Coleman Technologies Blog

For Much of History People Worked From Home

In medieval times people predominantly worked at their place of residence. Many people of this era in Europe lived in what are known now as longhouses. They lived a subsistence life, looking after their crops and livestock. Individuals that lived in these communal buildings typically found a way to justify their inclusion by gaining a trade that would help the rest of the people out. In fact, it wasn’t until the mid-18th century where people started going outside their immediate community to go to work; and even then, the people that ran the factories lived and operated out of small buildings adjacent to the main factory.

Office Work In the 20th Century

As industrialization took hold, there was demand for clerical workers and salesmen that necessitated building an office. Inventions such as electric motors, telegraphy (and eventually telephony), and the typewriter facilitated a major change for business. 

Only a few decades later, much of the job market was represented by clerical work. The workers that still worked in production were made to hold fast to management's new standards for productivity. The standard that kept increasing. Managers of the time began to keep detailed figures of how long a task should take. According to a productivity field guide from 1960, swiveling in your seat should have taken .009 minutes. At this juncture, the cubicle was invented, bringing unparalleled distraction prevention to the modern office.

Technology Helped Encourage Remote Practices

As computing became more commonplace, so did remote working. Factories, the base for the 20th century American economy, started to close as the price of labor started to be prohibitive for business. Service jobs filled the gap and a new level of productivity was established. Major innovations such as the personal computer, home Internet service, and ultimately cloud computing have expanded the availability for a worker to have access to everything he/she needs from anywhere.

What better place than home?

Remote work had been growing pretty rapidly as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In mid-May, 66 percent of people that could work from home, were working from home. That number is sure to go down as businesses reopen, but it may be that enough has been learned from this situation that employers will offer more flexibility to their staff than they had previously.

Remote work can provide your business some serious benefits. To talk to our professional consultants, call Coleman Technologies today at (604) 513-9428.

Tape backup has been used for a long time, and it was once the most prominent solution for data backup out there. Nowadays, it’s not used much at all, mostly in favor of better and more convenient solutions. However, there has been a slight resurgence in tape backup, so we want to look at why some companies might still use it, despite its flaws.

Why Use Tape Backup?

Data redundancy tends to fuel businesses and their data strategies, and this is even more true as the cost and availability of digital backup systems has decreased over time. Tape backup has mostly been phased out, but some businesses still choose to cling to it for a variety of reasons. Here are some of them:

• Reliability and Longevity: Tape backup is reliable, and has been for a while. It can last for a long time when it’s cared for properly, being less susceptible to corruption over time compared to some storage media.
• Long-Term Storage: Tape is also helpful for storing large amounts of data for long periods of time. The infrastructure is the initial investment, but ongoing costs are low compared to other solutions.
• Data Retention Regulations: Data retention is a point of contention for some organizations, entities, and industries. Tape backup is a way to meet those standards for the sake of compliance, if nothing else.
• Large Data Sets: Businesses that have a lot of data to work with will find cloud backups somewhat impractical, largely due to bandwidth limitations. Tape backup can skirt around this issue.
• Legacy Systems: If compatibility with legacy systems is a factor, then tape backup could give businesses an out while they migrate to newer systems.
• Offline Backups: Tape is stored offline and in a secure off-site location, keeping data loss low in the event of a system failure or natural disaster.

Other Solutions Are Better, Though

We think it’s great that people are making the effort to protect their data, even if it’s with tape, and even if there are better options available. One such solution that we love to recommend to our clients is the BDR, or backup and disaster recovery solution. This system uses incremental backups that occur as often as every 15 minutes to save and store data both on-site and in the cloud or a secure, off-site data center. This provides the redundancy needed to guarantee recovery when it’s needed most.

In comparison, tape is labor-intensive and time-consuming. It could take hours or days just to restore a backup. It’s not reliable, and you can do so much better. Let us help you get there with BDR. To learn more, call us today at (604) 513-9428.

Depending on their needs, businesses might have a series of consumer-grade printers, or they may rely on a centralized network copier/printer. Regardless of how you go about using the printers at your business, ensuring they are managed centrally will help a business cut down on problems. 

You Can Manage and Control the Expenses Tied to Printing

Many businesses don’t manage their printers at all. As ink/toner prices continue to climb, this can produce major, pointless costs. That’s why some businesses have begun to push a paperless strategy, using digital means to store, search, share, and back up organizational files. This strategy, while coming with substantial costs, takes the guesswork out of the whole process.

Reducing the amount that your users print can really make a difference over time. In a recent industry survey conducted by Xerox, it was found that 64 percent of small businesses aren’t tracking their printer usage costs. The report also revealed that nearly half of companies believe that their employees were just printing out their emails. 

Printer Management is Worth Investing In

To avoid the waste that comes with this type of behavior, a small business can deploy tools used to control, report, on, and restrict printer usage. Since every business has different uses and requirements, using a permissions-based system allows for centralized management over your printers.

Additionally, by having a print management platform in place, those endpoints are patched, updated, and protected against threats. There have been many cases over the last couple years where cybercriminals have utilized office printers as an entry-point for spreading malware or breaching data. These types of exploits can cost your business a lot more than another ream of paper or toner cartridge.

Going Paperless May Be Right for You

For some organizations, it may be worth it to reduce your printing costs by going paperless. Going completely digital means that documents can be searched, copied, organized, and shared securely, and backed up without requiring paper, toner, or bulky filing cabinets. Today, even contracts can be shared and signed digitally without a single sheet of paper being used.

Would you like to learn more about paperless office solutions? Contact us today at (604) 513-9428.

Go in with a Plan
Have you ever had a meeting where you start with a general idea of what you want to discuss, then somehow wind up on a topic completely unrelated? This isn’t that out of the ordinary, and weekly meetings that are held for the sake of having a meeting could potentially result in these kinds of sessions, where substance is lacking, and focus is at an all-time low. If you have a strict agenda, then you’ll be more likely to cover important topics in a way that is conducive to everyone’s us of time.

Use Better Technology
If you find your meetings lacking in presentation, then you can use some technology to make it more interesting than just a couple of people sitting around a table. You can take advantage of media, slideshows, infographics, and so much more to provide context for the conversation you’re having. If meeting in the office doesn’t work out, you can even implement mobile technology and web conferencing software to keep your team connected from any location with an Internet connection.

Give Employees the Opportunity to Talk
People like to feel like they are involved in meetings, and if you give them the chance to express themselves in an environment that values their feedback, they will often thrive. Open up a portion of your meetings to give employees a chance to voice any concerns or thoughts they might have. You might find that the dialogue created from this could be valuable.

If your business could use some help with improving its meetings, Coleman Technologies can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

Innovation Technology

Information technology systems are the foundation of the many processes that a lot of businesses rely on. These systems enable you to store data efficiently, putting it to use and interfacing with it collaboratively - but as these systems are so crucial, they must also be properly monitored and maintained.

After all, without its technology, a business that relies on said technology isn’t going to be able to accomplish much.

This has been a driving force behind innovations to technology - boosting reliability, introducing transformative tools, and advancing both business and society at large. However, since this isn’t particularly easy to put into practice, various industry thought leaders have been actively attempting to transform a variety of considerations, including:

• Applications
• Infrastructure architectures
• Service delivery
• DevOps
• Production operations
• Security
• Compliance

This has effectively been accomplished by developing solutions to meet assessed needs. As a result, new solutions are being thought up to help expand IT from its role in support to actively promoting key business tasks.

