Most people define a disaster as something that affects just them:

• A broken fingernail,
• A fender bender,
• A missed promotion or,
• A pimple may qualify,.

Public disaster definitions may include:

• 911 the Twin Towers Disaster,
• The Sinking of the Titanic,
• The Hindenburg dirigible explosion,
• JFK’s assassination.

I suggest the truth for most of us is somewhere in between:

Ø       The loss of a relative,

Ø       The loss of a business,

Ø       A marriage breakup,

Ø       Serious injury or illness for ourselves or a loved one.

Of these, the loss of a business is probably the only one we can prevent.

I lost a business once and in hindsight it was totally unnecessary. It was a viable, very successful business, growing, profitable and I lost it. Why? Well almost without exception, financial advisors, bankers, and accountants will use terms like; “lack of financial controls”, “inadequate capitalization”,  “unrealistic sales forecasts”, etc.  However that type of advisor rarely has started or held the ultimate responsibility for managing a business and that lack of first hand experience makes their opinion lack value. Or that I value anyway. The “why” was my fault as I failed to follow a principle that my business was based on (preventive maintenance of computers) well duhh! I failed to meet my primary responsibility of protecting my business by failing to anticipate and plan on avoiding any and all disasters!

I’ll come back to “why” in a minute; first let me tell you “how”. My business was a computer service. The computer service industry is one where “the only constant is change”. So one year end when we were completing our financials, our accountant recommended we significantly write down the value of our parts inventory as recent changes in our service offerings had reduced the value of the parts. A simple accounting change that did not have much impact on our bottom line.

Wrong!

Our loan manager at our bank freaked! Her position was that as the parts inventory was a significant asset in support of our loan, we had “torpedoed her!” We met with her and her boss and managed to successfully resolve the problem with an accelerated payment plan.

Wrong!

A week later the bank called our loan.  O.K. lets deal with that. As we were sorting out our new plan and budget to pay the called bank loan, we addressed the fact that we were slightly behind on our submissions of employee withholding to Canada Revenue Agency (nothing new, we had been operating this way for years and CRA had always been co-operative). So we met with CRA explained the bank situation and presented CRA with our plan to pay them up to date and they accepted it – no problem.

Wrong!

The next day CRA faxed out a demand to all of our customers to remit all payments due to our company directly to CRA!

Payday was 2 days later & we were dead! We were totally unaware that CRA had just lost a court battle with our bank to establish who had first dibs on the assets of a company that had failed. So CRA covered their butt, by instigating a proactive strike by scooping up our cash before the bank.

This was my disaster defined. If I had been thorough in preventing, planning for and avoiding the issues that triggered this disaster it could have easily been avoided. So I learned a very painful lesson that to avoid a business disaster you must:

Ø       Research thoroughly (What happens if),

o        There is a fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, major power outage?

o        How about a postal strike, a serious flu epidemic, a death or incapacitation of a key employee, a labour dispute?

o        What is the impact of the loss of a key contract or customer, or the technology shifts and some of your processes are suddenly obsolete?

o        Or your IT hardware fails and you lose your data and/or you attempt to reinstall from your backup tape or disc system and the data is not all there.

o         What if the bank calls your loan ?

Ø       Determine what needs to be addressed,

Ø       Identify the mitigation of risks through redundant systems (two banks instead of one), (backup and insurance of key staff), etc.

Ø       Ensure you have the best data backup for your computer (and test it)

Ø       Develop and implement full disaster avoidance and recovery plans.

There is an old saying, “Defining the problem takes you 50% of the way to solving it!”

This is especially true in “Disaster definition” and the design, implementation and maintenance of your Disaster Avoidance Plan.

I apparently am really good at thinking of ideas at the last minute.  I am an avid gardener, and pay a small fortune for the flowers I plant.  They are all so beautiful, sitting on and around my deck.  With Calgary having such a short growing season of only 115 consecutive frost free days in the average year, I am only able to enjoy my flowers for a short time.  My other summer enjoyment, is getting away from the city.  The problem is that I have to rely on my neighbourhood kids to come and water my plants.  Needless to say, when I come home from vacation, there are always tragedies awaiting me in my backyard.  Last year alone, I lost 80% of my plants while I was on my 2 week summer vacation.  The real injustice came later that day when i realized that I still had to pay the inept teenager who looked after my yard and cat (Luckily, the cat fared better than the plants).  To alleviate this from ever happening to me again, I thought I would purchase a deck watering system from my favorite store, Lee Valley.  I thought I would have this thing up and running in a few hours.  This however was not the case.  Besides continually running out of parts (poor planning on my part), and having problems with my timer on my water lines, this project has become all consuming.   I am under the crunch because I am going away this weekend, and do not want to risk the loss of plant life with the teenagers looking after my yard.  I am hopeful that my next blog will not be on the death of plants.

