Overseas schools find Maze

Perth family business CAZ Software will take its school management system Maze to a new level in coming months with the introduction of its new online product called eMaze.

But, with the impending new product release, rumours also surfaced that CAZ Software was for sale or looking for a buyer.

However, company chairman Gabriel Zahra denied the rumours.

“It is a family company, which I inherited from my brother (Peter) when he passed away and we would like to see it continue on,” he said.

“There are certainly no firm plans.”

Maze was designed to assist schools with their day-to-day operations, including financial, student and school management, assessment, time tabling and enrolments.

The extension of Maze to include the online component eMaze means clients can access data stored in Maze through a web browser, allowing information available to staff and extending features of Maze to students and parents.

Internationally, CAZ Software is securing contracts around the globe, especially in Asia.

Although the company’s first international deal was in 1996 in Papua New Guinea, it was in 2003 that international sales started to skyrocket. CAZ Software’s international business development manager Margaret Quinn says this result was helped by winning a contract in 1999 for the Victorian Department of Education and Training.

She said when people would search online for education management solutions, CAZ Software and that particular contract would show.

“The English Schools Foundation in Hong Kong found us this way and asked us to submit for a closed tender,” she said.

“The foundation included 18 schools and is the largest supplier of private and British curriculum in Hong Kong. We won, which was fantastic, and we were up against really strong international competition.”

Since then, CAZ Software has won five more international contracts, including Dulwich College in Shanghai and Beijing, the Taipei European School and two prominent schools in Hong Kong – the German Swiss and Hong Kong International Schools.

CAZ Software’s marketing and client services manager Gino Premici said almost 3000 schools around the world use the Maze software, including a strong client base in Australia.

But Mr Premici believes the growth in schools offering international education and curriculum has helped the company internationally.

“The status of western education has been realised and doors have opened up,” he said.

“The goal is for continued global expansion and taking advantage of the exciting potential that exists in the education market.”

With this in mind, Ms Quinn will fly to Singapore on Thursday to meet a group that has six schools, two of which are in Beijing.

“It is important for CAZ Software to retain its strength in Australia but we want to keep up with growth in far east Asia,” she said.

The Maze software package starts at around $100,000.