Never underestimate the underdog

This week, a miracle unfolded.  In the world game of football (aka soccer for some) something incredible happened and shocked the billions of fans following the 2009 Confederation Cup. Egypt, the African Cup champions (who haven’t qualified for the World Cup in 20+ years) beat the current World Champions Italy 1-0.  You could almost hear all the football fans around the world stop breathing simultaneously as the referee blew the final whistle. A miracle had occurred and shocked every football fan that has ever watched the worlds game.  Egypt beat Italy.

It doesn’t end there.  Long has the Egyptian National Team been criticized ad nauseum about how they absolutely stink at set plays (i.e. penalty, foul kick, corner kick).  Egypt scored the only goal of the game on a corner kick.  Mohamed Homos, the young player who scored the Shakesperean header in the top left corner of the net as the world-class Italian goalkeeper stood there like his feet were planted in concrete, was playing in his first EVER international game for the National Team. 

There are a couple of lessons to be learned from these miraculous events.

Never underestimate the underdog.  In business, we sometimes develop tunnel vision and think “hey, we’re the best and no one can beat us in the niche we play in”.  The higher you go, the harder you fall.  Every day I look in the mirror in the morning and I remind myself of this lesson.  I even talk to myself — “Osama, you are going to be humble, but confident, aggressive in your pursuit of excellence, but accepting of your limitations and weaknesses”.  No one is perfect.  Its the pursuit of the unreachable goal of excellence that makes successful entrepreneurs what they are. 

Just because you’re young and inexperienced, it doesn’t mean you can’t do something great.  When I was a young, and started my own business, I always used to get the “doubt treatment”. I remember one customer in particular – I was in an interview for a project and the two interviewees were practically rolling on the floor laughing when I confidently told them I could deploy a nationwide network migration for them with zero user downtime in 8 months.  I finally challenged them – I told them that I would show them my plan and proof of concept in 2 months and if it didn’t make sense they could cancel my contract.  Suffice it to say the nationwide deployment was done under budget, on time and with zero user downtime as promised.

It would be foolish for me to puff out my chest in pride and say that Egypt will win the Confederation Cup.  But for a few moments on Thursday, one watched a miracle occur, and hope poured in through my viens as the country of my origin played their hearts out and showed the world to never underestimate the underdog.  Go Egypt!

It’s easier when you travel down the Right Path

If you’ve had a chance to visit our corporate web site previously, I decided to try our hand at a little video work, to bring some dimension (and a little fun) to our web site.  The front page had a video ad with some testimonials from customers, and the about page had a little video intro to some of our staff. My thought was, hey, how hard could it be?  Let’s get a camera, script out some ideas, and bingo – we’re into the video production business.
 
Well, I can tell you, it’s a lot harder than I thought. While I posted the results, I was not completely happy with the end result. Something was missing.  It just wasn’t polished and I had no idea how to make it better. Something was definitely missing.
 
The lack of polish didn’t seem to stop positive comments coming from customers. They loved the videos and felt it brought an element of reality to what FAR does. I started to get requests to create videos as part of our web design services. Now I started to fret. It’s one thing to fool around with a camera for your own web site. It’s a whole other thing to do it for a customer. I panicked and started to sift through my LinkedIn contacts.  Wayne from BartMart Audio triggered my memory and I connected up with Lisa Virtue, his spouse, who runs Right Path Pictures.  After a few phone calls and a meeting with Lisa, I quickly realized that I was way out of my league. This is serious business and it takes a lot of effort, skill and technical knowledge to produce the good stuff.  So I decided to re-shoot both videos and one additional one and see how different they would be. Check them out and judge for yourself!  Kudos to Lisa for teaching me that 1) it might look easy, but video production is a serious business that needs not just talent, but technical skill and 2) using a professional firm can be fun, while still making a huge impact on the quality of the final product.

The (Microsoft) Word on the Street

Ok, so call me a father behind the times…I haven’t been exactly enthusiastic about the kids working on the computer.  Don’t get me wrong, I have a computer at home for general use purposes (although I must admit it is 6 years old and overdue to be put out to pasture) but I haven’t really been encouraging the kids to use it.  Call me old school (and strange to be coming from an IT professional) but my theory is that it is important for kids these days to start by learning how to do things the “manual” way, and as they grow appreciate automation through that learning experience.  Take math as a simple example – do they give kids calculators in Grade 1 to do their math homework with?  That’s how I was brought up – I don’t rush to my Blackberry to calculate the tip on a $40.00 lunch bill.