“I’m sorry, it’s not our responsibility that you can’t recover your data, we only provide backup.”

“So I’ve been paying you good money to backup my data and I can’t get it back?  You mean tell me that ALL my files are gone?  Well that means I’m pretty much …”

It’s an unsettling thought to ever think you could be having this conversation.  Scary thing is it happens all too often.  Stats show that 70% of disaster recovery attempts from backup products and services fail are incomplete or ineffective.   It’s wild to think that most options for data backup aren’t very good at recovering data.  Sure there are multitudes of ways to backup your data.  Tapes, CDs, DVDs, online backup, disk backup, replication, and the list goes on.  But how many data protection products and services can actually ensure recovery of your data completely when you need it most?

So what’s the point in backup if you can’t recover?

I am a mentor to entrepreneurs. One thing you learn when you are mentoring is if you want to gain a receptive listener you start every suggestion, idea, comment or expression of concern, email, phone message, or text message with the phrase “I suggest”. That avoids negative reactions and helps to ensure your audience is attentive and receptive. So all my mentoring blogs start with “I suggest”.

“I suggest”- when you are dealing with anyone, be they customer, prospect, employer, friend, co-worker that your goal should be to listen. If you ask questions then listen, you will gain a far better insight into the subject and the individual’s true feelings that you otherwise would never have heard of. If you encourage your customer, prospect, employee, friend or relative to share their burdens, problems or concerns and really listen you will learn about things that can significantly assist you to achieve your goal to be a better vendor, employer, friend or relative. This is the secret weapon I have learned (over the past censored number of years in business) to use especially when the individual you are listening to is an unhappy customer, employee, friend or relative. It works like a charm!

I remember when I first started in sales I was very young, hyper-enthusiastic and very confident that I was the best salesman around. One day in the middle of my phenomenal pitch the prospect listened politely as I prattled on and when I was done he asked me if he could ask a question and when I said “Of course!” He asked, “Are you almost done with your presentation as I do not have a lot of time today and if you will stop talking I would like to place an order for your service.”

Stop for a moment and think about those people who everyone identifies are nice guys. I’ll bet they all are quiet, soft spoken people who have learned to listen.

Bob the mentor.

Well, it’s official, Facebook has moved over to its new layout. But what does that mean for both home users and developers? Facebook has obviously made some changes that can both irritate application developers but also can be taken advantage of to really refine the end user’s experience.

Facebook seems to be making big steps towards allowing users to really capitalize on applications that they use a lot by putting them front and center. Users can now add tabs to their profile to make certain applications easier to access and also allowing users to bookmark the applications they use the most for easy access.

From a developer’s point of view, this is going to be a little brutal for the vast majority of developers out there. In order to finance application development, most developers focus on getting as many people installed on their application as possible and then spamming the heck out of them with messages, notifications, advertising and profile advertising. The problem with the new layout is that it allows users to completely shut off everything they do not want to see from an application which seriously cuts down on the viral effect of a lot of applications. What does this mean to most application developers? Reduced revenue.

There are some added advantages to developers with an application that people use quite frequently. The most evident is the tabbing section. It allows users to add a tab with special content served from the application. So, for the special few applications that a user uses most, that application has the opportunity to become very predominant on a user’s profile page.

However, with the obvious reduction of incoming revenues, most developers are a little angry about this move. Rumors have been flying all around the Internet about Facebook releasing some sort of a payment system whereby developers can charge for their application’s services. With the obvious reduction to revenues hitting developers, it is sort of strange that Facebook hasn’t gone ahead and released this platform yet. As a developer, we need business models such as this one to stay alive, where is the love Facebook?

All in all, I think the new profile switch is a good move for the Facebook experience but I think Facebook is going to have to start making some moves to improve their development platform for developers so that they can still get a decent ROI from development. The good news is that Facebook obviously has something in the works and for those thinking about building a business model around paid installs, it might be a good time for such ventures to get started. And hey, for a shameless plug, come to us, we would love to build it for you!

