In recent news headlines, Kelowna’s name comes up with announcements about the new $75 million dollar gigacenter that is being built by IBM and RackForce (a Kelowna company). The 70,000 square foot facility scheduled to open in December 2008, is state of the art, energy efficient, “green” and totally secure. Upon completion it will generate 100 plus new career positions in Kelowna and area.

The gigacenter is purportedly going to be the largest in North America. That raises the question of why would these organizations choose Kelowna as the ideal place to build this very expensive facility?  Well first you have to have a clear understanding of why the facility is needed at all.

The gigacenter fulfills the huge and rapidly increasing need for IT data storage. The continuing explosion of data that is being generated (much of which must be securely stored and instantly retrievable when required for both business needs and legal and governmental requirements) is dramatically taxing data storage capacity worldwide. The gigacenter is designed with “state of the art” security, highest reliability, greatest efficiency, readily accessibility and “green power”.   Huge volumes of data will be transmitted and stored in the Kelowna gigacenter from all over the world.

Kelowna is a unique but also ideal choice as the site for this type of facility due to our moderate climate, earthquake and flood free history, and we are not in a zone normally affected by terrorism or other strife. Our electricity is reliable and “green” hydro electric and we have a very stable economy and a growing IT work force with an excellent work ethic.

All of this makes both the gigacenter and Kelowna the ideal choice for organizations both big and small wanting to avoid the disaster of data loss and have the ability to assure rapid and comprehensive disaster recovery. 

The Okanagan Valley already has a surprising number of high tech organizations with dozens of website design firms, software developers, custom programmers, computer sales and support organizations and manufacturers whose products and services are based on high end technology. On behalf of my employer Toggle Networks Inc. I am now offering to valley businesses our “state of the art”, data protection solutions that fit all enterprises, small, medium or large. 

The movers and shakers in business and community development have created and are solidly behind a “Silicon Vineyard” initiative with support from the Okanagan Science and Technology Council, the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Commission. 

The combination of the development of the Gigacenter whose primary function is the secure storage of back up data, the burgeoning growth of IT enterprises in the valley and the “Silicon Vineyard” initiative, has attracted the interest of IT Disaster Recovery and Avoidance experts.

As an example, on October 7, 2008 Toggle Networks Inc. is sponsoring a seminar  “Avoiding a Business Disaster” (naturally being in the Okanagan Valley the no charge format is a Wine & Cheese).

For further information contact ;

Bob Keeling
 Roberts.keeling@togglenetworks.com
(250) 769.9159

Just when you think life on the web can’t get any better Google goes and launches their “Google Chrome.”  Within seconds of installing the new web browser (yes seconds IE) I am wondering why I have never seen some of these features in the past.  

Even with the introduction to tabbed browsing, I was still finding myself filling up my taskbar with IE or Firefox entries across the board.  Google Chrome now lets me simply combine my tabs by dragging them into one nice browser.  How sweet is that?

And why was I stuck with one home page (if I was lucky in tabbed browsing)?  I love the “New Tab” approach that Google Chrome uses.  How convenient is it to have all of my recent web sites, closed tabs, bookmarks, and of course the google search bar all nicely organized on a single screen?  

The address bar just speaks for itself.  Imagine what it should do and then try this out.  Yes, it does whatever you want it to do.

Keep up the good work Google.  Keep making my life easier.

www.google.com/chrome

Application Service Providers (ASP) are represented by a growing number of IT businesses delivering computer services from a central datacenter.  ASP solutions are very effective at reducing and in some cases eliminating the need for complex computer systems at the customers’ site.  A well run ASP service caters to businesses with niche computing needs or streamlined industry computer practices. 

The costs for an ASP service may seem high at first until factoring in the total cost of ownership associated with building and managing a complex computer system onsite.  Many businesses shy away from not “owning” their computer system and look unfavourably on ASP’s.  This will change in the future as computer systems become more centralized and monthly computer services become the accepted norm.  It is typically not in the best interest for businesses that do not specialize in IT to be responsible for an IT solution.  It doesn’t make sense to have an IT guy diagnose and illness, so why should a doctors be responsible for the health of their computer systems.