Last year, when my eldest was in Grade 3, he came home from school with a book report project.  He needed to read a book and then prepare a written report as well a Bristol board presentation with text and pictures to present to the class.  The teacher provided a grading matrix which clearly defined how the project would be marked and encouraged parents to assist their children in completing the project.  I got called in to assist, and I eagerly jumped in with all fours.  Here was a perfect opportunity to do things the “manual” way and teach my son the art of preparing a book report and presentation. 

First things first – we both headed out to Staples and bought some Bristol board, coloured paper, glue and a stencil for tracing letters.  Supplies in hand, I waited for my son to read the book he wanted to write about and then we sat down together and planned out the content of the book report.  He wrote up his rough copy on lined paper while I started to spec out how we were going to present it on the Bristol board.  Soon enough, we were tracing letters with the stencils and then colouring them in.  Additional text was written on white paper with a colour paper background and then pasted onto the Bristol board.  All told, it took us a good 6 hours to trace all the words, colour everything in, and get it all spic and span.  Next came practicing the verbal presentation so that he did not need to use notes (eye contact was an important point in the grading matrix).  Boy, this was a lot of work!

So off to school he went – everyday I would ask him, “did you get your mark back for your presentation?”  “Nope”.  I was starting the fret.  Finally the grade came through – a B+!  I was shocked!  B+?  I quickly scanned the marking matrix to find where he got a low grade.  Lo and behold, the Bristol board presentation was the weakest link.  All that effort for naught?  I whipped out a piece of paper and wrote a letter to the teacher asking her politely if she could provide more details as it pertains to why the Bristol board failed to make the grade.  Her response was, in this day and age, your son should have used a computer to generate the content of the Bristol board….and oh by the way, next time you write a note Mr. Faris, could you please type it?  I’m having a hard time reading your cursive handwriting….

Just a few weeks ago,  I noticed my son was spending quite a significant time on the computer.  Curiosity got the better of me, so I took a peek while he sat in front of the computer.  Open on the screen was Microsoft Word, with a centered title, fully justified paragraphs and him plugging away, entering in content.  “Who taught you how to use Microsoft Word?”  “Nobody”, he responded.  So much for doing things the “manual” way – an important lesson for me as a parent and IT professional that technology is ubiquitous, easy to learn and inevitable.

IT Support Is Not A Utility

The concept of IT services being a “utility” will hopefully die a quick and painless death.

As a managed IT services company, we don’t support computers, we support people. When something doesn’t work, a person calls us, not the PC. When an IT professional comes on site to solve a problem, he doesn’t talk to the computer, he talks to the person.

When is the last time you saw your hydro worker talk to you?

When is the last time you saw your city water/sewer engineer talk to you?

Let the record be straight: you can’t meter out IT services. IT Support is about supporting people. It’s about listening attentively to their needs and desires and then helping them use tools to achieve those needs. To steal from Home Depot, “you can do it, we can help”.

IT services is NOT a “utility”.

Technology Is Nothing More Than A Tool

“Hey, check out my new iPhone!”, John, the small business owner said to me.  So then I asked him my favourite question to anyone who shows me a new gizmo. ”Why did you buy it, and what do you plan on using it for?” “Uh….look, I can grab this picture with my finger and make it go around on the screen!  Can your stupid BlackBerry do that??”  I love my job.  Really.

From my perspective (as I politely informed John) an iPhone is a nice piece of technology.  But the real question is, does it REALLY meet the needs of John the small business owner?  Is John planning to do work with it, or is just a toy to play with on the weekend?  Does the iPhone meet his business and personal needs?  What are the tradeoffs?  Check out our product comparison , written with the business owner in mind.

From a business perspective, as with any tool, technology can either help you or hurt you.  What’s the magic behind technology?  The magic is when you use the tool and get an EDGE.  The magic is when you and the tool (technology) become ONE.  Like a woodworker with his sanding block – in the hands of a master craftsman, you can’t tell watching him work where his hand ends and the sanding block begins.  The sanding block and the craftsman become ONE.  Like watching me using my BlackBerry.  We are one with each other.  I know every option, feature and technical nuance of my BlackBerry.  I can close my eyes and navigate to whichever screen I desire.  This is when you reach the true sweet spot of productivity…the nirvana of where technology meets human kind.  Open yourself to the tool, master it, and eventually, “you will be assimilated”.

