Business in Winnipeg

[wags_in_the_peg]

my prediction they build in a gov't sponsored industrial park, know of any? oh yeah centreport

[cllew]

Originally Posted by h0twired

Not to mention that every government entity will be "encouraged" to use the facility.

MTS actually had all the government data processing business back in the early 1980's (Manitoba Data Services) before they sold that off to a company out of Regina called ISM. After the sale the requirement to use a central data center faded and agencies like MPI opened their own as it gave them more control of what technologies they wanted to use.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Cyro

It is interesting Cory. Although they will provide most of thier services for local and regional companies this quote was curious.



The location is hush,hush as well. The planning must have been on going for some time.

The interest is obviously their for the Manitoba market, but It would also provide "third parties to locate their".??

Sask Tel has been doing hosting for a number of years.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Cyro

MPI contracted out it's Data Centre to Ontario, for lack of facilites here.

MPI had two big data centers here in Winnipeg. It was a management decision to close them down and contract them out. There was no real reason to rush the closures and they could have waited for MTS or anybody else to build in Manitoba.

As it was the IBM ones in Ontario were custom built for MPI.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

The Exchange Group does information redundency/backup storage. I think they own the hardware too...

EDIT: Added link... FWIW. http://www.exg.ca/gsc/default.asp

They are tiny in comparison to other colocation facilities. They are adequate if you have a couple of servers and do not need the space or security that a place like Q9 or MTS would provide.

MTS is building a facility for customers to host their own rows upon rows of server racks filled with servers, network gear and SAN. They will most likely follow the Q9 model in having multiple levels of security, fire suppression, power management, power conditioning and backup power. Not to mention they will probably have tons of dark fiber and connectivity to nearly every ISP in the country in their facility.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by cllew

MTS actually had all the government data processing business back in the early 1980's (Manitoba Data Services) before they sold that off to a company out of Regina called ISM. After the sale the requirement to use a central data center faded and agencies like MPI opened their own as it gave them more control of what technologies they wanted to use.

Times and attitudes have changed. Fiber is cheap compared to the slow and expensive copper connections.

It used to be that running your own data center was cheaper than collocating and paying a fortune for high speed connections to your servers. Co location 10-15+ years ago was used just to host servers in a DMZ or backup servers only. Now you can get 1 or even 10 Gbps dark fibre for less than a T1 used to cost and companies now are keeping ALL of their servers off-site and leaving the concerns of HVAC, power and network connectivity to the collocation vendor.

This is a good move for MTS and will probably prove very successful for them if they do things right. If not, I could see Q9 moving into Winnipeg and stealing their clients.

[Cyro]

Centreport was my 1st thought when I read the article Wags, then "new build" I should post in construction...then I thought..."It's Business"...

Yes Sask Tel has been involved for some time Cllew, but my post was reg: MTS getting a foot hold in the Manitoba Market. >>"The interest is obviously their for the Manitoba market"

Yes, Management makes these decisions, they made a decision based on their circumstances and proceeded. Could they have waited 2 -3 years for a new facility to open, possibly.

I worked for both companies,(MTS, MPI) in different capacities and some decisions often befuddled me?

IBM, I've never really followed or been involved with.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Cyro

I worked for both companies,(MTS, MPI) in different capacities and some decisions often befuddled me?

I wonder who you are, I have probably seen or met you at one point over the last 35+ years.

[1ajs]

http://www.mbix.ca/ located in the grain exchange building witch is were one conects to bell and a bunch of other companies for fiber hook up beleave it or not

[cllew]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

http://www.mbix.ca/ located in the grain exchange building witch is were one conects to bell and a bunch of other companies for fiber hook up beleave it or not

The grain exchange is sort of a neutral site for system connections as it is next to the MTS main exchange, and the Allstream building (former cn/cp Telegraph, unitel).

There are also major fiber transport hubs in 201 Portage and down Main St. at Wesley.

The whole area around Portage and Main takes advantage of the fiber routes that come down the CN and CP rail lines. If you look along Rorie and Lily you will see CP Telegraph manholes that connect to the CP Mainline.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by cllew

The grain exchange is sort of a neutral site for system connections as it is next to the MTS main exchange, and the Allstream building (former cn/cp Telegraph, unitel).

There are also major fiber transport hubs in 201 Portage and down Main St. at Wesley.

The whole area around Portage and Main takes advantage of the fiber routes that come down the CN and CP rail lines. If you look along Rorie and Lily you will see CP Telegraph manholes that connect to the CP Mainline.

i know i have worked on some of the fibor around there and seen the maps its quite fcinating how much is around there

[Cyro]

Exporters in city rocking again
U.S. upswing trickles up north

It's been a long time coming, but local exporters are finally starting to reap the benefits of the long-awaited U.S. economic recovery.

"It's been kind of slow, steady growth the last 12 months," McBain said, adding its sales are almost back to pre-recession levels. That has enabled the company to build its workforce back up to about 160 workers, with all of them now working five days a week.

Source

[wags_in_the_peg]

the diving Canadian dollar is great for exporters as well! crappy for vacationers though.

[Cyro]

Great for exporters is the Key.

Today were at aprx: $ 1US = CAN 1.08 as of 12:10 pm today.

Bad for travellers to the south no doubt, but I'm loving it the other way. A great deal of the buisness I recieve involves payment in US funds. Around 2005 for every 1$ US I received you could tack on .50 cents. Very, very profitable.

So for me personally, the lower the loonie drops in comparison to the green back I smile a little more.

[Cyro]

Housing market chugs on
Hot December caps another solid year



Winnipeg's housing market roared across the finish line in 2013, posting one of the best Decembers on record for sales of existing homes and banging out a whopping 74 per cent increase in new housing starts.

Thursday was a big day for housing-related news in Winnipeg, with four new reports being released. Combined, they paint a picture of a housing market that continues to fire on all cylinders.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bus...239548821.html

Positive numbers. Very good sign overall.

[wags_in_the_peg]

CTC data centre - this was announced last year but it's now up and running and interesting notes about some of the positive side effects and news about HP.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bus...240708581.html

[wags_in_the_peg]

Calm Air success story

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bus...241239951.html

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

the diving Canadian dollar is great for exporters as well! crappy for vacationers though.

Crappy for some Canadian consumer's buying imported products which are usually priced in US $ in other words every Canadian!

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Crappy for some Canadian consumer's buying imported products which are usually priced in US $ in other words every Canadian!

I prefer a lower CAD as it benefits Canadians FAR greater than a higher CAD which ultimately just benefits travelers or people that live near the border and go to the US to stock up on cheaper household goods.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by h0twired

I prefer a lower CAD as it benefits Canadians FAR greater than a higher CAD which ultimately just benefits travelers or people that live near the border and go to the US to stock up on cheaper household goods.

I'll take the current CAD, please. Business can more easily acquire the goods, services and equipment they need to be competitive and raise productivity.

A low CAD just encourages Canadian business to act like a big maquiladora that focuses on supplying cheap labour and goods. Canada is better off with a dollar closer to par with the USD than with the 60 cent dollars of 12-14 years ago.