ASP’s are becoming more prevalent, however there are still many questions that must be asked before jumping on the ASP bandwagon.  A complete ASP solution will only require “dumb” terminals at the customers’ site, which begs the question what if there are other needs like accounting, email, pictures, peripherals, etc. not supported by the ASP.  Maybe there is equipment onsite like x-ray or manufacturing machines that need to communicate with a “smart” terminal or server.  I would say the most prevalent concerns one should have with an ASP is stability, security and disaster recovery.   ASP solutions rely completely on the quality of the Internet connection at the customer and service providers’ site.  Your service will only be as good as quality and security of computer infrastructure provided by the ASP.  And most importantly all your eggs are in one basket, so you must be absolutely confident that the ASP has a comprehensive disaster avoidance, disaster response and disaster recovery solution in place.

When considering an ASP, make sure you get a rock solid Service Level Agreement (SLA).  Ensure the ASP is backed by a proven disaster recovery solution and has taken every possible security precaution.  Consult with an IT professional who understands the ins and outs of ASP services to see if it is right for you in both the short and long term.

Don’t be too quick to assume that ASP’s are the one-stop miracle IT solution you’ve always dreamed about.   Be aware and proceed with caution.

It’ been a long time coming.  I finally joined the ranks of ultimate dork-dom and bought myself a pocket protector…oops, I mean Bluetooth headset.  Yes, I have now completely integrated myself into the digital world of communications by attaching technology to my body.  It’s already bad enough that I’m walking around with my BlackBerry hanging off my hip at all times.  Now I feel like I just had an implant inserted into my brain…which will likely be the next step after my new Bluetooth headset.

Why Ryan would ever do such a thing?  Like pocket protectors, it definitely isn’t to make a fashion statement.  It comes from my need for function and the desire to decrease the odds of getting brain cancer from excessive cell phone usage.  There is much debate over cell phones causing harm to our bodies.   Even if it is false and they are totally safe, why take the risk.  I can’t get rid of my phone and want to live a long and healthy life; so if I can take some preventative measures, why not?

The only problem I’ve had so far with the new Bluetooth headset is the overwhelming insecurity I feel wearing it in public.  I’m told by fellow super dork Lee that my insecurities will pass once I embrace the true dork that lies within all of us!

Even if my cell phone won’t kill me, the car accident I may one day have while driving with my knees, with a phone in one hand and a drink in the other will probably get the job done much quicker!

I have just recently bought my first HDTV, it is cool!  Although I would like something a little bigger, the Sony Bravia 40 inch LCD with 1080p S series is good for a first flat panel television set, it was cheap (was on sale), and our living room is not very big for a home theatre.  Another reason for a new TV set is because the old 37 inch Tube TV is too heavy to move to the new house, and someone was willing to take it for a few hundred dollars.  I was a little critical of the new flat panel televisions, but came to like my new TV.  I feel like I have made a good choice.

The two new technologies out there for HDTV are 1080p (full high definition screen resolution) and 120 Hz (to eliminate motion blurring) — not a very technical explanation, but a layman’s definition.  I am happy that I have at lease one of the two, since the 120 Hz feature the newest, therefore, the same 40 inch LCD with 120 Hz is doubled in price of my LCD TV.  I read a few discussions online and heard from everyday conversation about Plasma versus LCD technologies that are common nowadays; Japanese brand of electronics like Panasonic and Sony versus the recently popular South Korean electronic brands like Samsung and LG.  I’ve based my decision solely on these bias opinions and what my wallet permits — trying to search for the “best bang for the buck” as Lee would say — I ended up with the Japanese branded and the LCD technology.

Don’t take me wrong, the Samsung and LG LCD televisions look very modern, sleek, and very pretty, but their lifespan is very short.  Most online reviews and my father’s friend who owns an electronic repair shop indicates so. Furthermore, I’ve once saw a YouTube video clip that compared the different flat panel technologies for televisions, and they indicated that Plasmas technology TV’s are very clear, but still images left on the screen for a long time (hours), the image (like a logo of a TV channel)  will burn right into the screen permanently.  Moreover, Plasma TV’s has shorter lifespan than LCD’s as well.

Finally, my cable subscription starts August 10th, so I use the TV as a monitor for my laptop, and watched streamed online TV, DVD’s, and anime on it.  The picture looks great, I still have to try high definition cable; I know basic cable doesn’t look good on my new TV, but as Bill Gate says, in the future, everyone will be using their PC’s and internet for programs, no one will use regular cables anymore.  Looks like the future is here!  LOL

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 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.

During the course of the last few years I have met quite a few IT Managers from all walks of life and I couldn’t resist sharing my observations about their psychological behaviour. This blog is a must read for anyone who has been in an IT related field and wants to read about psychology that goes behind skillful IT personnel.. Without naming anyone or hurting anyone’s feeling and yet making my point, I would like to single out those IT decision makers who think that they are doing their employer a favour by keeping things running the way they are. I am talking about the change-phobia infected managers and decision makers who are too scared to take their systems and processes to the next step in business process improvement. I term these kind of people as Breed ONE “play safe – I like the way it is”…didn’t take me anytime to get that nickname in place. As the name suggests this breed of IT personnel are the ones who are scared to make any changes to existing systems and processes as they are afraid to either lose their job or face the repercussions of any changes that they implement. 

Much wittier and proactive is the Breed 2 of IT decision makers. If you are an IT manager and reading this article, you most likely fall in this breed as it accounts for the majority of IT managers. Breed 2 managers think they are very proactive and think in the best interest of their organization, keeping themselves updated on the latest technologies. They look into new solutions to see where the world is heading and learn about every upcoming technology. Yet the ground reality remains, these kinds of managers are too scared to change the way things are done in their organizations. I applaud such managers because at least they are looking out for the best interest of their organization by keeping abreast about happenings in the rest of technology world. Unfortunately these managers are always the followers and usually miss the opportunity of being an innovator and leader. They live by the slogan “Change is good, Change is scary, scary things are not for me”

The last kind, Breed 3 are the dream IT employees of every successful organization.  Of the ones I have met, they are passionate about their job, education, knowledge and would challenge anyone relating to subject matter. They are “techy techy” yet they have a sense of business, they are passionate about processes and yet they have understanding of how people blend into processes.  Most importantly they are not reactive, they are proactive….they look down the horizon for the best interest of their organization…these heroes go a long way in their career. These people are social butterflies, blended in them are great interpersonal skills yet they are focused on their job, they mock new technologies yet they are the pioneers at adapting new technologies for their organizations.  I have realized these people are out of the box thinkers. They think of IT strategies that would protect and differentiate their organization from anyone else. They think of business as an ongoing process. They think how IT supports and enables profitability. These are strategic thinkers.  I have seen these people go way up in the org chart, and they don’t restrict themselves to IT function ….all because they think on a big scale and have a macro view of business.

As the truth holds, the best people work for the best organizations.  What breed of IT Manager or decision maker are you? One who thinks change would never happen?  The one who thinks change would happen and they will catch the tail end of it?  Or the one who says change is inevitable and they will make it happen?

BOOM!!

Well maybe not BOOM, but if our firewall crash last month could have made a sound, it definitely would have been as resounding BOOM.  It’s a gut wrenching feeling as a IT service provider when one of your primary datacenter firewalls crashes without warning.  Fortunately, thanks to our monitoring systems and excellent tech team, we minimized the impact of the failed device and put a temporary solution in place till we get the right replacement.

Since the crash last week we’ve been working our butts off trying to pick the best replacement for our core firewall infrastructure at the Toggle Datacenter.  We met with numerous trusted IT professionals and companies around town and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a Juniper vs. Cisco debate. 

Cisco’s better…No, Juniper is better…No, Cisco because…  You get the idea.  Everyone has an opinion and most seem to biased and backed by not knowing all the facts.  As typical in most technology debates, there is more emotion than fact.  Fortunately one of our service delivery partners had extensive experience with both Cisco and Juniper and really had no preference.  For the first time we were able to assess each company’s products and support objectively.

I won’t bore you with the details, but after a tremendous amount of research and discussion we have chosen to go with 2 redundant Juniper SSG 350M firewalls.  That’s not to say that Cisco is bad and Juniper is good.  The Juniper SSG 300/500 series out-classed the Cisco’s ASA 5500 series for us on performance and price making Juniper the obvious choice.   Plus their support and replacement plans are first class…even though Cisco diehards would have you think otherwise.  It’s like comparing BMW to Merc…never mind, one topic at a time.

I think the real decision maker for us was learning that most of the world’s service providers choose Juniper over Cisco for security and routing solutions.  Heck, even our datacenter providers infrastructure is powered by Juniper, and they are the largest in the world!

In the end, both are excellent solutions and neither can be faulted.  You might just end up making your decision by flipping a coin or going with whichever looks sexier.  I can’t wait to show off the stylish Junipers to the next person I take on a datacenter tour.  I guess emotion did play a part after all

Drop me a line if you every want to see them in action…or to get the full scoop on why we chose Juniper.