Alberta Business Marketing

As a new business owner, I definitely fit into this category.  I really don’t care about the machines that make this work, the software we use or the servers that our blogs sit on.  And yes Dana, I agree with you about IT Professionals not seeing the importance of the data and I have taken to turning off the guys who try to impress with me with technical chatter.  So yes Dana, this is me…

From Dana Epp…

Business owners generally don’t really care about computer hardware. Or operating systems. Or business software. They care about what it produces. The data. The information. The information assets. And they care that their business continues to function, to drive their revenues.

Too many IT professionals forget about that. They treat information assurance as an afterthought. A line item to sell antivirus or a tape backup system. And it’s a disservice to the clients they are responsible to protect.

At Scorpion Software, we are doing something about that. Alongside our award-winning strong authentication and identity assurance solutions like AuthAnvil that help to control access to sensitive information, we help our partners to learn how to properly approach security and how to appropriately mitigate risk to acceptable levels for their own customers.

And that is what this workshop in New York is about.

Attendees will learn how to discuss business and technical risk to business owners, how to build an asset catalog, and how to build a consultative trusted advisory process to generate new revenues in response to the application of risk mitigation techniques. This will help attendees to explore and find business opportunity while protecting their clients most critical information assets.

Read more about Dana Epp’s presentation in New York at SMB Nation

My note…Dana is a great friend and a trusted colleague.  I highly recommend you link up with this guy.  He is a whiz when it comes to computer security.  I know a lot of you who read this blog are not technical people and are just like me, a business owner and someone who uses technology.  I encourage you to reach out to Dana to learn more about how Scorpion Software’s IT security systems can protect your business data.

Tags: authanvil, Business IT, business software, Business/Finance, computer hardware, Computer network security, Computer security, Data security, identity assurance solutions, Information assurance, Information security, National security, New York City, operating systems, Public safety, scorpion software, security, security systems, smb nation, Technology/Internet
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Managed Service Providers is a term really only used by a selected few in a tight community of small business technology support companies across the globe.  These firms are committed to helping small businesses with all their computer and network support, most of them are also focused on Microsoft networks and Microsoft services.  This is definitely a blood-red ocean, and there are a number of firms looking at tapping into this market of support companies from around the globe.

On Thursday, I was blessed to enjoy a great chat with Mark Checksfield via Skype (a free telephone service) who works with Naverisk, a leader in the Australian/New Zealand market  in the remote monitoring, remote support and patch management marketplace.  Naverisk came highly recommended to me from some great friends in the business and Stuart Selbst.  Even though I provide no IT services to clients that require me to use their services, it was great to discuss the market and opportunities with Mark and keep my finger on the pulse of a community where I recently finished 15 years of service.

Naverisk is a firm located in Auckland, New Zealand and they are starting to get traction in the Australian and New Zealand Managed Services market.  Mark even shared with me that they are now gaining some momentum in the US and Canada, a market which has great potential.

I am no expert when it comes to these tools and actually when I was providing computer services to small business in Calgary I often thought of these services as simply a cash grab.   In reality, at the end of the day they provided no real value to my clients (one of my friends this week told me that he actually removed one of these solutions because he claims it was invasive (he first used the term TROJAN) and violated his own privacy policy) and for many of peers often emptied their bank accounts as they jumped from solution to solution.  I have found with Naverisk a different approach, Mark appears to be aligned with the “Go Giver” model and their pricing structure is affordable and flexible for every computer support company.

I would give Naverisk a review if you are looking for a remote monitoring tool for managed service providers.  For me, I am not gaining financially from writing this post, I want to share with you a solution which appears to meet the needs of every technology support firm and is aligned with the core principles of being a Go Giver.

Tags: Auckland, bank, Business, Business IT, business technology support, Business/Finance, Calgary, canada, free telephone service, International trade, leader, Live Virtual Help Desk, managed services, Mark Checksfield, Microsoft Corporation, Naverisk, New Zealand, remote monitoring tool, Stuart Selbst, supply chain management, technology support, Technology/Internet, United States
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SaaS Opportunities are opening up in Asia

Calgary International Trade Broker, AvGlobe had just successfully obtained a mandate to provide 100 to 200 software providers using software as a service – cloud computing in Singapore as part of Singapore’s drive to be a IT Hub of southeast Asia. This initiative is supported by the various business chambers and associations in Singapore.

Currently, the cloud computing platform had consistent supporters of around 3000+ small / medium businesses. The softwares of interests would be any customisable business associated software such as accounting, invoicing, payroll, sales/lead generation, customer resource management, supply chain management, remote desktop, process management, project planning and management and much more.

For more information contact Alan Tay from AvGlobe Consulting Inc.

Tags: alan tay, Asia, AvGlobe Consulting Inc ., Business, Business IT, Business models, Business/Finance, Calgary International Trade Broker, Cloud applications, cloud computing, cloud computing platform, Computing, customer resource management, Everything as a service, Information technology management, process management, Singapore, Software as a service, Software distribution, software providers using software, southeast Asia, supply chain management, Technology/Internet
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Even though I don’t do much with IT services these days, much rather pass this soft of stuff over to my friends in the industry now.  If you need IT support, contact me, I have friends who can help your Calgary small business.

But, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for Erick Simpson at MSPU.  So, why not share this information for him after all he helped me big time over the past few years.

Tags: Business, Business IT, Business/Finance, CompTIA, dallas, Dallas CompTIA, Geography of Texas, Human Interest, managed services, MSP University, Professional certification, Service Delivery Boot Camp, Texas, Union Station, USD
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I woke up this morning to a Google Alert from my friend Arlin Sorensen, the founder of Heartland Tech Groups (HTG).  Thanks Arlin for the wonderful compliments and sound vote of confidence in my pursuit to help Information Technology Professionals, Calgary business and small business worldwide understand how they can leverage Social Media to do great things online.

It is great for the potential opportunity to be the HTG Social Media dude.

Also good luck to North Battleford Computer Specialist, Brad Kowerchuk who will be taking my place on the HTG Advisory Council.

With Brad’s appointment, we bid farewell to Stuart Crawford who has served on the advisory council since its inception a few years ago. Stuart was part of HTG3 before moving to help us begin our first international group in Canada, where he facilitated HTG10 for a year and a half. Stuart has a passion to help people, and caught the Go Giver bug in ways that became contagious. He leaves us to pursue his passion around social media and the web. He is consulting for businesses in his hometown of Calgary and around the globe as he serves people and their desire to learn how to leverage the communication tools of the 21st century. Thank you Stuart for your hard work and contributions to helping HTG become what it is today.

Read all of Arlin’s post here.

Tags: arlin sorensen, Battleford Computer Specialist, Brad Kowerchuk, Business IT, Calgary, canada, communication tools, Google Inc., Haitian gourde, HTG Advisory Council, information technology, North Battleford Computer Specialist, Social Media Ventures Inc, stuart crawford, The Giver
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