Leveraging Cognitive Computing Investments

Cognitive computing is the processing of business data through a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other powerful computing resources. With these systems, patterns can be recognized, data mined, and language processed far more efficiently than without. With more information, businesses that leverage cognitive computing can see considerable benefits:

• Enhanced business agility via quicker decision making
• Consistent process scaling to meet operational and budgetary demands
• Improved business performance and efficiency

Using these technologies also allows you to support various other aspects of your operations, both internally (filling out your operational structure) and externally (automating customer retention efforts). By making a business more “intelligent,” these investments can provide a competitive advantage, as well as more diverse means of generating revenues.

Smarter Security

A data breach can be catastrophic for a business - and attacks happen far too often today to be ignored. Quite a few tools have been developed to help block out these threats, as well as improve internal data security initiatives.

Of these tools, many leverage AI and machine learning to adapt a cybersecurity policy to better match the threats a business contends with. However, these systems aren’t impervious to threats, which means that business owners need to identify their potential risks, including:

• Remote access - With the rise in remote workers and other mobility enhancements that allow data and applications to be accessed from outside the network, the connections that enable this access need to be secured.
• IoT - The Internet of Things has seen an explosive growth in popularity, but with the unfortunate side effect of bringing insecure endpoints into your business. You need to have a strategy to minimize the risks they present.
• Regulatory requirements - Some businesses and industries have additional rules that they must abide by passed down by the government. You must ensure you are meeting any conditions that apply to you.
• Hackers and cybercriminals - While businesses now have access to better tools, so do hackers. This requires you to remain vigilant in your network security.

It is also important to mention that this list is far from comprehensive - there are many more threats out there to resist, avoid, and otherwise defend against. Today’s tools are the most effective way to accomplish this.

To learn more about how you can adopt technology that helps your business succeed, reach out to the IT professionals at Coleman Technologies.

Regularly, when a business is searching for ways to move their operations forward, there is a little hand wringing on how to do so. Every decision your business has to make comes with a price tag, and the more that you can do without spending a lot of money, the more value you are going to see. For this week’s blog, we thought we’d take a look at some actions you can take with your technology to ensure that your business is going in the right direction.

Procurement and Deployment

When you are looking to upgrade your business’ technology, cost is likely the most important variable. This leads to a tendency to prioritize smaller investments that don’t necessarily cost your business a lot of money. Unfortunately, any value-creating piece of hardware or software is going to take a substantial investment for your business. Fortunately, there are options out there that give decision makers options on how these investments are made. 

Traditionally, if your business needed a new server, your company would price out how much they would have to pay to buy the hardware, migrate all the data and applications from the old hardware to the new hardware, and whatever associated costs that come with the setup and management of a new server. If the server was brought in to add more computing to your existing infrastructure, the setup and integration of the new server would come with its own associated costs. 

Today, you can add to your business’ computing infrastructure faster and with powerful technology through the integration of cloud computing. The costs associated with cloud infrastructure are comparable to the ones that you would pay over time with a hardware lease, but with it you get integrated management and maintenance of that infrastructure. Since the only real drawback is that you need an Internet connection to access those cloud-based resources it is an excellent option for companies looking to quickly add powerful new IT solutions to their current infrastructure. 

Managing Security

One of the most difficult parts of managing a robust computing infrastructure is keeping it secure. In fact, a lot of the axillary costs associated with maintaining large IT systems are tied up in security. Of course, you can decide what level of security investment is right for your situation, but you have to take into account that the less you invest in keeping your business’ IT secure, the more likely you will deal with security breaches; a potentially devastating thing for your business.  

At Coleman Technologies, we provide comprehensive network and infrastructure security solutions designed to keep the near neverending myriad of threats off of your business’ IT. We also can help you create policies and procedures that work to keep your staff trained and in-the-know about all types of potential security problems. Our technicians work with British Columbia businesses every day, and in the course of doing business see a lot of situations that provide us with real world experience in dealing with potential threats. Not only can we outfit your business with the technology you need to help mitigate ongoing threats, we also have the ability to customize a security plan specifically for your business needs, even when it includes comprehensive training.

Innovation

If you talk to any technology professional that works with businesses, they will tell you that if you can manage to integrate automated tools, you will be improving your business’ efficiency. One of the most important considerations any business owner or decision maker has to make in today’s business environment is how to streamline operations and get their revenue-generating staff to do just that. A lot of businesses have their best people working in support roles over 25 percent of the time, no doubt cutting down on the organization’s effectiveness. 

In using innovative software platforms to help your business cut out huge wastes of time and prioritize productivity, you get more out of your business. Today, you can get all types of powerful applications for human resources, security, business operations, marketing, sales, collaboration, communications, operational support, and more. Aside from improved access, there are other benefits that utilize state-of-the-art tools like artificial intelligence that can automate more processes, further improving efficiency.

Regardless of how you want to approach it, getting more from your technology is important if you want to increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction and retention, and other variables important to building a more productive and efficient business. If you would like to have a conversation about how to use technology to help you build a better business give us a call at (604) 513-9428 today.

Staying optimistic can be challenging, not just in business but in life. Here’s a few ways to give your business a little more confidence in your ability to support your business.

Enhancing Efficiency and Productivity

Technology can significantly enhance efficiency and productivity, fostering optimism among business owners. Advanced software and automation tools streamline operations, reduce manual errors, and speed up processes. Project management tools help teams collaborate seamlessly and meet deadlines. Cloud computing provides easy access to data from anywhere, ensuring uninterrupted work. These improvements boost worker productivity and improve time management, giving business owners confidence in their company’s smooth operation and consistent growth.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Technology also boosts optimism through data-driven decision-making. With big data analytics, businesses can gather and analyze vast amounts of information to understand customer behavior, market trends, and operational performance. Analytic tools enable owners to track key performance indicators and make informed decisions based on real-time data, reducing risks and improving future trend predictions. This data-driven approach instills a sense of control and confidence in the business’ direction.

Enhanced Customer Engagement

Another critical area where technology contributes to optimism is customer engagement. Social media platforms, email marketing, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems allow businesses to interact with customers more personally and effectively. CRM tools help manage customer interactions, track sales, and provide personalized service, leading to higher customer satisfaction and retention rates. Effective customer engagement helps business owners remain optimistic about their business prospects by ensuring they can consistently reach and satisfy their customers.

Innovation and Competitive Advantage

Embracing technology enables businesses to innovate and maintain a competitive edge. Advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) open new avenues for product development and service delivery. AI can create smarter products, automate customer service, and optimize supply chains. Blockchain enhances security and transparency in transactions, while IoT improves inventory management and operational efficiency. By using these technologies, businesses can differentiate themselves from competitors, create unique value propositions, and capture new market opportunities. This potential for innovation and growth fuels optimism among business owners, presenting endless possibilities for their business' future.

To learn more about how we can help you handle your business technology give us a call today at (604) 513-9428.

There’s no beating around the bush with this one; moving data from one place to another, also known as data migration, is critical to get right the first time. If you create and follow a migration strategy, evaluating here and there to make sure it’s all going according to plan, you’ll see great success in this effort. Let’s go over how you can make it happen.