“Oh My God the Stock Market is TANKING! Quick, let’s buy a VoIP PBX!”

Did I get your attention with the silly title?  Guess what – I’m dead serious.  I know, I know:

“What ain’t broke don’t fix”,
“The economy sucks, call me in ten years”,
“Are you nuts?  You want me to spend money NOW?”,
“Get the *&##@* out of here before I throw my 15 year old phone set at you!”

The fact of the matter is, you, Mr. Small Business Owner, you need FAR.  And obviously, FAR needs you.  The economy sucks.  Duh – it’s all over the news.  Forget the news; it’s all over your computer screen as you look at your cashflow, forecasts, accounting system, email.  “Danger, Danger Will Robinson!”  DIVE DIVE DIVE!

OK, so back to why you need FAR.  You need us to make you more productive, efficient and therefore – give you the EDGE.  Yes, the edge you need to beat your competitors ‘till they are blue in the face and begging for mercy.  You need to use technology to your advantage.  The UC Server, our VoIP PBX offering, is an integral piece of that edge implementation that will deliver in spades.

I can go on until you fall asleep about all the studies and reports that have been done regarding productivity gained by using a VoIP PBX.  Blah blah blah.  I’ll save that for the folks with nothing better to do with their lives.  Here is a real life example of how the UC Server VoIP PBX gives me an EDGE everyday and twice on Sundays.  Yes, I do work on Sundays.

Monday
10:00AM – finish meeting, get in car, mobile phone connects to the in-vehicle Bluetooth.
10:01AM – start driving back to office.  Hands are on the wheel.  “Call Office”.  Mobile phone responds “Calling Office”.
10:01AM – “You have 3 new voicemails AND 15 new emails.  Press 1-1 to listen to new messages”.
10:01AM – Listen to all voicemails.  Forward them to appropriate people or save them for actioning by pressing 9.
10:03AM – “Email message from, John Smith, received today at 9:30AM, subject is, Proposal Review”
10:15AM – System reads to me all my emails.  Press 7 to delete the junk, and 9 to save the good ones for actioning.
10:17AM – Arrive safely back to the office.
10:17AM – start harassing Technical Service staff, earning myself several disapproving glares from Ali.

I walk in, and don’t even bother going to my desk.  Why?  Because I don’t need to check my voicemails or even my emails.  I’ve just saved myself 20 minutes.  I’ve also saved myself from being an idiot and typing emails on my BlackBerry while I am driving.  What’s 20 minutes worth to you these days?  Action item for you Mr. Business Owner – pickup that old tin can on your desk and call FAR – we’ll set you up on the EDGE faster than you can spell “dinosaur”.

UnITy – the convergence of data and voice

Since the invention of the corporate telephone system, phone services have always been the domain of the mysterious “Voice Guy”.

The Voice Guy would come to your office to do MACs (moves, adds, changes).  He would float into your office with a BIX tool, wire cutters, and maybe even a red, funny looking telephone hanging off his tool belt (don’t laugh – it’s called a butt set). You’d point to where you want a new phone to be installed, and voila, it would get setup.  Here’s the bill, have a great day.

You’d cringe, both at the cost of the service call, as well as the cost of the proprietary digital phone set, with medieval options that needed a reference book to explain the reference guide that came with it.  If you were lucky, you’d know how to get your voicemail, delete them…and that’s about it.  Setting up ring groups? Uh…call the Voice Guy.  Need to forward calls from your extension to your mobile phone? Uh….call the Voice Guy.   Need to get your office voicemails on your BlackBerry when you’re on the road? Uh…don’t bother calling the Voice Guy – it can’t be done.

So What’s in a Name? Osama, Obama and My Relationship to them Both

Ok, let’s start by keeping in mind that what happened on September 11, 2001 was a horrific act of murder of innocent lives. It was a heinous crime against humanity. It was also a crime against the peaceful religion that it was done in the name of.  There is not a religion on this earth that condones killing innocent, defenseless people.

So that being said, this story is about a little fellow who lives in Ottawa (err…me….) whose name is Osama.  Osama Faris.  That’s right, first name Osama, last name Faris.

Life has been “interesting” the past 7 years.  My name has caused me no lack of incidents and I thought I would share a few of the more spectacular ones with you: