Local Tech Firm Goes Global

For those who believe Hawaii’s economic future lies with innovative technology and global thinking, DataHouse can be a poster child.

The Honolulu-based company, with offices in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, this year signed a contract to design and implement a web-based banking application for ANZ Bank. ANZ is Australia’s third-largest bank by market capitalization, with reported assets of 642 billion Australian dollars as of Sept. 30, 2012.

DataHouse says its work for ANZ builds upon e-solutions it developed for banks in Hawaii, Colorado and Ohio, and with clients in more than 34 states and Pacific Rim nations.

“Our goal is to take the technology and all that expertise we’ve been able to learn here in Hawaii and leverage that to take to the mainland and globally, and create viable businesses here,” says Roberto Mandanas, VP of business development.

Through a partnership with German software creator SAP, DataHouse says it will provide ANZ with corporate e-banking software designed for more transactions and more complex processes, and to help workflow management.

Dan Arita was doing systems work for the state government and saw the need for locally based technology services when he founded DataHouse in 1975. The company started by providing clients with accounting, payroll and other business systems, but evolved through the years as technology and its clients’ needs evolved.

“We started out providing IT services predominately in the government space,” says president Hanwook Kim, whose career began with Procter and Gamble and who has also worked for McKinsey & Co., Google and Hawaiian Airlines.

Today, DataHouse supports organizations in four areas: banking, education, government and healthcare. Its local clients include American Savings Bank, Bank of Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, the state departments of education and taxation, and HMSA and Hawaiian Electric Co. In addition to SAP, its technology partners include IBM and Microsoft.

“In the last 10 years, we’ve really expanded,” Kim says. “But we still want to solve problems for our clients and we want to continue to support our state.”