The Process of Migration Testing

When testing your data migration process, it’s important to make sure you take action to plan it out long before the process begins, as well as what happens after the migration. If you evaluate your process before, during, and after the migration, you’ll have key insights into specific metrics that can help you gauge the success of the endeavor. Of course, there are plenty of things that can go wrong, and keeping an eye on things throughout the process will help you catch them before they cause too much trouble.

Also of note is that data migration requires some pretty technical skills and know-how, so it’s advisable to have professionals on hand to help you with the process. Coleman Technologies is happy to assist you with this complicated process.

All that said, we can now take a look at what you need to know before, during, and after a migration.

What Should You Do Before Your Migration?

First, we recommend that you look at how much data needs to be migrated to establish a frame of reference for the success of the migration. It’s also crucial that you take measures to protect your data while you migrate everything to a new location, and be sure to back it up just in case of a worst-case scenario.

Furthermore, be sure that your team is aware of the proposed timeline, and make sure that your budget can cover this timeline in a sustainable way. The last thing you need to do is cut corners. Doing so could potentially put you at risk of doing it poorly, or even leave you subject to fines and other compliance issues if the system you’re migrating to is not adequate.

What Should You Do During the Migration?

As the migration occurs, you should break up your data into smaller batches so that testing is more efficient and easier to pull off. You can also take the opportunity to set access permissions according to the roles of your employees.

What Should You Do After the Migration?

Once you have finished the migration, you should go through and test your new solutions to make sure that they all work correctly. This involves making sure that the data have made it to the new system in the correct format. Checking the system performance should also be a priority, as well as various security assessments like stress testing, penetration testing, and others.

Need a Hand with Data Migration?

Coleman Technologies can help your business with its data migration needs. To learn more, call us today at (604) 513-9428.

IT support is a must for the modern business. Whether you have an internal IT administrator, a team of technicians on staff, or you outsource your management, you need to ensure that your business has the support and service needed to keep your business’ technology running efficiently. 

The technology that organizations use for business hasn’t really changed much over the past few decades unless you count the emerging technologies that some organizations have rolled out recently such as AI tools and dynamic IoT technologies. In this week’s blog, we will go over how organizations have shifted their IT support structure to get more value for their business.

A Little Background

For decades businesses that depended on technology had three options: They could hire technology professionals to help deploy tools and manage the organization’s technology; they could wait until their technology breaks and get it fixed by an outside break/fix vendor; or they could just have their regular employees troubleshoot problems as they arise. Let’s go through each option to see why demand has grown for affordable outsourced IT support.

Hiring Internal IT Professionals

This option is still used by a lot of organizations. Frankly, if your organization can afford it, it is never a bad idea to have an internal IT professional at the ready to help you fix problems, create strategy, and onboard new tools. But, there's the rub: can you afford it? The average IT technician makes over $50,000 per year, with some with years of useful experience getting paid 50-to-100 percent more than that. It can be a major expense to hire new IT talent and even then you only have one person handling all the technology issues. It can be a bit much.

Waiting for Technology to Break

This was the preferred method for many organizations for years. Basically, technology will work great for a while, then it will break. It isn’t much different today. Once there was a broken computer/printer/router etc., you would take it to a break/fix vendor and then get it back in the rotation after a few days away. This seems reasonable, until you take into consideration the money you aren’t making as you wait to get your technology back. Downtime can cost any business a lot of money, and do so very rapidly. By waiting to get your technology back, you are basically succumbing to the downtime your company has to deal with. No good.

Employee Troubleshooting

Probably the riskiest strategy of them all is to allow your staff to troubleshoot problems on their own. This not only will surely cause a lot of downtime, but it will likely have lasting impacts on your business’ ability to effectively do the things it needs to do to generate revenue. This subset of businesses is the most likely to have devastating technology issues bring down their whole company. 

A Better Strategy

For the past decade many businesses have taken advantage of a better strategy: Managed IT services. This service effectively replaces your IT management strategy with a team of technicians that work remotely to manage your business’ IT with state-of-the-art monitoring and management software. The benefit of this is to have your technology constantly monitored for threats and underperformance so that technicians can fix issues with these systems before they can become profit-sapping problems. 

This form of proactive IT management is only one of the numerous beneficial services that come with a comprehensive managed IT services contract. Some of the other features include:

• Expert technicians - You know those technicians making $80-to-$100K per year because of their field experience? Those are the level of technicians that typically run proactive services at managed IT service providers. You will get to work with a team of technicians and consultants that know how technology fits into your business, and what needs to happen to get it to that point. 
• Budgetable monthly payment - With Managed IT, you know exactly how much your technology support costs are beforehand. 
• Vendor management - You may be surprised just how much time away from your business your vendors cause you to take. Knowledgeable consultants can manage your IT vendor relationships for you to ensure that you have a professional perspective working for your business.
• Backup and Disaster Recovery - The BDR service backs up your company’s crucial data and applications to ensure that if something goes wrong, you have an up-to-date backup of the data you need to keep your business running.
• Hardware support - If something goes wrong and our technicians can’t fix it remotely, we will come onsite to ensure that your hardware is fixed and you can get back to business fast. 

The whole point is that managed services providers do things remotely and proactively so that you don’t have to see massive maintenance costs. If you would like to learn more about getting your business the technology support and management it needs, give Coleman Technologies a call at (604) 513-9428.

5G

The first technology that anyone who's anyone in the technology industry has their eyes on is 5G. If you were to think of a technology that would transform business, 5G might not be on the top of your list, but, rest assured, it will completely alter society, so businesses will be affected. What is 5G? It’s the long-awaited fifth generation of wireless connectivity that is promising ubiquitous gigabit speeds for everyone. While most of the hubbub surrounding 5G has been about sating people’s need for download speeds and autonomous vehicles, the technology will bring big changes for businesses. 

As far as the business goes, 5G will reduce latency to the point where all of the smart devices that have been introduced over the past half-decade can effectively communicate. This presents more dynamic options to use smart technology for business purposes in and out of the office. Since data transmission will see less latency and higher speeds, data and services should be seamless.

At CES, plenty was made of 5G as a mobile-centric technology, but a lot of the technology that was on display at CES shifted past the smartphone and onto devices that are aimed at improving business. Cutting edge computers, apps, networking equipment, and things (a whole lot of things) aimed at impressing CIOs and decision makers with advanced functionality and speed, were on display throughout the event. From supply chain management to transportation to (of course) mobility, the innovators at CES touched on a large cross-section of improvements 5G is going to make for businesses and at home. 

Cloud Analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence

Businesses have been pretty aggressive over the past couple of years implementing tools that claim to have some type of machine learning or artificial intelligence to improve many aspects of their business. The technology has been used liberally to improve customer service, optimize operations and logistics, even to predict customer behavior. Even in its relative infancy, the applications for these technologies seem to be vast.

At CES, visitors got a look at all types of new ways that businesses are going about using these technologies. One of the most impressive uses of these technologies is in new logistics tools. Between the use of autonomous vehicles that speed up businesses and lead to fewer shipping costs, and computer vision that provides transparency in the acquisition and viability of resources, AI is at the center of business-specific applications that will make it to market in 2020. 

