Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Another fat sales guy that’s going to loose weight, damn it!

I’ve wanted to loose weight for some time now, especially around the middle portions of my body.  I’ve been a pretty skinny guy for most of my life, but my wife is a great cook and I tend to love my Friday night martinis.  Therefore I look to be about 7 months pregnant, and huff and puff quite a bit when climbing a stairs.  So here is my pledge, that I’m starting now, not tomorrow, and that I announce to all, so others can help to keep me on track.

 

“I will be a size 34 waist pant by summer!”

 

My plan;

  • Cut out bread – no morning toast with jam or “hot buns” at dinner.
  • Walk up the 5 floors to my office, at least once per day.  I’ve been doing this for about a week now and generally walk up to the 5th floor at least twice per day.  Plus I hate going to a gym.
  • Eat slower and eat less
  • Cut out mid-day snacking.  I tend to graze during the day, often reaching into a bag of cookies.  To be honest I stopped this about a month ago, and replaced the cookies with carrots.
  • Friday night Salsa lessons with my wife Rianna.  I’ve been doing this for about 3 months now.
  • NO booze on Saturdays!  This is a tough one, not that I’m a big drinker but as I said earlier I love my martinis and also love my wine.  I choose Saturday because Rianna and I generally go out on a date after our Salsa lessons on Friday.  Plus I thought stopping just on Saturdays will be easier than stopping altogether.  I mean, one’s got to have some fun.

So there it is my plan to loose weight and go back to a stealth size 34 waist pant.  Wish me luck and please, no bags of cookies on my desk.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

 

Chris Miles is an Account Executive (or Sales Guy) for Primus Business Services, in beautiful Vancouver BC.  I have a background in both Voice and Data, so when evaluating a customers needs I like to look at the whole picture.  A customer’s Telephone and Computer Network, their Internet Connectivity, Applications, Backup and Disaster Recovery.  I partner with a number of Value-Added Resellers, giving small and medium sized business customers ideas and options and to use technology to increase sales and lower costs.

 

To find out more about Primus’ suite of business services, visit http://www.primustel.ca/en/business/index.php.

 

Chris can be reached at 604-630-2628 or by e-mail at cmiles@primustel.ca.    

Posted via web from chrismiles's posterous

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Another power outage in downtown Vancouver

I noticed there was tweet the other day of another power outage in downtown Vancouver.  Now just a heads up here, I’m a sales guy marketing high availability Servers, so a power outage is just another opportunity to ask potential customers… “What do you do when your Servers are not available?  How do access your Email, CRM, Account program, telephone system, etc.?”  You get the picture. 

 

If your answer is “we’re hooped”, then I propose that you consider moving all or maybe just some of your apps into a secure co-location facility.  Now you could consider moving your own equipment into a Server Park, and if this works for you then I’m hoping you’ll give me a call.  But another option is to install your important applications onto a Primus Virtual Managed Machine. 

 

I’ll stop my sales pitch now, but check out this video, to get a sense of how the service works. 

And if you are on holidays at this time of year, think of me at my desk, taking self-directed training on Primus’ suite of voice and data services. 

 

Happy Holidays,

 

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958

Email:  cmiles@primustel.ca

www.primus.ca  

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6

Posted via web from chrismiles's posterous

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Practicing how to demo a phone system, that we deliver as a service

I spending the day practicing how to demo our Hosted PBX service, a hosted IP business telephone system that Primus delivers as a service.

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

 

Tel:  604.630.2628  |   Toll Free: 877.752.6385  |  Fax: 877.329.4958

Email: cmiles@primustel.ca

www.primustel.ca

 

For a virtual tour of our Data Centres:  www.primustel.ca/IDCVideo

 

333 Seymour St., Suite 540, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5A6


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Posted via email from chrismiles's posterous

Monday, December 21, 2009

Computer Network "Server as a Service"

Walk into the back room of any small or medium sized business and you’ll likely find a small, multi-purpose room that often also serves as the Server Room.  This room is generally also called the photocopier room, lunch room or even the Janitor’s closest.  I think you get the picture. 

Generally these rooms have very poor or NO security, they’re accessible by everyone and power is atrocious. In many cases the Server or Servers are in the same area as the photocopier, telephone system and demarcation point.  Therefore heat is also an issue, so your equipment will be more prone to failure. 

