Technology

Lee Kirkby on
Technology 

Portable hard drives simplify smaller network backup options

One of the most critical parts of network administration is the regular backup of network data and systems. Since the development of the PC network the most common means of this process has been the tape drive. Having gone through many different sizes and formats tape drive systems have grown in capacity over time to keep up with the increasing demand for larger backup files as data needs have grown.

Tape media has always been hard to manage and when recovery of files was necessary the process could be time consuming and cumbersome at best. Too often when recovery was required the media was not fully reliable and there were problems with some or all of the files.

Backup software designed to manage the process and automate the storage has been expensive and complex to operate. For many small offices it has been a challenge to ensure they do the backups they should and we find that some organizations become vulnerable to loss of data through failure to run regular backups and verify that their data is available for recovery. Ensuring that critical business data and operating systems are backed up and removed offsite for disaster recovery is an important business security issue.

With the advent of large, low cost portable hard drives many businesses can convert their backup systems to a disc-to-disc strategy. By eliminating tape from the system, the frequent, costly media replacement requirements of tape are gone and the backup system can be made more reliable and faster. By running backup to a portable hard drive and removing it off site each day, the security of files and data is maintained while providing a faster and easier to maintain system. Portable hard drives have the potential to store massive amounts of data (up to 1 terabyte) at costs which are less than the media costs for a tape rotation system. The large drives available can support most small to mid-sized networks easily. Using a minimum of two hard drives a daily rotation can remove backup files for offsite storage and security. By introducing additional hard drives into the rotation more security of backup can be gained without substantial additional investment. Most current backup software is compatible with a disc-based system and this means that changing methods can be fairly easily undertaken. Eventually the hard drives will need replacement but this is not a substantial cost with the continued decline in hard drive prices.

Adopting the use of disc-based backup can be a time and money saving strategy if implemented as part of an organized security plan for your business. It is one more way that changes in technology design have reduced costs and given more capacity. If your backup needs to be addressed considering a disc-based system is a viable option.

(L. Lee Kirkby is Vice President of Leppert Business Systems Inc., a Burlington based company specializing in assisting companies with better managing their important business documents.)

London businesses benefit from new Primus Internet Data Centre

LONDON, ON — Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. (Primus Canada) has announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art Internet Data Centre (IDC) in London, Ontario. The new facility houses and manages mission critical computer server hardware and software assets and addresses a demand from local small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) for better IT support.

Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees and medium-sized firms that have between 100 and 500 employees make up 97.7 percent of businesses in Canada.

To address common challenges faced by SMBs, such as lack of resources to dedicate to IT staff and infrastructure, Primus’ London IDC provides a cost-effective, secure, safe and reliable location to house IT infrastructure.

“Primus customers across the country have told us they want locally based solutions to their IT needs,” said A.J. Byers, Senior Vice President, Primus Business Services. “This new IDC in London allows small- and medium-sized businesses across southwestern Ontario to become more productive and focus on their specialized business operations so they can in turn innovate more aggressively.”

According to the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), Primus’s new facility offers local and regional businesses options for a local IDC that serves London’s growing technology and business sectors. By easing the significant up-front cost for technology investment and providing critical IT solutions, the alternative offered by Primus allows SMBs to focus on their core business functions.

“This new facility demonstrates Primus’s commitment to the London market and is a very positive indication of the growth of the small- and medium-sized business sector in London,” said Peter White, President and CEO, LEDC. “We look forward to working with Primus in its support of London businesses.”

The first phase of the new 22,000 square foot Class-A data centre includes 3,500 square feet of raised floor area. Located in an unmarked location with a single secure entrance, the IDC offers protection for servers allowing for maximized up time during a power failure using redundant Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), and a backup diesel generator.

“Our global multimedia company offers a high degree of engineering in the multimedia products we offer,” said Geoff Wagget, Vice President, Operations, for EK3, a global multimedia company based in London, Ontario. “Without proper network fail-safe infrastructure like what Primus is offering, we cannot deliver our solutions. Primus’s superior value-added services such as higher security, redundant transmission links, environmental controls and power failure backup systems put us in a class above our competition to provide reliability in our solutions.”

Software technology unites competing carriers

BY CHERYL VIGH The Business Executive

WINDSOR — Utilizing innovative transportation software, competing trucking companies are doing the unspeakable in the highly competitive business world. They are working together and sharing information to achieve the same outcomes — more revenue, access to a nationwide fleet and an opportunity to better serve their customers.

With an office in Detroit and its headquarters in Windsor, GPSNet Technologies Inc. manages and distributes software-based services and solutions to customers across the Internet from a central data centre. The alliance of carriers that use GPSNet’s technology competes in the same marketplace across North America. But even though they compete, they also work together sharing trucks and loads using GPSNet as the information conduit.

Subscribers to GPSNet Technologies Inc. software have shared access to a large fleet of 6,000 trucks and growing as more trucking companies get on board. GPSNet Technologies Inc. president Stuart Sutton explains the software sends the work request of one carrier to a competing carrier’s database where specific information is shared. The competitor picks up the load on behalf of the carrier without the customer knowing the source.

“My customer continues to call me because I had a truck available to them. So they (trucking companies) are now a multi-national organization that constantly says yes to their customers,” says Sutton.

Ben Bauman, president of Ohio-based trucking company Bolt Express, says the GPS software technology helps his company better serve customers.

“Before we had the GPS software, our customers would call our company to have us handle a shipment for them. If we did not have a truck available to pick up the shipment in the time frame they requested, we had to turn down the shipment and the customer many times turned to a competitor,” says Bauman. Now with access to GPSNet’s customer base, Bolt Express can handle nearly any shipment request including specialized equipment requests.