Consumerization of IT

At an event called the Consumer Electronics Show, it stands to reason that it would be a treasure trove of new and useful technologies (or in the case of CES 2020, technology-fueled “things”) on display. The consumerization of IT has been ongoing for the past several years, and businesses have reaped the rewards of this. 

At CES, the whole event is dedicated to pushing the consumerization of IT. New solutions to problems, new products incorporating innovative technology, and strategic technology rollouts aimed to take advantage of other innovations were all over CES 2020. New computers, including the first look at some 5G-capable ones, are some of the more noteworthy of the event; and, are definitely aimed to catch the attention of CIOs and other business decision makers. 

With so many prototypes being unveiled at CES, it’s hard to maintain that this technology will even make it to market, let alone be available any time soon. If you want to learn more about CES 2020, visit the event’s website at https://www.ces.tech/. For more great technology-centric articles aimed to help your business, return to our blog soon.

Need #1: Security

In order to be successful, a business needs to have the security necessary to protect its resources. The first step to accomplishing that, is to identify any weaknesses in its infrastructure through a preliminary IT evaluation known as an IT risk assessment. This assessment can reveal where a business is the most vulnerable. At that point, these flaws can be mitigated using tools like firewalls, antivirus, and multi-factor authentication - tools that either SMBs or enterprises can (and do) use.

With SMBs increasing their use of cloud services, a large portion of this process should be fulfilled by the cloud provider. However, the business leveraging the cloud provider needs to make sure that the provider they have selected is able to uphold what they have promised as part of their service-level agreement. If this is the case, the SMB could find themselves in the position to leverage enterprise-caliber security solutions, for a cost that fits their budget.

Need #2: Data Storage

While their budgets put enterprise businesses in a much more favorable position to create an infrastructure that can contend with their operational needs, this is not to say that SMBs are left without any options. Any good data storage solution will perform well based on a few benchmarks: how well it works, how often it works, how easily it can be accessed, and how easily its contents can be searched.

The enterprise business has quite a few options to leverage, such as data tiering (where data of differing importance is stored on different servers) and higher-performing data storage solutions. If this is starting to sound expensive, it is - but again, thanks to the cloud, SMBs aren’t left without options, either. With scalable Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service being available for a much more affordable rate, SMBs are able to leverage the advanced tools that would otherwise only be available to corporate-level businesses.

Interested in leveraging some of these capabilities in your business, or want to find out more? Reach out to the professionals at Coleman Technologies! We have the experience necessary to bring your information technology to the corporate level. Reach out to us at (604) 513-9428 to learn more.

Running a business has definite highs and lows. When things start spiraling seemingly out of control, it’s important to maintain the confidence that with the right decision-making and conscientious action, you can get through any problem that a business faces. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss some of the technology that can help you get through tough situations. 

Cloud Computing

One of the best technologies available for businesses today is cloud computing. It allows organizations to access technologies they typically couldn’t afford and allows them to be much more flexible with many strategies, including where their employees are located. With so many benefits, you’d wonder why businesses wouldn’t want to gain the myriad benefits cloud-based systems can present.

Collaboration Tools

One of the best tools for keeping employees engaged and informed is collaboration apps. Not only do they allow employees to consistently engage with each other, but they can also function to keep them on task. Many of these apps also come with several integrations that can enhance operational efficiency, push projects forward, and allow for quick communication and scheduling. 

E-Commerce

For the retail business, online presence can keep businesses selling products when foot traffic is low. Today’s e-commerce platforms are secure and provide many reliable ways for customers to interact with your business. 

Data Analytics

When things don’t seem to be going well, it can really benefit an organization if it is able to make solid business decisions based on measurable metrics. By taking the guesswork out of business, an organization can push the right products and services to the right customers and improve revenue generation when it is needed most. 

Supply Chain Management

Businesses that control their inventory and supply chain best tend to waste less capital than organizations that use antiquated means to manage them. Having information about how products and components are managed and how they fit logistically into your business can prove useful in the overall management of your business. 

Technology can be a huge benefit for businesses that, for whatever reason, are having some troubles. If you would like information about how Coleman Technologies technicians can fit technology into your business’ game plan, give us a call today at (604) 513-9428.

Magnets are often portrayed as the bane of technology’s existence, especially in media where data must be scrubbed from devices through the use of a magnet. How true is this representation of the relationship between magnets and technology? We’ll examine this in today’s blog article.

Science Says Magnets Aren’t Necessarily the Problem

Scientifically speaking, magnets are not great for your computer or your smartphone. That much is indisputable. However, there are a lot of other factors in play, especially the duration of the exposure and the strength of the magnet.

Think about the weak magnets you use to pin your kids’ drawings up on the refrigerator. They are magnets, but they are nowhere near strong enough to cause measurable or permanent damage to any of your devices. Magnets in this context are generally designed to be as strong as they need to be, and no more, specifically so they don’t cause unforeseen issues.

If you want to cause some real damage to a device, you need the heavy-duty, industrial-sized magnets. They are the ones you need to watch out for.

How Dangerous Are Magnets to Your Technology?

If you aren’t working in an industry where you are constantly exposed to such technology, then you should have little to fear from magnets actually causing damage to your technology. Such magnets are often turned off when not in use, as well, as there is no need for them to be functional all the time.

Here’s a fun fact: magnets are actually a crucial part of your current workplace, as they are used in hard drives to read and write data. To put this into context, the aforementioned fridge magnets are nowhere near as powerful as the ones found in a hard drive, and solid state drives don’t utilize magnets at all. There is no chance that such weak magnets could ever damage your average business technology solutions unless you are trying VERY hard to mess things up.

Smartphones, though, are a different story. Smartphones are made with magnetic materials, and as such, are somewhat susceptible to issues from magnets, but problems should disappear after the exposure ceases. Smartphones don’t store data on magnetic disks like with hard drives, so if these devices are exposed to magnets, certain functionality could be disabled temporarily, but it’s not a permanent problem or even a remotely serious one. On the same token, so many smartphone accessories like smart keyboards, cases, and other peripherals use magnets, and don’t affect the longevity of the device at all. 

Ultimately, You Shouldn’t Really Worry That Much

All in all, the big thing to keep in mind regarding magnets is that you shouldn’t bring your technology around heavy-duty, powerful magnets. The average user has virtually no chance of suffering serious or permanent damage from your everyday magnet. Still, we will caution you against testing this yourself.

We hope you found today’s article interesting! Be sure to let us know what other topics you’d like covered in future blog articles.

Tip #1: No Fear
Sometimes technology can be a tad bit intimidating, especially when people are expecting you to quickly grasp a concept with little-to-no experience. The best thing you can do is not be afraid of screwing up. After all, there aren’t many actions you can take with a computer that will break the machine, the applications you are using, or the file you are working on. If you don’t have much experience with the computer and you want to learn anything from this blog today, learn that Ctrl+Z will undo. Having a good understanding that Ctrl+Z will undo your last action in almost every application you are going to use should give you the confidence you need to stop worrying about possible failure.

Tip #2: Liberally Use Search Engines
For the computer novice, it can sometimes be intimidating to try to find applications and files within an operating system. No matter what problems you come across, keep in mind that the Internet is the world’s greatest troubleshooting guide, and you only need to know how to open your browser to get at it (on modern machines, you may not need even that). Once you have your browser open, simply type your search query in the address bar. It will return results. You may have to dig through the results, or alter your search perimeters slightly, but you will be able to find the answers to the problems you are having with the help of a search engine.

