Our history
acQuire celebrates 25 years in business
2021 marks 25 years in business for acQuire! It’s been 25 years since the product GIM Suite was first released to our customers in Australia. Since then, acQuire has grown into a global business, changed ownership and has continually evolved and grown its flagship product. We invite you to step back in time and take a look through the key milestones that make up our company history.
2021 is shaping up to be a great year for acQuire, with a significant milestone in our product strategy for GIM Suite, the introduction of a new product and more acquisitions to complement our product suite on the horizon.
A global pandemic, a growing product suite and GIM Suite 4 updates
acQuire welcomes new environmental data management software, EnviroSys
The acquisition of the environmental data management system, EnviroSys, in December 2020, adds a versatile environmental compliance management and monitoring solution to acQuire’s existing product suite. EnviroSys is highly complementary to acQuire’s flagship product, GIM Suite, and strengthens acQuire’s competitive edge and position as an industry leader in geoscientific information management solutions for the natural resources industries.
COVID-19
A new coronavirus, COVID-19, spread rapidly across the world with strict travel restrictions implemented early in 2020 still in force throughout the year. Strict lockdowns were implemented across countries in a bid to contain the virus which impacted the mining industry globally, from scaled back operations to the need to cease for a while, depending on the local government regulations.
acQuire responded quickly to the pandemic, with employees working from home from March onwards while continuing to deliver the same high quality acQuire products and services virtually and where possible, in-person, as restrictions eased in some jurisdictions.
GIM Suite’s web and mobile capabilities extended
Mobile blasthole sampling and logging was introduced across two minor software releases for GIM Suite. Geologists and pit techs working in blasthole grade control can now rapidly collect data from the pit on mobile devices and seamlessly transfer it back to their main database.
New GIM Suite technology integration
In November, acQuire announced a collaboration with Imago, a technology company dedicated to providing high-performance viewing of geological core and chip images from any location. The new integration gives GIM Suite customers the ability to view high-quality images alongside their geoscientific data and was launched in GIM Suite 4.3.
Going mobile
acQuire expands GIM Suite’s powerful data management capabilities across web and mobile with the release of GIM Suite 4.1. A brand new mobile app is launched for data collection in the field that seamlessly integrates back to the main GIM Suite database. Available for both Apple and Android smartphones, it makes GIM Suite’s existing data capture capabilities smarter and more streamlined.
Award Nominations
acQuire’s CEO, Alison Atkins, is nominated for the annual WiTWA Tech Awards, recognising her as an outstanding role model in the Western Australian tech industry and as the leader of our global technology company.
The WiTWA Awards celebrates the outstanding female role models working in tech, science and innovation and judges nominations based on leadership, technical strength and personal determination.
New ownership and GIM Suite 4 released
New Ownership
acQuire is now under the umbrella of Vela Software. Vela Software acquires, manages and builds industry specific software businesses globally. Vela is an operating group of Constellation Software Inc., a leading provider of software and services to a select group of public and private sector markets. Constellation Software operates in over 100 countries and dozens of verticals.
GIM Suite 4 Release
GIM Suite 4 introduces an all-new interface called Arena, consolidating capabilities spread across Neo Desktop and Neo Web into a single, streamlined tool, allowing you to easily build interactive dashboards and reports for better end-user experience.
GIM Suite 3 release and a growing Nova Network
New features in GIM Suite 3 add to the array of capabilities already available in the software, creating an even more robust and secure system to manage geoscientific data assets. Reducing manual tasks and making data management more efficient are the key focus of this release.
The growing Nova Network
Geodex, Appnew and Neoodat are three new consultants joining the acQuire Nova Network in 2017. This year the new Partners bring the total number of consultants working with acQuire to 14 globally.
The Nova Network is enabling miners and explorers greater access to acQuire’s leading geoscientific data management tools. Through the expertise of the Nova Network Partners and commercial arrangements available through the Nova Network, more clients are getting the benefits of acQuire solutions.
20 years in business and winning awards
It is 20 years since acQuire Technology Solution’s award-winning Geoscientific Information Management (GIM) software burst onto the market, forever changing the way the mining industry manages its GIM information.
acQuire was founded by Bill Withers in 1996. The company’s products are now used at more than 450 sites around the world. acQuire marked this year with celebrations in each of its global offices.
acQuire wins twice at the 2016 Digital Technologies WA Export Awards
The Digital Technologies WA Export Award recognises outstanding international success in the field of information and communication products, technology or services that are concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital data including software and games.
acQuire is recognised in a further award: The C.Y. O’Connor Award for Excellence in Engineering and Technology recognises excellence in engineering, technology, medical technology, information technology and technical research and development.
GIM Suite 2 released
The GIM Solution enters a new phase as GIM Suite 2 is released in August. It delivers significant performance improvements, better environmental monitoring capabilities and more data management features. With an enhanced dashboard feature, GIM Suite 2 gives users the confidence needed to make strategic decisions based on geoscientific information.
GIM Suite is released
The GIM Suite now contains all geological data management technology in a single package for natural resources organisations. GIM Suite enables the capture, management and delivery of geoscientific observations and measurements.
More employees & brand refresh
After 17 years, acQuire embarks on its first major brand refresh.
The three annual acQuire conferences are consolidated into one and relaunched with new program format as GIM Jam.
The first GIM Jam happens in Calgary, at the EPCOR Center For Performing Arts.
The Nova Network is started to offer customers reliable post-implementation services.
acQuire QPeople join the Global Corporate Challenge, a global health and wellness program. 112 staff in 16 teams across the globe are registered to walk, cycle or swim their way to health.
New global offices
acQuire’s offices operate now fully in a peer-to-peer model as ONE company with one shared culture. The very first Qbook is released – a little book about acQuire’s values and culture.
You can find the latest version today on our website.
Change of business focus
acQuire’s revenue continues to grow. The business focus changes to be a sole geoscientific management solution provider to become experts in this field. acQuire 4 becomes its key product.
Metech renamed to acQuire Technology Solutions
This is the beginning of a very fast growth period for acQuire. Metech is officially renamed to acQuire Technology Solutions.
New market sectors
Development of new capabilities commence to support the coal industry.
The office in Calgary supports our growing customer base in the Oil Sands industry in North America.
First sales of acQuire software
First customers
A fourth company, Eagle Mining is also a seed customer partner, but Eagle no longer exists.
acQuire begins
Following requests from four customers for custom-built solutions in the emerging area of drilling data management, Bill decides to build a product for the mining industry.
Bill Withers and Andrew Shoemack were the owners of registered company Metech Pty Ltd, which began marketing a mining software solution called acQuire. The company is renamed to acQuire Technology Solutions Pty Ltd in 2006.
The first office is established and still operates from Perth, Western Australia.
Founded in 1996, acQuire originated in Perth, Western Australia. acQuire’s co-founders wondered why the mining industry could not manage their drillhole data more efficiently and so the idea for a geoscientific data management software solution was born. In 2018 acQuire became part of Consetllation Software, Inc. via its operating group, Vela Sofware, and have expanded our solution offering, helping the world’s leading organisations tackle increasingly complex data challenges impacting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), as it relates to the earth’s resources, the natural environment, and their communities.
Today, our company has five offices around the globe, with customer support centers operating in each major time zone, and our software is used by companies worldwide.
Delve into our history and milestones to discover how we have become the company we are today.
