Mobilise IT Innovation as a Service Since 2006

Mobilise IT Pty Ltd was formally registered and incorporated with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on 16 June 2006, founded on a bold and, at the time, unconventional belief that “The mobile internet and the mobile economy would fundamentally transform business computing and ultimately, the world”.

“We were born before the mobile internet was ready.”

Back then, this vision bordered on radical. Mobile technology was still in its infancy, 2.5G networks with average speeds of around 30 kbps, and devices and carrier networks designed primarily for voice calls and SMS.

Fast forward to today, and a single 5G speed test on my Apple iPhone 17 exceeds 470 Mbps. The future we imagined didn’t just arrive it exploded.

On 1 July 2006, Mobilise IT opened its very first humble office at Unit 5, 26–36 High Street, Northcote.

Twenty years later, we are privileged to work from one of Melbourne’s most inspiring offices at 436 Johnston Street, Abbotsford a fitting milestone as we celebrate two decades of building the future of mobility.

“But the story of Mobilise IT begins even earlier.”

Before Mobilise IT, there was Wireless IP Technology, a company I cofounded in 1998 with my brilliant colleague and close friend, Ronald Hayward.

Working in collaboration with Telstra and Kyocera, Wireless IP pushed the boundaries of what mobile networks were thought to be capable of. Using nothing more than 160‑character SMS messages and 2G GPRS radio, we successfully delivered TCP/IP data via a Kyocera handset tethered via a bespoke cable I built myself to a Windows CE device.

This proved that wireless integration between handheld computing devices and core enterprise platforms, such as Microsoft Great Plains (now Microsoft Dynamics), was not only possible, but viable. In simple terms, we proved something the industry had not yet grasped that “Mobile carrier networks could be used for far more than voice calls and text messages”.

They could securely mobilise the internet, enrich user experience, and connect frontline workers to live business systems retrieving stock‑on‑hand levels, customer orders, and pricing information in real time. This was the moment the penny dropped, mobile technology could finally unshackle enterprises from bricks, mortar, and the ugly blue network cables that have cluttered office floors and desks for decades. And that business grade mobilisation of information technology (the genesis for our company name Mobilise IT) would become table stakes for all enterprises, which has been at the core of what we do and the service our amazing people have delivered ever since.

Wireless IP went on to become the first company in the world to use the .NET Compact Framework to build an enterprise grade mobile application delivering real commercial value. This work was recognised globally, earning all three major Microsoft partner awards Microsoft Innovation, Business Solution, and Microsoft Partner of the Year, capped off by a meeting with Bill Gates in Seattle.

Wireless IP was sold in 2004, but the experience, learning, adrenaline, and sheer excitement of what the connected enterprise could become continued for me directly into the next chapter, laying the foundations for Mobilise IT two years later.

The Beginning of Mobility Managed Services

In Mobilise IT’s earliest years long before Apple’s App Store or Google Play existed custom mobile application development was unavoidable if you were to deliver the managed services that followed. There were no off-the-shelf solutions, success depended on deep technical development expertise and relentless problem solving. We worked natively with hardware from Motorola and Intermec, using C++ and emerging frameworks such as Microsoft Compact .NET. We constantly unlocked and often debugged capabilities like GPS, barcode scanning, photo capture, and real‑time connectivity on rugged industrial devices vendors weren’t even aware off.

Together with our customers, we delivered creative, practical, commercially viable mobile solutions that solved real operational problems long before “mobile first” became a buzzword.

But this work was unforgiving. Moving from one bespoke project to the next was intense, complex, and financially inconsistent, a reality made worse by a rapidly shifting ecosystem.

At the same time, the mobile market was fragmenting when Nokia, Microsoft Mobile, BlackBerry, and others were pivoting, re‑platforming, or exiting entirely. APIs changed almost weekly, operating systems disappeared, and maintaining compatibility became costly and risky.

True value came from ensuring mobile applications either built by independent software vendors, or customers themselves will need a specialist service provider with the sole focus of deploying, securing, supporting, and scaling application and device deployment in the real world across states and countries.

Over a deliberate five year transition, we stepped away from custom application development not abruptly, but carefully letting go of what no longer served our customers best. What emerged was something far more enduring a focus on device provisioning, mobile device management (MDM), application lifecycle management, security, and user experience.

This marked the quiet birth of what would later be known as Mobility Managed Services long before the term existed and it would come to define Mobilise IT’s future.

Focus Creates Momentum

Mobilise IT is thriving 20 years on because we listened, learned, adapted, and stayed close to the pulse of our industry and customers. Perhaps the most important lesson was this “You cannot be a jack of all trades and expect to master any”.

What began as experimentation became execution. What began as vision became reality. From there, Mobilise IT continued to pioneer and lead from the frontline:

• 2008 Introduced MobileIron as Australia’s first modern mobile device management platform
• 2009 First to launch a per device and per month managed service consumption model aligned to telco billing and supporting up to 3 business applications.
• 2010 Became one of the region’s largest BlackBerry BES partners
• 2012 Delivered one of Australia’s largest frontline service platforms for Melbourne City Council and Citywide, supporting thousands of staff
  • Fun fact: When a parking meter failed anywhere from the City of Yarra through to Port Phillip, our software automatically dispatched a technician complete with meter ID and GPS location to a Windows CE handheld
• 2013 Extended the platform to deliver precision tree pruning instructions to arborists, including exact GPS locations
• 2014 Delivered one of the world’s largest mobile health deployments of its time, supporting over 4,000 RDNS staff in South Australia
  • Fun fact: This initiative later transformed RDNS into Australia’s largest Hospital in the Home (HITH) provider and received the South Australian Premier’s Award for Health Technology Innovation
• 2023 Signed an exclusive agreement with Samsung SDS in Australia and New Zealand to distribute Zero Touch Mobile for ServiceNow, marking the next evolution of managed services built on security, sovereignty, and AI
  • Fun fact: We remain the only partner in Australia offering this capability on ServiceNow, used by 7 in 10 enterprises nationwide
• 2024 Achieved ISO 9001, ISO 27001, and ISO 14001 certifications
• 2025 Signed a sole partner agreement with Samsung SDS to distribute Samsung Knox On Premise the most advanced “air gapped” EMM solution for defence, healthcare, and banking

Looking Ahead

Over the years, our work has been recognised by peers and industry alike, including Microsoft Australia Partner of the Year, Worldwide Partner of the Year, MobileIron APAC Partner of the Year, BlackBerry Partner of the Year, and AIIA iAwards, among others.

Twenty years on, Mobilise IT stands as proof that seeing the future early matters but building it with exceptional people matters even more and that this is only the beginning.

As we celebrate 20 years of Mobilise IT, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built and even more excited about what lies ahead. This journey has never been just about technology. It has always been about people, partnerships, and the belief that mobility can simplify complexity and unlock better outcomes.

To our customers, partners, and past and present team members, thank you for being part of this story. The next chapter will be our most ambitious yet, and I look forward to building it together.

George Deligiannoudis
Chief Executive Officer
Mobilise IT