Australian software engineering and advisory firm Buckham & Duffy is entering its next phase of growth as part of GISI Consulting Group (GISI CG), expanding the Group’s ability to bring technology, engineering and project expertise together to solve increasingly complex client challenges.
Founded in Brisbane in 2011 by Alex Buckham and Jordan Duffy, Buckham & Duffy specializes in software engineering, technology advisory and digital delivery, particularly where complex requirements demand solutions that cannot simply be bought off the shelf.
The company joined GISI CG earlier this year and is now accelerating its growth, including recruiting senior consultants, developers, delivery managers, agile project managers, business and product analysts, and cybersecurity specialists.
For GISI CG, the addition of Buckham & Duffy reflects a growing reality across infrastructure, engineering and development: some of the most important challenges facing clients increasingly sit at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds.
“Technology is changing both how projects are delivered and what our clients need from us,” says Derek Amidon, Chief Executive Officer of GISI Consulting Group. “Buckham & Duffy brings the kind of deep software engineering capability that can make our existing expertise more powerful. Together, we can help clients solve problems that cross traditional boundaries between engineering, project management, operations and technology.”
Buckham & Duffy has delivered major software engineering programs for government departments including the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), as well as multilateral organizations and private-sector clients. Its work spans IT strategy, artificial intelligence, systems automation, bespoke software development and cybersecurity.
One example is the member platform Buckham & Duffy rebuilt for Master Electricians Australia, the peak body representing over 3,000 electrical contracting businesses. Rather than replace the systems the association had already invested in, Buckham & Duffy built a middleware layer that keeps its customer relationship management, subscription, payment, identity and events systems synchronized, then delivered a new sign-up with business credential and address validation, a member portal with single sign-on and self-service billing, and an administrator reporting dashboard.
Buckham & Duffy also hardened the association’s cloud environment against recognized security benchmarks and now runs the platform under a managed hosting, disaster recovery and security agreement, releasing new functionality every two to four weeks.
That ability to design technology around complex real-world workflows creates opportunities well beyond Australia. Across GISI CG, Buckham & Duffy can work alongside specialists in infrastructure, engineering, program management, economic development and advisory services, while accessing the Group’s global client base and project portfolio.
For Buckham & Duffy’s people, the combination also creates opportunities to apply their expertise to larger and more complex challenges around the world.
“One of the main attractions of joining GISI Consulting Group was the opportunity for our people to work on iconic projects and international assignments alongside our sister companies,” says Jordan Duffy, co-founder of Buckham & Duffy. “The challenges we get to work on just got bigger, and we’re hiring because of it.”
Buckham & Duffy is also exploring opportunities to bring complementary specialist businesses and teams into the company as it builds its capabilities.
Amidon says the firm’s growth is part of GISI CG’s broader ambition to build a multidisciplinary platform capable of responding to how client needs are evolving.
“The projects our clients are undertaking are becoming more connected, more data-driven and more technologically complex,” Amidon says. “Our opportunity is to combine world-class people across disciplines and geographies so that the expertise needed to solve those challenges is already around the same table. Buckham & Duffy adds an important capability to that network.”