Our history

• Mike O’Connor, Don Christie, Godfrey Fernandez and Gavin Thompson faced a turning point while working for QED Software in Wellington. A management buyout prompted changes, and the Wellington branch of QED disintegrated.

• Using their passion for IT and supporting businesses to use software free from licensing costs, Mike, Don, Godfrey, Gavin and Andrew McMillan become the founders and directors of Catalyst, which is formally established.

• Initially, the directors begin with a small cramped office in Woolbank House, before moving to 125 The Terrace. While on the Terrace they move floors as the company expands. Later, they move to an office located on level 2 of 150 Willis Street, which was later renamed Catalyst House as the company grew.

• The new company secures a contract for The Dominion’s job site, jobnet.co.nz

• With the launch of Independent New's (later Fairfax NZ) digital platform, stuff.co.nz, Jobnet transformed into jobstuff.co.nz. This marked the inception of several highly successful classified sites we developed for them.

• The directors see the future and pay approximately $10,000 to hook into the world’s first CBD fibre optic loop which had been installed in Wellington by Richard Naylor from the City Council.

• Catalyst obtains contracts with companies including Nelson Bay Meats and Plumbing World during this period. This marks the hiring of the first staff member and the initiation of innovative projects with Telecom Mobile.
• Gavin and Don work on a project to ensure Y2K compliance of the Damwatch Monitoring System (DMS), the primary tool for data handling, quality assurance, dam performance evaluation and reporting across multiple countries. Gavin and Don’s involvement in developing this software began in 1991 and continues with Catalyst to the present day.
• Andrew McMillan develops WRMS as a "personal to-do manager". Although it has evolved over time, we still use WRMS with our clients and staff today.
• Catalyst delivers our first General Election for the Chief Electoral Office, ushering in nine years of Helen Clarke’s premiership.
• In June we hold our first client event, with two clients and the directors, at the last rugby game at Athletic Park, top row of the Millard Stand.

• After the successful launch of Propertystuff, Catalyst wins the work to develop, host and manage stuff.co.nz. Ironically, we took this business from Katrina Bassett and Grant McLean’s former employer “The Web Ltd”.
• Over the years we, along with Fairfax, win numerous awards for the site and elevate it to become NZ’s number one news site by all measures.

• Our bid to develop the Shared Registry System .NZ domain name registration system for Internet NZ (NZ Registry Services) is successful. We managed this world-leading platform for many years before it became managed in-house. We are proud to have helped shape some of the foundational and critical infrastructure without which New Zealand's internet would fail.

• Catalyst secures the contract to redevelop New Zealand’s electoral roll with the Electoral Enrolment Centre, (now part of the Electoral Commission) a suite of systems we still maintain in the present day. 
• Our work to improve stuff.co.nz continues.

• The NZ Government (TEC) launches the e-Learning Collaborative Development Fund (eCDF) to assess open source LMS systems for NZ tertiary institutions. Catalyst is contracted to complete the review and selects Moodle – an LMS in its infancy, but with huge potential. Catalyst proceeds to further enhance Moodle for tertiary institutions in New Zealand. Today, Moodle is the most widely used LMS in the world.

• Our team initiates a new tradition of sharing insights on their latest tech interests and projects over food at our offices. These gatherings, now known as Pizza Thursday, occur monthly at our offices and virtually via video conferencing.

• The Tertiary Education Commission's eCDF funds the development of Mahara, with Catalyst leading software development. We remain the core maintainer to this day.

• Catalyst, with the New Zealand Open Source Society, launches the Open Source Awards to honour exceptional achievements in utilising open source software across various sectors. We continue to organise the awards and many of our staff regularly participate in the event.

• Catalyst IT Europe is established. Initially, the EU office is based in ULCC (University of London Computer Centre) before it moves to Reading, then later relocates to Brighton.

• Our team start to work on Koha library management system projects worldwide. Koha originated in 1999, and one of the founding project members, Chris Cormack, still works at Catalyst in the present day.
• We sponsor the first New Zealand Python Conference (KiwiPycon) at Canterbury University in Christchurch.

• Tōtara Learning Management System is born in New Zealand – our team are early developers and contributors. Later, Catalyst becomes a Tōtara Platinum Partner.
• As Tōtara expands globally, the macron in Tōtara is lost; Catalyst leads the effort to restore it for the New Zealand market.

• Our Open Source Academy is established – a summer program introducing high school students to open source technologies.

• Catalyst opens an office in Auckland at 48 Emily Place before relocating to Commerce Street in 2014 and Federal Street in 2023.
• After buying Christchurch company Egressive, our Christchurch Office is opened.
• Our training room at Catalyst House is created and our training services for internal staff and external clients begin.

• With a growing number of staff, and a people-focused leadership team, our first dedicated HR team member is hired and continues to grow the People Team over the following years.

• Catalyst Cloud is launched offering local cloud infrastructure and platform services.
• The New Zealand Open Source Awards gala dinner relocates from hotel venues to a more iconic venue, Te Marae, Te Papa.

• With the increased interest in our training and workshops, we extend the offering to both Auckland and Christchurch.

• While we celebrate 20 years in business, we also focus on how to create an even better culture. With this, our Diversity and Inclusion Policy is established.
• Two new team traditions start and continue to the present: Catathon for sharing tips and tricks from anything to do with our work or our hobbies, and a team Lego building competition.
• Catalyst Cloud becomes an independent company within Catalyst IT.

• Sarah Brownlie joins the Catalyst New Zealand business as an independent board director.

2019: 

Expanding into new areas while taking a good look at where we already are

• Catalyst IT Ireland is established.
• The role of Kaihuawaere Matihiko is established to increase Catalyst's ability to provide services and support for Māori and those with a kaupapa Māori-perspective.

• Our businesses across the globe self-isolate while trying to provide critical infrastructure to support governments, tertiary education providers and more.
• The DIA engages Catalyst to develop an accessible tool for locating COVID-19 financial guidance, addressing the increasing calls to the Ministry of Social Development's call centre. 
• Cambridge University partners with Catalyst EU to swiftly transition to an online examination platform amid Covid-19 lockdowns. We successfully deliver a solution providing up to 1,200 concurrent examinations at peak periods and helping over 30,000 students to sit their exams. We also do this for Concordia in Canada and help load exams online in a project with people from various teams working on exam entry.
• The Dam Monitoring System (DMS) software rebuild is completed.

• Our team rebuilds the National Forward Works Tool to improve performance, functionality, and visuals to make it easier for all agencies and councils to use and navigate.
• We also build the Beef + Lamb NZ GHG calculator - a free tool to help farmers navigate new legislation and regulatory changes around farming practices, greenhouse gases (GHG) and their environmental impacts.
• Kaiwhakamanawa (relationship manager) was established to support the Kaihuawaere Matihiko and consider how we can improve the use of tikanga Māori in our day-to-day work.
• Catalyst releases a statement about its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic cause the 2020 New Zealand Open Source Awards to be delayed until 2021. However, further lockdowns in November and then in February 2022 mean the 2021 awards ceremony doesn't take place, but winners are announced.

• Then Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern presents RiskScape, New Zealand's open-source loss modelling software, developed by GNS Science, NIWA, EQC (Toka Tū Ake), and Catalyst IT Limited, with the Best Hi-tech Solution for Public Good award.

• ISANA NZ, Studio C, Lift Education, and Catalyst join forces to develop a toolkit to support international students adjusting to studying in New Zealand after the pandemic.