Tip #3: Learn Keyboard Shortcuts
This is typically for speed. If you can quickly learn a few basic shortcuts, you will enhance your ability to control your computer tenfold. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• Ctrl+A - Select all
• Ctrl+C - Copy selected content
• Ctrl+X - Cut selected content`
• Ctrl+Z - Undo (Seriously, this one is crucial.)
• Ctrl+Y - Redo

There are many more depending on the application you are working in. Most applications will provide their shortcuts under their Help menu. Learning these will quickly make you a much more proficient user.

Tip #4: Find Your Comfort Zone
When Michael Jordan first picked up a basketball, he wasn’t a natural, so how can anyone expect to use something as complex as a computer proficiently right off the bat? If you are a new user, or just someone that isn’t proficient with a computer yet, stick to what you know. If you have a series of applications you feel some level of skillfulness with, stick to them. While our first tip suggests that you shouldn’t have fear, that mainly pertains to navigating your way around a computer, not the frustration a user can build when they continuously make mistakes. If you want to enjoy your time on the computer, stick to the applications you know, and you will have a good time.

We want everyone to remember that there was a time when we were all new to the computer; and, since computer skills are now an expectation of almost any career path (not to mention a major form of communication), learning your way around a computer will improve your standard of living. Do you have any other tips you could suggest to new users to keep them engaged and improving? Leave them in the comments section below.

With so many devices connecting to the Internet, it’s natural that a term would emerge for devices that don’t typically have Internet connection, but nowadays do anyway: the Internet of Things. Businesses can leverage the IoT to take advantage of incredible benefits, but these devices come with an inherent security risk. Why does the IoT matter for businesses, and what can you do to keep your organization secure?

The IoT Cannot Be Ignored

Chances are the IoT already impacts your business in some capacity.

For example, the connected devices your employees own would fall under this umbrella. Devices like smartphones, fitness trackers, smart speakers, and so on are all IoT devices. They are potential entry points for hackers that your business must be aware of.

The key to using IoT devices effectively is to stay on top of them and continuously monitor for potential risks, like security breaches.

Make Security a Priority

If your business uses the IoT, then you’ll have to ensure it remains secure.

Smartphones have security measures in place, but other IoT devices don’t have this luxury. You might not see some of your more bizarre IoT devices as threats, but if they are connected to your network, they could easily become weak points that hackers can use against you. We recommend you manage these devices with a Mobile Device Management solution.

After all, technology that is not secured or monitored is just increasing the threat surface area for your business, which doesn’t bode well for you.

Weigh the Benefits

At first glance, the IoT might look like it’s more trouble than it’s worth, and we understand why.

Monitoring these devices might seem like an unnecessary frustration, but they can be used strategically to your advantage. For example, even something as simple as a connected thermostat or light switch can dramatically reduce utility costs. Connected devices can also provide your business with data that you can use to make better decisions.

We’ll give you an example of how the IoT makes it easier to make operations more efficient while cutting costs.

Here’s a Real-World Example: Fleet Management

Businesses often use fleet management systems powered by the IoT.

Companies that use vehicles for deliveries or services can use the IoT to track these vehicles and optimize operations. Here are some of the ways the IoT supports fleet management:

• Find the most efficient routes.
• Monitor fuel use and emissions.
• Track vehicle maintenance needs.
• Gather data about driver performance.

All of this is powered and refined by real-time data collection, so you can make the most out of your fleet, saving money in the process.

How Your Business Can Use the IoT

The IoT is so much more than just fun gadgets; it’s a way to make your business better.

Through the IoT, you can automate processes, collect insights, and improve operations. We recommend that you at least consider the IoT, and if you’re still on the fence, we welcome you to contact us at (604) 513-9428 to have a discussion about what’s holding you back.

So you got a new computer for a holiday gift. That’s great! We’re excited that you’re excited. But you also need to consider how you are going to dispose of your old device and how to do so in a safe way. Today, we want to discuss how you can safely discard, or potentially even reuse, your old device so you don’t put your data at risk.

The #1 Challenge: Your Data

Imagine the amount of data stored on your devices over a single day.

It’s a shocking amount, and a lot of people will just throw away a device holding this information just because wiping the device doesn’t cross their minds. We recommend that you back up any data on your old device, then remove it all before you even consider tossing it. A simple factory reset isn’t always enough; we recommend you use a solution that will eliminate any chance at all of a data recovery effort.

If you want to know more about the process, just give us a call, and we’ll be happy to explain it.

It’s Not Always About Functionality

Even if the device is no longer functional, you still need to worry about its data.

Most issues that kill a computer have nothing to do with the storage components. A computer is  a machine with mechanical components, many of which are prone to failure. Data can be saved from a device that has experienced a failure, provided the storage components are intact.

This is great for you, but bad if you’re trying to recycle a faulty device without first taking the time to wipe it.

Ideas for Reuse

If the device is still operational, you have a couple options to consider for reuse.

For one, you can regift the device to someone else in need, like a local business or a family member. Just make sure you have already wiped the device and there’s no sign of personal or professional data on it. Another opportunity, for devices with screens, is to transform it into a digital display.

However you decide to reuse your old devices, we’ll help you ensure you’re doing it in a safe and compliant way.

How to Recycle Your Computer

Once your device is data-free, you can safely recycle it—but there’s still a catch here.

Depending on who you work with for the recycling, your device might not actually be recycled. If you’re not careful, the device could be shipped to a developing nation where it will sit in a landfill, causing serious damage to the environment and the health of its citizens. Your best bet is to work with a recycler with a proven record of recycling your devices ethically and responsibly.

That’s where we come in!

To learn more about how we can help with technology reuse or recycling, give us a call at (604) 513-9428.

Did you watch the big game this year? Chances are that if you did, you got to witness all of the spectacles that the event had to offer, including a lot of technology that enriched the experience, whether you realize it or not. The National Football League has implemented emerging technologies that have helped solve persistent challenges over the years. Let’s explore some of these technologies.

Better Player Safety

Look, there’s no beating around the bush with this one. The NFL has countless fans tuning in to watch incredible athletes perform at the highest levels. When you have athletes of this caliber butting heads with one another, there are bound to be some nasty injuries, and it’s important that players get the treatment they need in record time.

If players are not treated, there are more opportunities for poor health outcomes. Look to the many stories from several years ago of retired players suffering from massive headaches or exhibiting strange behavior. When the brain is damaged over and over, degenerative brain diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can occur.

To address these issues, the NFL decided to alter the game's rules to support player health. Nowadays, you’ll find the NFL using IoT technology to collect information on players and work toward healthier outcomes for all.

More Accurate Player Performance

Player safety is far from the only data collected by the NFL. The organization constantly reviews data to improve what it offers viewers, including individual data that helps coaches build their ideal rosters. In fact, since 2022, the NFL has partnered with Amazon Web Services, or AWS, to create something called The Digital Athlete. Through AI, coaches, executives, and players can look at a comprehensive view of a player. This technology helps everyone involved make better decisions to operate better in their respective roles.