Before 2008, I had been an avid cell phone user but had never ventured into the world of business communications. To me a cell phone was all I needed to chat with my clients and I was convinced that a cell phone only needed to do what it was intended to do, make phone calls! However, the Sony Ericsson was beginning to change my mind with it’s slick camera and MP3 action. And then I joined Toggle.

Now, at Toggle Networks, they have been using BlackBerrys for a good amount of time. This was brand new to me. Email? Phone? CRM (light)? Keyboard? On the same device? This was all new to me but it did not take long before I realized the amazing results one could have with a true corporate device.

My BlackBerry had soon earned its “CrackBerry” nickname as it went with me everywhere and my wife had to soon limit my obsessive devotion to the thing. Despite its addictive nature, I couldn’t help but respect the fact that the BlackBerry is an excellent business device and it is almost a necessity around the office here. I found my way into a new BlackBerry Curve after my original BB’s scroll wheel broke on me and it fixed my only complaint (no camera).

Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago. Apple finally released a legitimate version of their iPhone to the masses here in Canada (through Rogers) and at a reasonable price. Seeing as I have recently converted my Vista machine over to a MacBook Pro, Apple was looking pretty good to me. I have also started to model a programming business model around developing iPhone applications (I’ll save that for a later blog) so I figured it was about time to get me an iPhone. After a bit of searching (it wasn’t too difficult), I had one in my hands and I was ready to attempt to make use of it as my corporate communication device.

No one will deny that the iPhone is a sexy beast. It looks amazing in it’s plastic based “slim black dress”. It’s operating system is filled with beautiful graphics, a bright screen and intense touch screen goodness. And heck, it’s even an iPod touch (on the cheap)! That’s all fine and dandy, but can it handle my insane business lifestyle.

The short answer is a resounding “yes”. Let me explain. My two main needs for my cell phone in a business environment are, is it a good phone and can I make good use of email? The answer to both of those questions is a definite yes. First off, as a phone the iPhone works rather well. It features pretty much everything I require in a phone. It sounds good, I can mute it or put it on silent at the touch of a button. The sound quality is fantastic (with easy to use volume controls on the side) and it works very well with my Bluetooth headset (a necessity for one on the phone as much as I am). Holding the phone to my head is a little more uncomfortable than my BB due to the metal frame of the thing doing some slight digging to the side of my head but since I am on Bluetooth the majority of the time it does not bother me.

From an email perspective, I don’t think I would call the iPhone better, just different. While the BB has the advantage of being super easy to use once configured, the iPhone has the advantage of being slightly more flexible and intuitive when configuring multiple email addresses. Each email address can be setup in the system and you can setup as many as you would like. POP and IMAP are prevalent but you can also connect it directly to Exchange (score!) and Gmail (amongst others). You can then use WiFi (I’ll talk more about that in a bit) if available or a data plan if not.

About the WiFi I just talked about. How sweet is that? A super simple to connect mechanism is in place to connect to any WiFi hotspot that is available making it not necessary to dig into your data plan. For the iPhone (which consumes more bandwidth than a standard BB or Cell Phone), this works incredibly well. While in the office or at home or even the local Starbucks, making use of the Internet is a snap. A fantastic browser interface comes along for the ride. For those of you unfamiliar with Safari, I will say that it is hands down the second best browser out there (some would say the best but I have an affinity to FireFox). The iPhone iteration works extremely well (with touch screen controls for zooming) and even syncs up with your iTunes. Nice!

Regarding the syncing I just mentioned, that is an amazing feature if I have ever seen one. The second I plug my iPhone into my computer, it automatically syncs up my mail accounts, music, pictures, contacts, calendar events and applications. My business is constantly backed up to my computer and vice versa and I have no need of a BB Exchange Network to keep my CRM synced and up to date. It works strikingly well and is highly recommended.

I could no doubt talk for hours on the multi-purposeness of the iPhone. I haven’t even mentioned that it takes fantastic pictures, has a sweet calendar / contact system, supports turn by turn GPS and functions as a full purpose iPod. I have no need to chat about these things because they are really just icing on the cake. What I will mention, however, is that if there is something the iPhone does not do right out of the box that you need it to, hey, that’s why there are iPhone applications! Not only has the iPhone prepped for business, it has also allowed you to develop your own (or get us to do it). We at Toggle are going full force into iPhone application development and will be working hard to roll out some very serious business solutions for your corporate iPhone.

