Enlighten Designs Acquires ROMS Platform, Investing in the Future of New Zealand’s Research Reporting Infrastructure

Enlighten Acquires ROMS: A New Chapter for Research Management Software in New Zealand

HAMILTON, WAIKATO, NEW ZEALAND, March 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- February 2026

Enlighten Designs, a New Zealand–founded technology company specialising in AI, software development, data analytics, and digital platforms that drive measurable impact, has acquired ROMS - Research Output Management System platform from Intuto, strengthening its long‑standing commitment to the education and research sector.

ROMS is the specialist software platform used by tertiary institutions and research organisations across New Zealand to record, manage, and publish research outputs. The platform plays a critical role in compliance, funding accountability, and public reporting, including Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) obligations, forming part of the country’s core research infrastructure.

Growing Demands on Research Infrastructure

The acquisition comes as both the scale and scrutiny of research funding in New Zealand continue to increase. According to Stats NZ, total research and development (R&D) expenditure reached $6.4 billion in 2024, representing a 21 percent increase since 2022. Universities accounted for $1.35 billion, or 21 percent of national R&D spend, placing growing importance on accurate, auditable research reporting systems.

At the same time, research organisations are facing mounting administrative pressure. The 2024 State of Research Administration Benchmark Report found that more than 75 percent of research administrators experienced increased workloads, with 46 percent of administrative time lost to manual processes and 26 percent of organisations citing disconnected systems as a key contributor to inefficiency, highlighting the operational risk of legacy research management platforms as funding volumes and reporting expectations grow.

Enterprise Stewardship and Technical Investment

The acquisition places ROMS under the stewardship of a dedicated enterprise software company with deep expertise in long‑term platform management, AI‑driven development, and security‑led engineering. For research organisations, this provides continuity today and a clear pathway for the platform to evolve alongside changing compliance, audit, and reporting demands.

“Research organisations depend on systems that are stable, secure, and built for the long term. With billions of dollars in research funding flowing through New Zealand’s universities and research institutions, confidence in the accuracy and integrity of reporting platforms is essential. ROMS is mission‑critical software and bringing it into Enlighten ensures it has the investment, technical depth, and product focus required to support that responsibility,” said Damon Kelly, CEO of Enlighten Designs

As part of the acquisition, ROMS is being migrated to a modern, enterprise-grade architecture on Microsoft Azure. The platform will run on Azure’s managed application services, with a secure, API‑driven design and a robust data foundation optimised for reporting, compliance, and future AI‑enabled capabilities. ROMS will follow Microsoft’s Zero Trust security principles, leveraging identity‑based access controls and encrypted data flows throughout the system.

Enlighten has partnered with education and research organisations for many years, delivering secure, data‑driven platforms for clients including Sustainable Coastlines, Wintec, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, and Te Pūkenga. The company also develops enterprise systems for organisations such as Microsoft, the United Nations, and the World Health Organization.

That cross‑sector experience informs Enlighten’s approach to ROMS: prioritising reliability, security, and long‑term platform stability first, then modernising carefully where it delivers clear, measurable value for research administrators and institutions.

Richard Warren, Executive Director of Intuto said, “ROMS has come a long way since it was first developed for a New Zealand university in 2001. After years of stewardship, Intuto are incredibly pleased to see it move to Enlighten Designs. Entrusting the platform to a dedicated software development business ensures it has the specialised focus and long‑term technical runway to thrive in its next chapter.”

Investment Focus

Enlighten plans to invest in ROMS across four priority areas:

- Platform stability and performance: Backed by Azure’s enterprise-grade infrastructure and Enlighten’s dedicated support capability.
- Security and data protection: Implementing Zero Trust security principles, encrypted data flows, and identity-based access controls aligned with modern institutional IT expectations.
- Customer-informed feature development: Incremental improvements driven by the real needs of the organisations using the platform.
- Future-ready architecture: An API-driven, cloud-native foundation that positions ROMS to take advantage of advances in data, integration, and AI as they mature.

For existing ROMS customers, the acquisition provides confidence that the platform will remain supported, secure, and actively developed without disruptive change for change’s sake.

About Enlighten Designs

Founded in 1998, Enlighten Designs is a New Zealand–founded technology company and Microsoft Fabric Featured Partner, specialising in AI, software development, data analytics, data visualisation, and enterprise web platforms. Enlighten works alongside education, research, and enterprise organisations across New Zealand and globally, bringing deep expertise in cloud architecture, data platforms, and AI‑driven development to build secure, practical systems that turn complex information into clarity, confidence, and measurable impact.

To learn more, visit: https://www.enlighten.co.nz/contact-enlighten

Catherine Lindner
Enlighten Designs
+64 7-853 6060
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