In-Game Augmented Reality

Augmented reality, or AR, is in play whenever you see lines drawn, down markers, or overlays across your television screen. The NFL has significantly ramped up its efforts at delivering a clean AR experience. One such way is through a 360-degree AR portal that gives fans a firsthand experience of the halftime show, which is pretty neat.

Additionally, the league is encouraging viewers to use technologies like ARound, an AR platform that pushes advertising and integrated experiences forward. AR could very well be the future of fan interaction, so it’s no surprise that the NFL would actively incorporate it into the biggest game of the year.

What are your thoughts on this technology? Be sure to keep your eye on our blog for more information about technology and its innovative uses.

When we say digital signage, what we mean is having digital displays in your office. You may have seen them out and about in other locations, such as fast food restaurants using monitors as menu boards. In essence, digital signage solutions give your business the opportunity to broadcast content to screens around your office for a variety of reasons, and they are great opportunities to make your workplace a more dynamic experience as a whole.

Showcase Important Information or Statistics

Sometimes you need your employees to see announcements, but you want to make the information known in a more public location. Otherwise, you can use it to display statistics, like the number of sales or a countdown to a certain date or time. Either way, digital signage can be used to keep your staff informed.

Digital signage is also helpful for navigating the office. You can have signs indicating where important locations, like a conference room or bathroom, are located. 

Display Upcoming Dates and Events

All businesses have deadlines of some sort, and digital signage is a perfect way to broadcast it to your entire office… or at least the locations where digital signage is used. It’s an easy, supplemental way of drawing attention to certain times, dates, or events that are arriving in the future. 

Monitor Goals More Effectively

Digital signage can help your organization keep its employees accountable through the display of goals and key performance indicators. You might even be able to foster some healthy competition between your organization’s employees, as their performance will be displayed in an easy-to-understand format.

Does your business need assistance with setting up or acquiring resources for digital signage? Coleman Technologies can equip you with all the assets you need to make effective use of digital signage. To learn more about what we can do for your business, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

Your business only has so many resources, from its budget to its time to its employees’ capabilities. This is what makes it so crucial to properly manage all of them.

Let’s run through some basic practices that can help you make the most of what your business has at its disposal.

Resource Management Practices for Business Success

Focus More on High-Demand Resources, and Prioritize Appropriately

As we’ve established, you’re only going to have so much of any given business resource at your disposal. Your circumstances will dictate where you have feast and where there is famine.

As such, it is important that you are aware of where your resources are needed the most for your operations, and where they will be able to contribute the most to your success. The 80/20 principle is helpful to keep in mind.

Think about it this way: 80% or so of your resource shortages are going to refer to just 20% of your resources—the people, materials, time, or what have you that are in highest demand. Carefully planning how these resources should be allocated, based on which processes and outcomes are most important, will ultimately help your business accomplish more.

Apply Strategic Planning

Different tasks will need different levels of investment, in terms of your resources, and organizing them based on the aforementioned priorities we discussed earlier will help you to adjust your processes accordingly.

It’s important that this process takes the different levels of your tasks into consideration, with more resources spent where they are needed. 

Track Time

Tracking your time greatly helps define how resources are being used, giving you the data that you need to better plan for the future. 

Evaluate and Adjust

Finally, it’s important that you take the time periodically to take account of your progress and make improvements. Where did conflicts appear in workflows, specifically where your priorities and goals are impacted? Take note of these conflicts and address them in future repetitions of your given process.

We Can Help Equip Your Business with the Tools for Success

From the IT support to keep you in operation to the strategic investments to improve your technology as a means to further grow, you can turn to Coleman Technologies. Give us a call at (604) 513-9428 to learn more.

It had been a rough quarter at Thatcher-Jenkins. Sales were down as two of the company’s largest clients ceased doing business after they found suppliers that would offer the same services for less. In an attempt to stop the figurative bleeding, Parker had initiated a major overhaul to the management system the company would use. Much of the production staff, who is made up of a lot of people that had been working at the company for several years, found the new technology intrusive to production. Then there were problems with deployment which cost the company some time and a fair amount of capital. The IT staff that was in place at the time simply didn’t have the resources to cover a rushed end-to-end software implementation and their typical workload, leading to production interruptions and other inefficiencies.

So, as Parker stood with his hand on the glass of the window in his office, his thoughts weren’t of the impending holiday, his family, or how fortunate he was; they were firmly focused on the latest bought of downtime that took down production for half a day. Who knows how much money it had cost the company?

The phone rang. He walked back over to his desk, tripping over the exposed wire to his new VoIP phone that nobody bothered to hide. He snatched at the phone.

“Hello,” he answered, angered.

On the other end of the phone was his wife. Mrs. Parker was wondering when Parker would be home. After all, it was Christmas Eve.

“I’m just wrapping up here...Love you too.”

He hung up the phone, glanced aimlessly around his office, and slumped down into his desk chair. He sat for a few minutes before he got up, remotely started his car, put his coat on, shut down his computer, turned the lights off, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door.

As he slowly shuffled to his car, the snow was falling lightly, but it might have been just the ice in the air as it was a little too cold for snow. His car was the last car in the parking lot. This made him feel very alone. He got in the car and slowly drove away.

As he drove past all the houses lit up for Christmas, he started to cheer up. He stopped off at the liquor store to get some brandy and as he was walking out of the store he ran into one of his clients.

“Hey there Parker, Merry Christmas,” the stout man in a black pea coat said.

“Oh, hi there Jack, same to you,” Parker answered as he almost dropped the bottle of brandy he had just bought.

“Whatcha got there?” Jack asked inquisitively.

“We do Brandy Alexanders on Christmas Eve. Family Tradition,” Parker answered.

“Well that’s nice. Look, have a Merry Christmas. Give my best to your family. We’ll talk next week,” Jack said before he scurried away inside the liquor store.

Parker walked back to his car, wondering what Jack meant by the “we’ll talk next week” remark. He sat behind the wheel for a minute, before driving away. The uneasy feeling he had in his office was more like panic as he drove down the street toward his house.

Parker started talking to himself in his car, “What did Jack mean? If his company leaves, I’ll have to lay people off,” At this point he had worked himself up. He popped the top of the brandy bottle and started to take intermittent swigs. He drove past his house to the bridge on the outskirts of town. He parked his car on the side of the road and got out of his car and walked up the bridge.

Traffic continued to go by, but there wasn’t much of it to speak of, being Christmas Eve and all. He walked up to the center of the bridge with the bottle of brandy firmly in hand. He stood up and looked at the sliver of moon that poked out behind the passing clouds. He looked at the river. He took a pull of his brandy and put the cap back on. All of a sudden what seemed like a shadow approached him from the far side of the bridge.

“Not the Christmas Eve you planned on having, huh Parker?” the voice said as he came into the light. The man was short and older than Parker. He had a wool cap and jacket on.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Parker asked.

‘My name is Gary and I know all there is to know about you,” he said, “What are you doing up here?”

Where only moments before had Parker been engulfed in self-pity, now there was only fear. He moved away abruptly, but didn’t say anything.

Gary kept after him.

“Can I have a drink?” he asked.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” Parker demanded as Gary reached for the bottle of brandy. Gary stopped moving toward him.

“Please?” Gary asked.

The three or four drinks that Parker had were now starting to kick in. He extended the bottle and Gary took it, opened it, took a drink, and handed it back in rapid succession.

“So, Parker, what are you doing out here on Christmas eve?” Gary asked rhetorically.

“I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” Parker replied.

“Were you planning on jumping off of the bridge?” Gary asked abruptly.

Suddenly, Parker realized that maybe he had gone up there to do just that.

“I don’t know,” Parker replied, “Sometimes I feel like everyone that depends on me would be better off if I wasn't the one making the decisions.”

“Well...There is a way to find out.” Gary said as he rushed at him. Parker, still clutching the bottle of brandy, sidestepped as Gary dove off the bridge into the river. Shocked, Parker dropped the bottle, took off his coat and ran to the other side of the bridge and jumped in after Gary.

As he hit the nearly frozen water, it sent a shock through his entire system. He grabbed Gary, who was thrashing around in the current and dragged him to the bank of the river.

Both men lay on the frozen bank of the river. Gary begins to laugh. Incredulous at Gary’s levity, Parker started to yell at him.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?!” Parker started, freezing and soaked, “If I didn’t jump in after you, you would have surely died!”

“Don’t be so sure,” Gary said, “I am your guardian angel, you needed to stop feeling sorry for yourself in order to know what it is that I know.”

“Guardian angel? You are touched, man!” Parker yelled as he got up and started making his way back toward the bridge.

‘There are no such thing as guardian angels. You are a crazy old man who just had his life saved by someone who didn’t feel like living ten minutes ago.”

“Parker, many people depend on you, and feeling sorry for yourself will never get you to where you want to go.” Gary said, scrambling after him.

“Look, friend. I’m going home. Tonight is Christmas Eve, and I need to be with my family...Not sopping wet listening to a crazy man.”

Gary stopped following him.

“I may be crazy, but I am here to tell you that you can’t lose hope,” Gary shouted after him, “We will meet again soon.”

Parker made his way back to the bridge, picked up his jacket and his bottle of brandy and started back to his car. He opened the door to his car, but before he got in looked around for Gary. He was nowhere to be found. With mixed emotions Parker got in his car and returned home.

---

When Parker returned home, he found a strange car in the driveway. He walked in the front door, still wet from his time in the river, only to find his IT administrator standing in the foyer of the house waiting for him.

“Where have you been?” the man asked

“What are you doing here?” Parker answered as his wife walked in the room.

“We’ve been hacked,” The IT admin started, ”I’ve got the team at the office now doing everything...wait a minute, why are you wet?”

“Yeah, what happened to you?” Mrs. Parker asked.

“What do you mean we were hacked?! I just left the office an hour ago!” Parker said helplessly.

“Yeah, Harold and Matt are at the office right now and Brett will be there soon. We should go.” The IT admin said.

“Wait a second, mister, you aren’t going anywhere before you tell me why you are sopping wet.” Mrs. Parker said sternly.

“I saved a man from drowning, Jewel, but now I really have to go down there to make sure we aren’t going to lose everything. Pete, let me get changed.”

After getting changed quickly and assuring his wife that everything is going to be okay, he rode to the office with Pete. Pete was the IT administrator for Thatcher-Jenkins. He had been working there for the past seven years and was Parker’s right hand man when it comes to IT. He had hired Pete at 23 to work in his IT department after Pete had been released from jail for hacking.

Pete was the son of one of Parker’s wife’s best friends and agreed to take him on as a favor, but had come to depend on his computer skills.

“What do we know about the hack?” Parker asked as they were driving.

“You know as much as I do right now, but when we couldn’t get a hold of you, I came right to your house. Your wife was worried.” Pete said.

“The craziest thing happened to me tonight. I was on the bridge and some crazy old guy came up to me and jumped in the river. I had to jump in after him so he didn’t drown.” Parker continued, “I had never seen this man before, but…”

“He knew who you were?” Pete said in Gary’s voice. Parker looked over and it was Gary driving the car, not Pete.

“What is going on?!” Parker bellowed with fear.

“Don’t be afraid, Parker. I am your guardian angel and I’m here to show you just how important you are to the people in your life.”

“Stop the car! Stop the car!”

“I’ll do you one better.” Gary said as he swerved off the road and into a building.

---

Parker woke up in his bed, but his wife was nowhere to be found. He jumped out of bed and ran downstairs, but the house was different. It wasn’t decorated for Christmas, it was like you would find in on any other day. He opened the front door and it was snowy and the streetlights had the Christmas ornaments hanging from them. As he stood in the doorway of his house, he noticed a well-dressed man walking down the unkempt sidewalk that ran perpendicular to the road. As the man got closer, he recognized him. It was Gary.

“What the hell have you done?! Where is Jewel?! Where are my kids?!” Parker yelled as Gary, now dressed in a top hat and a flawless waistcoat made his way up the front sidewalk in front of Parker’s house.

“Who are you and what have you done with my family?!” He continued as Gary walked past him into the house.

“I told you that I would show you just how important you are. Get dressed, it’s time for a tour.” Gary replied.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Parker adamantly stated.

“The faster we can get through this, the faster you will be allowed to go back to your old life.” said Gary.

“I hate my old life,” Parker yelled.

That’s when Gary said, “It’s up to you to change it.”

----

Parker got changed and got in the driver’s side of the car.

“Good, you can drive. I’m a terrible driver, “ Gary said sarcastically, “Let’s head over to your office.”

“What am I, Ebenezer Scrooge? Are you a ghost sent here to teach me a lesson?” Parker asked before starting the car.

“Nothing like that,” Gary started, “I’ve told you already, I am your guardian angel and I am here to show you just what life would be like for the people you care about if you weren’t a part of theirs.”

“Do you know how crazy this is?” was Parker’s retort.

“It’s no more crazy than your feelings of loneliness and frustration.” Gary said.

“Things just haven’t been going well at work. We’re trying to put in this new system and its messing with production.” Parker started, “There’s really very little I can do about it, either. We’ve lost two of our biggest accounts and trying to modernize is costing us a fortune. The world isn’t the same now as it was when I started working there. We may not have any choice but to lay off some people. It’s a really bad situation.”

“It could be worse,” Gary said as they took a left onto the industrial park.

Parker’s demeanor changed and immediately got more hostile.

‘What the hell do you mean it could be worse?! People depend on me to make good decisions and I’m letting them down! Don’t you get it?!”

“Oh, I get it,” Gary began, “but I know things could be worse. Just look at that.”

At this moment they came upon the Thatcher-Jenkins offices; or, more like where the Thatcher-Jenkins offices should be. The building, which sat just off the river at the north end of the industrial park was vacant. There were pieces of plywood over several of the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the second-floor facade. The parking lot was unplowed, so when Parker opened the car door and got out, he crunched through the layer of cold-tempered snow.

“What the…” Parker trailed off as he crunched through the snow toward the building.

Gary got out and shouted after him, “I told you things could be worse.”

Parker turned around and glanced at him, “What is happening?”

Gary flashed a smile, “This is what happens if you aren’t the one making the decisions. 56 jobs are gone. The place boarded up and left vacant.”

Parker started back to the car.

“Where am I, then?” he asked sternly.

“Well you’re right here, of course. Get in, and I’ll show you more.” Gary said.

Parker got in the car and they made their way out of the Industrial Park and drove toward downtown. As they drove down Main street Parker noticed his wife, Jewel. She didn’t look like herself, however. Instead of the well-manicured woman, she was wearing a heavy wool coat, a wool hat with matching mittens and standing in the doorway of George’s Hardware ringing a bell. She was taking in donations for the Salvation Army.

“She always loves to help people,” Parker said as he started to roll down the window. They drove on by, causing Parker to watch her in the driver's-side mirror until she was no longer in sight.

“She’s wonderful, but her life is nothing like her life is with you,” Gary said, “Without you, she marries, but has a miscarriage and gets divorced. She never has the family that you two have created. She suffers each day with the loss.”

Parker started to tear up. Gary reached in his topcoat and grabbed a handkerchief and offered it to Parker. Parker took it, and blotted his eyes as the town passed them by.

“Where are you taking me now?” Parker asked helplessly.

“We have a couple more things to see before you make your decision,” Gary responded.

“What decision?” Parker asked several times. Gary gestured him to keep course. They came to a stop in a parking lot in front of Ophelia’s Diner, on the east edge of town near the interstate highway.

“Park the car here.” said Gary.

“Why are we stopping here? I’m not hungry.” Parker inquired with desperation in his voice.

“Good,” Gary said, “because we’re not going in.”

Gary led him around the side of the building to a camper that was set up about 50 feet behind the restaurant.

“What the hell is this?” Parker asked.

“Something you’ll need to see.” Gary responded.

They approached the camper. There was the faint smell of cigarettes and muffled noises coming from inside. Gary walks up and knocks on the door. After some rustling and audible muttering, the door swung open. The man standing in the doorway was Pete. He had a two-day stubble and had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“What do you want?” Pete said, not taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

“Pete?!” Parker asked aloud. Pete looked as if he hadn’t bathed in a couple of days and was wearing a cook’s whites, but no apron. He wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Yeah. Do I know you?” Pete said with a twinge of hostility. The men just stood there and stared at each other for a minute at which time Pete had had enough.

“Well, I’m busy,” Pete slammed the door, leaving the other two men standing in the snow.

“Let’s go,” Gary said as he began to walk back to the car.

“I guess he had a rough time of it.” Parker said trailing after Gary, “Jewel got me to hire him after he got out of jail. I guess without me all his talents would have been put to waste. He’s one hell of an IT guy. He’s been with me for years; I was about to make him CIO.”

The two men reached the car and Gary got in and started it up. Parker looked back at the camper one more time and got in the passenger seat.

“I think I get the point,” Parker said softly when they were driving back toward town.

“Yeah, people depend on you, but I have one more thing to show you,” Gary said.

“Why don’t you just take me back?” Parker demanded.

“That’s not the way it works, Parker,” Gary responded, “Like I told you, you are here. I can’t just take you back. I’m just your guardian angel.”

“I understand why I’m so important now. I have you to thank for it.” Parker admitted.

“You need to see one more thing.” Gary said as he drove.

Parker was silent. As he watched the town drift by, he realized that it was getting late in the afternoon and it was starting to get dark.

“I’ll be able to pick up where I left off, right, Ghost?” Parker asked.

“I’m not a ghost and you are not Ebenezer Scrooge. If any of this helps you, it will be on you to get back to the place where you can make a difference.” Gary said.

“But how do I get back?” Parker asked helplessly.

“You’ll see,” Gary said, “the decision will be yours.”

Just then they arrived at the supermarket. Gary got out of the car and told Parker to follow him. He walked into the store and went to the aisle where you’d find Thatcher-Jenkins best-selling product. Gary pointed at the shelf. There were no products from Thatcher-Jenkins, just twice as many from their biggest competitor Capra Industries. Parker shook his head and smiled.

“Now you are ready,” Gary said with a smile, “Let’s go.”

They returned to the car and drove across town to the bridge in silence. Gary parked the car in the same place where Parker had parked it, what seemingly was a day prior, but that’s not the way this works.

The men walked up to the place on the bridge where they had first met. Gary reached in his coat and offered Parker an unopened bottle of brandy.

“Now go home to your wife.” Gary said.

“Thank you, angel.” Parker said and extended his hand. Gary didn’t shake his hand, he tipped his cap and abruptly walked away.

---

Parker drove home fast, much faster than he normally would have. Once he got home, he jumped out of the car and ran inside. Without taking off his shoes and coat he ran into his family room to find his children sitting on the couch playing on their tablets. His heart was filled with warmth, he made his way to the kitchen where his wife was.

“Oh, Jewel,” is all he said before he wrapped his arms around her.

“Wow, is everything okay?” She asked him.

“Everything is great. I love you so much.” He said to her stepping away and looking her in the eyes. He kissed her.

He placed the bottle of brandy on the counter.

Confused, Jewel asked, “What happened to you?”

“I just had a long day and I’m happy to be home.” he said.

Parker didn’t think about work for the whole next day. It was the longest he had actually relaxed in years. He spent the holiday with the people he loved, happy, and feeling as if anything was possible.

---

When he returned to work on the day after Christmas, he got there extra early. He noticed the Coleman Technologies business card that he left lying on his desk, so he went ahead and called Pete into his office. He was determined to find solutions to his business’ IT overruns.

“You asked for me, Boss?” Pete said as he walked in the open door.

“Yeah, Pete, shut the door.” Parker demanded. Pete walked in nervously and stood behind the chairs that were in front of the Parker’s desk.

“Have a seat,” Parker started, “Pete, over the Christmas holiday I had some harsh truths to face. It’s no secret that we’ve been having some technology problems lately and if they keep up, we’ll likely have to lay some people off.”

“Okay, we’re doing all…” Pete started before Parker interjected.

“I’m not blaming you, Pete. Like I said, I had some harsh truths to face. One of them is that I have to take a step back from the technology end of the business. My demands are some of the main reasons we’re having problems. I called you here to promote you, Pete. You’ve done one hell of a job for us and I was wondering if you would like to join the management team as CIO?”

Pete’s face was filled with surprise and pride, “How would it change the job I have now?”

“Do you want it, Pete?” Parker pressed.

“Yes, sir.” Pete responded.

“Wonderful, you are the right man for the job. The first course of action that you need to focus on is getting the resources in here to get our new system in place and get the people trained up on it. It is essential to the future of our company, and I think you are up to the challenge.”

“Thank you, sir.” Pete said earnestly, “I think the first thing we should look at is getting Coleman Technologies in here to help us cover our regular management while we finish the deployment.”

“Pete, if it’s in the budget, it is your call now. I’ll call a staff meeting later today to announce your promotion.“ Parker answered. “For now, though, I have some things I need to attend to.”

Parker walked around the desk to shake Pete’s hand and walked him out of the office. Once Pete was gone, Parker walked over to the window and put his palm on the glass. He hadn’t felt this proud in some time.

---

I’m glad to announce that Pete’s plan was implemented the very next day. The following week, Coleman Technologies did their first assessment, and soon after took over the management and maintenance of the computing infrastructure and network. For several months, Thatcher-Jenkins’ IT technicians, led by CIO Pete, implemented a system with Coleman Technologies supporting their technology. Now the two companies are full-time collaborators, and Thatcher-Jenkins continues their steady growth.

If you enjoyed this take and think that Coleman Technologies can breathe some new life into your business’ technology strategy, give us a call at (604) 513-9428 and one of our expert consultants can tell you how we can help you. Happy Holidays.