Any business that has branch offices or have users working outside the office, Internet access is also an issue.  Broadband services like ADSL and Cable may not be enough bandwidth, and upgrading to a T1 or Fibre may be too expensive.  And then there is power.  Any business person in Vancouver’s downtown core can tell you what it is like to be without power for close to a week.  NO phone, email, Internet or access to important applications.

 

Now compare this to a Server that instead of being down the hall is out “in the cloud”.  A Server in a secure facility specifically designed for multiple servers, with quadruple power back up and a 100 Mbps connection to the Internet.  And a Server you do not purchase, but instead only pay for the CPU, memory and storage you need.  A Server that can easily be upgraded “on the fly”, without disrupting important applications.  A Server has a Service.

 

For information on Primus’ answer to a high availability Server, click here for information on our Virtual Managed Machine.  Or check out this video on how Primus’ Virtual Managed Machine works.

 

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

 

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958

Email:  cmiles@primustel.ca

www.primustel.ca

 

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6

Posted via web from chrismiles's posterous

Monday, December 14, 2009

Virtualize your business

A few weeks ago, before I started with Primus, I met with Ed Lee at ECL Computing.  ECL Computing is a local Vancouver Systems Integrator, and Ed explained why he recommends to all of his customers that they virtualize their business.  And I mean virtualize everything about their business, so that his customers are available for their employees, suppliers and customers anywhere, anytime, no matter what hiccup or disaster may occur.

 

Let’s take, for example, what happened a year or so ago in Vancouver, when there was a power outage that effected many buildings in the downtown core.  Imagine that your business has NO power for about 4 days.  Think of your phone lines, email, customer invoices, accounts receivable, inventory and sales records.  How will customers contact you?   Now I’m sure that many reading this have their Servers and Phone Systems connected to backup power, but unless you’ve made a huge investment, you’ll generally have only enough power for an hour at best.  For many, you will only have enough power to safely power down your equipment.

 

The above real life scenario would occur only if all of your equipment is located in your office.  Now consider if your Phone System, Servers, Email and important applications where located outside your own facility.  Hosted in a secure facility that has multiple levels of power, that is not affected by the city’s grid.  You’d simply head home or to the nearest web café, fire-up any web browser and simple log into your system. 

Now I understand for most IT technicians, the fact that your Servers are not down the hall is a little un-nerving.  But there is a business case for locating your equipment in a secure co-location facility that includes features that would be far too expensive for most small and medium sized businesses to install in their own Server room. 

Now here comes the sales pitch;

 

Or you can install your important applications on a Primus Managed Server.  With a 100 Mbps connection Internet connection, you have more than enough bandwidth for all your users, whether they’re at their desk, on the road or working from a branch or home office.

 

For a tour of Primus’ co-location facility, click here to view the video.

 

Chris Miles

Primus Business Services

Account Executive

 

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958

Email:     cmiles@primustel.ca

http://www.primustel.ca/en/business/index.php

 

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6

Posted via web from chrismiles's posterous

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Started this week at Primus Business Services

I started my new career this week at Primus Canada, marketing their Voice, Access, Hosting, IP connectivity, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity solutions.   This will be an adjustment, as the last 9 years (with one 6-month exception) I’ve been working from my home office.  But I love working downtown Vancouver, and my commute to Primus’ office is a quick ride on the West Coast Express from my home in Maple Ridge.

For those not familiar with Vancouver’s Lower Mainland, Maple Ridge is wayyyyyyyy out in the “burbs”.  Think horses, country music, Ford F150’s, beer and mullets.  I’m exaggerating, and in reality being “out there a bit” means we can afford a larger home on a big lot, with a pool in the backyard.  Maple Ridge also has a number of beautiful (and flat) trails over a series of dykes, with mountain views that I can often be found discovering on my mountain bike. 

I like to tell people that what I lack in good looks I make up for in experience.  With a varied sales background marketing Voice, Data and Internet services, Primus has a suite of products that fits with my desire to deliver a complete solution to a business customer.  But instead of long-winded ramblings of how wonderful we are, I’m hoping to blog about products and services that are available to Vancouver based organizations.  And to introduce readers to products and services that help to keep businesses up and running anywhere, at anytime.

Stay tuned for more.

Chris Miles
Primus Business Services
Account Executive

Tel:  604.630.2628   |    Toll Free:  877.752.6385    |   Fax: 877-329.4958
Email:     cmiles@primustel.ca
http://www.primus.ca/

For a virtual tour of our Data Centres: www.primustel.ca/IDCVideo

333 Seymour St, Suite 540, Vancouver BC, V6B 5A6