“If they get past the fact they’re working with their competition, they realize they can make more money together,” says Sutton. Bauman adds, “GPS has given us a business advantage by helping Bolt Express take down the walls of competition allowing us to work with other carriers to provide a seamless service to our customer base.”

GPSNet’s software allows its customers to choose whom they want to do business with and those they do not. By working together and moving loads on behalf of their competitors, trucking companies on the system are more likely to keep their trucks moving with paying freight. It is common for carriers to return without freight making the trip less profitable.

The ability to meet customer requests and move full loads to and from the destination enable GPSNet customers to weather the industry’s traditionally seasonal economic slowness as well as outperform their peers. Sutton attributes the technology to some GPSNet customers experiencing 50 percent growth in the last three years.

“It’s the way they use the technology. The ones that figure it out and know how to make it work have been successful growing their business in a stagnant economy,” he adds. Canadian subscribers are also benefitting as more American companies turn to their Canadian competitors within the GPSNet system to bring freight into Canada rather than deal with potential border hassles.

Launched in 2001, GPSNet Technologies has more than 350 companies using the system, with 90 percent of them U.S.-based. In 2007, the company was one of 15 Ontario companies that won an Ontario Global Traders Award sponsored by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Provincial Ministry of Economic Development and Trade for developing an international market for the product.

Online and in real time, the transportation technology manages several key components of the trucking industry including customer management, fleet management, order entry, street level routing and directions, automatic ETA (estimated time of arrival) calculations, GPS cell phone tracking and communication, rating, billing, driver pay, integration with accounting software, to name a few. An order entered into the system, for example, will automatically calculate trip mileage, the cost to the customer based on a rate structure and provide real time updates on the truck’s location and ETA. If the truck is running late, customers are automatically notified. Even the smallest trucking companies associated with the system have access to state-of-the-art technology.

“What sets us apart from other companies that sell dispatch software is we are a community — a community that allows them to say yes to their customer more often and benefit from always moving paying freight,” says Sutton. TBE

Professional development and skills training a challenge for many CIOs

TORONTO — Providing employees with adequate skills training tops the list of staffing concerns for technology executives today, a new survey shows. More than a quarter (26 percent) of chief information officers (CIOs) polled said providing adequate professional development and skills training for their information technology (IT) professionals is their greatest staffing challenge. Maintaining productivity levels ranked second, cited by 20 percent of respondents, followed by recruiting IT professionals at 16 percent.

The study, developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of information technology professionals on a project and full-time basis, and conducted by an independent research firm, is based on telephone interviews with 270 CIOs across Canada.

CIOs at medium firms (250–499 employees) are having the greatest difficulty in providing staff with adequate training: 32 percent of respondents from this category named this as their top concern. Medium firms also had the greatest challenge in keeping employees productive, as cited by 22 percent of respondents. When it came to finding skilled IT professionals, medium to large firms (500–999 employees) are having the greatest challenge as noted by 34 percent of CIOs in companies this size.

Leppert adds Francotyp-Postalia to its product offerings 

BURLINGTON — Leppert Business Systems Inc. has been named the Halton/Hamilton area approved dealer for Francotyp-Postalia mailing systems. This new addition to the broad range of Leppert suppliers provides an extra element of service that can be offered to Leppert clients.

In writing to area Francotyp-Postalia clients, National Sales Manager, Nick Rasso said about the Leppert relationship: “Join us in welcoming Leppert Business Systems Inc. as the new dealer for Burlington and surrounding areas. They have been service trained on the FP line of mailing equipment and have a 33 year history of experience in servicing and supporting a wide range of other business technologies.”

“We are excited about the opportunity that this new product line offers for us to more completely support our clients’ office document needs,” said Ian Leppert, the company’s President, when the announcement was made to the Leppert internal team. “We look forward to serving our clients with this complimentary service.”

Francotyp-Postalia Canada has been active in the Canadian mailing market for over 45 years and is part of a German based company that has been active since 1923 in over 86 countries worldwide. All FP products have met the Canada Post 2007 ECDSA and Data Capture compliance standards.

Leppert Business Systems Inc. is a Burlington-based business that has provided document-focused services to offices throughout the Southern Ontario region for over 33 years. Concentrating on print, copy, fax and scan technologies as well as IT network support and document management systems, Leppert has built a solid reputation for product delivery and after sale support. Taking a creative approach to client needs, Leppert is able to match the requirements of a client environment to a wide range of offerings from major suppliers.

WorkInWoodstock.ca will assist both employers and job seekers

WOODSTOCK — Woodstock Economic Development has launched a new initiative aimed at linking local employers with those seeking employment. A new site, www. WorkInWoodstock.ca offers local businesses the opportunity to post, free of charge, employment advertisements for positions available in Woodstock. Listings are to be self- managed by the employer with all inquiries coming directly to them. Job seekers have the option of viewing the site anonymously but also have the option of having an E-Alert e-mail notification sent directly to them every time a new job is posted.

Woodstock Economic Development is providing this site free of charge as a means of assisting local employers with recruitment.

Development Commissioner Len Magyar said, “We realize for any company, part of remaining competitive is having good access to a broad pool of labour at all skill levels. We plan to promote the site in larger daily newspapers in Ontario, on-line and at trade shows. With all of the recent growth in Woodstock there are no-doubt many people out there that are eager to work in our community”.

WorkInWoodstock.ca came online March 1, 2008. All Woodstock employers and placement agencies are eligible to sign-up and use the system immediately. Go to: www.WoodstockNOW.com and click on the Work Force tab.