Archive for May, 2010
Partnership with Quadrant Data Systems, Inc
May 28th
Intelletrace has formed a partnership with Quadrant Data Systems, as their single source for all of their wide-area-networking. Intelletrace is proud to be involved with Quadrant Data Systems, who is the premier data center and hosting facility in Marin County.
Here is the link to a recent press release:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Encompass-Holdings-QDSI-pz-3023490140.html?x=0&.v=1
Projecting Economic Cycles
May 24th
Busy week… I believe this is a sign of good things to come. Went to an Economic forecast last week, which had some very good information. I want to pass some of the highlights along:
There is a solid recovery which will last through 2012 (except if you are in non-residential construction).
It’s time to change our mindset in the way we are investing in our businesses, or you are going to be left behind. The mindset has been to hunker down, due to the Great Recession, but that time is now over! The economy has turned the corner. His specific recommendations:
1. Train your folks and get them ready for the turnaround.
2. Spend money on marketing, but ONLY if you know what your competitive advantage is. If you don’t know it, develop it!
3. Have the courage to spend the money you need to build your business. Take measured, calculated risks. Most of your competition will wait.
* There will be three years of growth (2010-2012) before a flat year in 2013, and a mild recession in 2014. 2015-2017 will be recovery years.
Expect a 2019 recession (not as bad as 08-09) (Ouch!)
The stock market will not return to the 2008 peak until 2017.
Inflationary pressures are coming. Expect .25-.75 basis points rise later on in 2010; and 2.0- 3.0 basis point rise in 2011. Rates should peak at 7.5% in 2012.
How you can deal with Inflation: 1) Borrow as much money as you comfortably can this year (or a bit more). 2) Buy equipment to improve the efficiencies of your plants and businesses, so you’ll need fewer people. 3) Lock in all of your costs, for as long as you can. (Leases, long term costs, etc.) 4) Personally, go purchase inflation adjusting assets (real estate) in good, cheap markets – like AZ and TX and 5) invest in commodities. You will need to raise prices one year from now.
East Bay Data Center
May 13th
I toured the Core Site Data Center yesterday in Milpitas. I know it has been around since 2007, but it was the first time I had a chance to visit. There are not many in the East Bay and I consider it the premier Data Center, which has available capacity. The facility is easy to get to from the South Bay and the East Bay. The data center is also well disguised in an office park and has all the features and benefits of a top notch data center, SAS 70 type I compliant and soon to be type II. With multiple fiber providers coming into the facility, being an old WorldCom mega POP, and fiber back hauled to 55 South Market St, San Jose, this makes it very easy to reach any Carrier you want. 55 South Market, is one of the premier locations in the Bay Area. Almost every Carrier has their IP POP or LD POP at 55 South Market, making it very convenient for diversity and cost efficient bandwidth.
Intelletrace is providing our customer a MPLS network for all of their offices and their colo, a 100 meg point to point for data replication, and 10megs of bandwidth for Internet. We are able to provide this network design using 3 different providers for full diversity and redundancy, due to the multiple fiber providers at the Core Site facility. Intelletrace’s flexible business model allows our customer to meet their goal of multiple Carriers, one point of contact, and one invoice, allowing them to work on their business.
Let us know if you would like us to set up a tour and provide a free consultation of your data center and wide area networking needs.
Do the Right Thing
May 6th
The past few weeks I have spoken about what it takes to be a successful business in the new economy. One of the Carriers I mentioned was Verizon Business. I do want to make note, Verizon Business is one of our largest vendors and when it comes to metro services and Internet services, we highly recommend them to our customers. Verizon Business has often worked with us when issues arise, regarding business downturn, chronic services, and delayed installations. Verizon Business is still a valuable partner and a reason why Intelletrace has been so successful.
What is has been going on in the industry over the past two years, many layoffs and moving of people, experience and knowledge at the engineering level is slowly disappearing. As networks evolve, merge, and are groomed, more and more problems seem to be arising without any reason for such an outage given by the Carrier. Carriers are taking days and sometimes weeks before they are figuring out what might have happened. Often time, we hear the problem is fixed, but the Carrier has no reason why the outage may of occurred and cannot really be confident that it will not happen again. Finding the correct people who understand the network is taking too long.
A service provider cannot afford to have such a luxury with a customer. A service provider must act quickly, be proactive, and provide solutions to limit the problem from every happening again. When problems arise, Carriers need to act quicker, stop making excuses, and DO THE RIGHT THING. Stop worrying about contracts and work out a solution so both parties WIN. All Carriers must start acting this way for them to succeed in the new business world and continue to gain market share.
Marc Alciati
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Industry: Telecommunications
Occupation: President CEO
Location: Novato : CA : United States
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