So, there you have it. While the iPhone will very likely not replace the BlackBerry right away, it certainly has the momentum to offer a very competitive package. Now if only Rogers would get their act together and allow me to put this baby on a corporate account. Come on Rogers, why would you launch a device, hype it as a business solution and then fail to have the infrastructure in place to support it? Oh well, I am grateful to them for at least bringing it Canada side.

Stay tuned as I begin our very first iPhone application and have a full on live blog throughout the process!

Is it too much to ask for a little customer service?  For the past few years I was under the impression that it was Calgary’s booming oil town economy that has kept me from receiving my fair share of service.  I have patiently lived with the fact that I must go into The Home Depot to receive a wrong answer, not an “I’m not sure?”, but a wrong answer.  Maybe I’m just crazy, but I find it extremely frustrating buying something that I know I will be returning on my next visit. 

And when did our Canadian culture decide that we must go through a thirty minute circle of single digit frustration before talking to a person who doesn’t even care what I have to say.  I guess there is always the wonderful option of standing in line for an hour to talk to someone who can’t operate their computer because it is completely new to them. 

I know there is something going wrong when I get this compelling feeling to write a letter of gratitude to anyone who offers me a glimpse of emotion towards their job. 

I guess it is not all bad.  It certainly gives people with motivation and a positive attitude the opportunity to do whatever they would like.  This continuously frustrating way of life has given me (one of the people who still cares) a chance to go to work everyday and do something I enjoy. 

Sincerely,

A Canadian who still cares

One of my favourite weekends is happening this coming weekend.  I get to have a little mini-vacation out to beautiful Wasa Lake, BC.   Actually it will be a good test for me with my recent purchase.  I bought a used Coleman tent trailer.  For you people east of Alberta, I have been told that you call them “Pop-Up” trailers.  I haven’t taken it out yet, and am slightly worried about how my vehicle will handle this heavy tent trailer in the mountains.  My SUV is rated for 3500 lbs towing capacity, and my tent trailer is 3200 lbs.  I took the trailer to the weigh scales just south of my home, so I know for sure how much it weighs.  With the added weight of food and cooking/tableware supplies, I am sure that I will be close to the 3500 lb limit.  I have done all of the prep work however.  The bearings have been done, the brakes have been serviced, tire pressure checked, and I had new chains installed.  I also had to make some changes to my vehicle to accept this new trailer.  I needed to install a 7 prong plug for the lights, as my vehicle only had the straight 4 prong system.  I had also scheduled my vehicle in with the Ford dealership to have a transmission cooler installed, and was surprised to learn that newer Ford vehicles have these already built into the air-conditioning unit.  I called 3 different Ford dealerships, as I wanted to make sure that this was the correct information I was being given.  Nothing is worse than breaking  down on your holidays.  I am hopeful of an uneventful drive, great weather and good times with my family and friends.  Have a great weekend yourself!

I know Lee is sooo impressed with his new iPhone, but I’m still diggin’ Blackberry. I’m not entirely sure how Lee managed to go from a brand new Blackberry Curve to an iPhone in under 2 months…but I’m not complaining. I snatched his “old” Blackberry Curve first thing this morning before anyone else could upgrade from their Blackberry 8700!

I know Lee is writing cutting edge iPhone apps because iPhones are “cool”, however I don’t think he relized what he just gave up. This Curve is seriously loaded with everything a person needs in a cell phone packed with a media player, camera, email, internet, messaging, video, Google maps, GPS, Facebook and much much more. I’m even writing this blog entry from it right now. It’s absolutely the best communication device I have ever had, bar-none!

Lee can keep his trendy iPhone. Blackberry is still the best business communication device in my opinion!

It’s official, the iPhone has officially arrived.  I am in the middle of downloading Apple’s SDK so that I can immediately begin developing iPhone applications and iPhone application development services.

Initial impressions of the phone leave me in awe, and having it function as an iPod at the same time that I can connect to my car stereo deck is one heck of a deal sweetener.

Now my goal is to make the iPhone work well with my Mac in a business environment here so that I can prove that Apple can be a valid business solution.  Wish me luck Apple enthusiasts though I have to admit that when devices look this sexy and work this well, it may not be that difficult of a sale…