to Switch Connect.

“Replacing the Optus SIP trunk in the data centre was probably the most complex part of our migration. We had to find a reliable cloud based T.38 service to the PSTN for our fax server technology to use. As Switch Connect was handling our MS Teams PSTN calling already, this was just an easy addition to our monthly service plan” said Laurence Buchanan CEO BNS.

About BNS Group:

BNS Group is a privately owned company based in Sydney and Canberra focused on secure enterprise FAX and SMS messaging. BNS manufactures commercial software products on the Windows platform which are licenced to customers and reseller partners globally.

BNS’s customers include Australian Taxation Office, Defence, Computershare, Panalpina Freight, Suncorp Group: Suncorp Bank and Insurance, AAMI, GIO & Shannons.

BNS has been a certified Microsoft developer partner since the early 1990’s.

To learn more about BNS Group, visit

https://www.bnsgroup.com.au/about/

About AWS ISV Accelerate Program:

The AWS ISV Accelerate Program is a co-sell program for organisations that provide software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS. The program helps you drive new business and accelerate sales cycles by connecting participating independent software vendors (ISVs) with the AWS Sales organisation.

To learn more about AWS ISV Accelerate Program, visit https://aws.amazon.com/partners/programs/isv-accelerate

Media Contact:

Laurence Buchanan
Tel. +61 412 869 531
Email: ceo@bnsgroup.com.au

24 May 2022 BNS Group Leaves Physical Data Centre Behind To Join Global Community Of Amazon Web Services Partners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory – BNS Group, Australia’s leading SMS and Fax software developer for government and private firms, has left the world of physical data centres saving its clients time, money, and providing them SMS service provider flexibility. Upon partnering with Amazon Web Services, BNS has fully migrated its entire technology suite to the cloud in under two months.

Co-founders Laurence Buchanan and Clive Pereira had been discussing the importance of offering their clients a solution based in the cloud for years, utilising either AWS or Microsoft Azure, however it was a new client, technology start-up Praisal, that eventually forced the duo into action.

An off-market residential listing marketplace, Praisal needed a way to connect with its users, monthly, to update them on the total number of digital rings, the views their property accumulated, and distribute leads to property professionals.

“Ultimately, the decision was made for us when we were approached by Praisal,” said Clive Pereira, also Technical Director at BNS Group. “Praisal wanted to launch a progressive web app that runs on phones and runs on desktops and they wanted to deploy out of AWS. They asked the question of BNS… ‘What can you do? What can you do with SMS that can run in our tenancy?’” said Pereira.

Pereira continued, “We had a solution that was running on premise, but they wanted us to provide something that we didn’t have and that was to be able to take requests from SQL. That got us thinking, ‘Hey, why can’t we drop our traditional mechanism, which was an email type feed mechanism and go to SQL?’ That’s what got us thinking about not only SQL, but also about running in AWS.”

Following months of beta testing and collaboration with Praisal, BNS Group were able to successfully deploy their SMS technology via AWS and have it verified with AWS’s ISV Accelerate Program, making the solution even more attractive to enterprise organisations who utilise SMS as a means of communication.

Laurence Buchanan, also Chief Executive Officer, quotes the open standards approach as a key benefit of their solution. “In taking an open standards approach, the customer can now negotiate the cost of their SMSs because they can move from one service provider to another without having to re-engineer.” he said.

“Their software developers do it once and once only.” Buchanan continued. “They don’t have to go and change, and they’re not using proprietary APIs. For example, if they’re locked into Telstra and they use the Telstra rest API just to send and receive SMSs, then they’re locked into Telstra. They don’t have that flexibility. With our platform, they do.” he concluded.

For enterprises interested in the SMS solution, the application will shortly be listed within the AWS Marketplace as a part of the Accelerate Program, with BNS Group spent 6 months documenting the architecture, deployment guides and prerequisites for installation. In the interim, BNS Group can provide guidance on system compatibility.

About BNS Group:

BNS Group is a privately owned company based in Sydney and Canberra focused on secure enterprise FAX and SMS messaging. BNS manufactures commercial software products on the Windows platform which are licenced to customers and reseller partners globally.

BNS’s customers include Australian Taxation Office, Defence, Computershare, Panalpina Freight, Suncorp Group: Suncorp Bank and Insurance, AAMI, GIO, and Shannons.

BNS has been a certified Microsoft developer partner since the early 1990’s and are a certified AWS ISV Partner as of 2022.

To learn more about BNS Group, visit

https://www.bnsgroup.com.au/about/

About AWS Partner Network:

The AWS Partner Network (APN) is a global community of partners that leverages programs, expertise, and resources to build, market, and sell customer offerings. This diverse network features 100,000 partners from more than 150 countries.

To learn more about AWS Partner Network, visit

https://aws.amazon.com/partners/

About Praisal:

Praisal is an off-market residential listing marketplace, where owners can create a listing for free and buyers can digitally ring their doorbell to express an interest in the property.

To learn more about Praisal, visit

https://www.praisal.com.au/

About AWS ISV Accelerate Program:

The AWS ISV Accelerate Program is a co-sell program for organisations that provide software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS. The program helps you drive new business and accelerate sales cycles by connecting participating independent software vendors (ISVs) with the AWS Sales organisation.

To learn more about AWS ISV Accelerate Program, visit https://aws.amazon.com/partners/programs/isv-accelerate

Media Contact:

Laurence Buchanan
Tel. +61 412 869 531
Email: ceo@bnsgroup.com.au

Photo Credit: @vibe.imagery