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Just an early heads up going first to the CLUG, and later to the Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton and other LUGS across Canada. I have registered the name "Open Enterprise Solutions" and domain openenterprise.ca to form the basis of my new company in Calgary. Only 12 days behind the schedule I set myself. Bank, business cards, logo, search engine listings to follow shortly. The name I originally wanted was "Open Solutions" but go figure, someone in Calgary has already registerd that Trade Name....someone on the list? Maybe they will want to buy open-solutions.ca from me? Anyway, you can get a bit more info on the purpose of this company by going to open-solutions.ca (dns entries for openenterprise.ca not up yet). Basically, for the benefit of the people on this list, there will soon be a survey/application form for anyone interested in the following categories of part-time and eventually full-time employment opportunites in the world of Open Source development and technology solutions. 1: Local and Remote Web Based Support Staff using something like Webconference LiveHelp (Tier 1) http://www.networkdweebs.com/products/webconference/livehelp/ 2: Local and Remote Telephone based support (Tier 2) 3: Local on-site support (Tier 3) and development staff (customizations, installations, consulting, c, perl, java, html, php, python, shell etc) 4: Local Open Source Technology Consultants (installers, developers, project managers etc) Along with these initial categories, which would then be broken down into application categories such as Networking/Security, Desktop Applications, Database etc, there will likely be the need for management level staff. These will be people with around 10 years or more of serious, fulltime Open Source, Linux and Windows knowledge either as a developer or support personal/IT manager. Yes this is an Open Source Company but integrating with and/or replacing "Legacy" Windows or other proprietary systems will be a large part of the job, so knowledge and experience in both areas is crucial. The web site is still a testing ground and where I also manage my local servers and lots of personal stuff so when I am satisifed with the tools/applications for the official hosted location of openenterprise.ca, then it will be moved, hopefully before the end of the year. Obviously it will likely look very different from the way it looks now. Some categories of tools I am still seeking, and testing, are groupware, project management, document management, knowledgebase and shopping cart. I have played with many in each category but have not found anything that really grabs me yet. The tentative time line is to begin advertising and selling turn-key Linux systems for educational and home users using re-furbished systems from CDI Computer Dealers Inc. (I will be signing up as a VAR shortly), and new systems (I am a VAR with Peripherial Express and will be seeking others by the end of the year), maybe before Chistmas. And for Enterprise systems I will be approaching IBM and DELL in the near future for hardware (along with our own) but will need to have a well thought out model and documented procedures and hardware/software/support specifiations in place. Tentatively the Spring of 2003. I will also be attending the 12 week "Concept to Capital Incubation Program" from Calgary Technologies in the Spring which cullminates with a Business Plan Presentation to Venture Capitalists. Either following, during or before the end of this program I will also be trying to organise a well-advertised "Open Source and Linux Information Session" for Calgary Business's, which I hope to find some willing participants from this list. Obviously those who help/participate in this information session will have their foot in the door for future employment opportunites. And a well thought out and delivered introduction will almost certainly generate immediate business contracts. So in the mean time, for those of you that may be insterested in helping me with the process of building a new company, I can always use the help, or if you have any suggestions my ears and mailbox are always open. I have owned and operated a number of business's and consulting services so this is not my first. Also, I am the only one that posts Open Source, Linux or other interesting technology news on my site and could always use the help. It is becoming a good resource for many things Linux, Open Source, Microsoft or wizz-bang technology news/articles and I will always provide the db export to anyone that asks. There are around 650 articles going back a year from around the world...all of which I posted. The process is a no-brainer and takes about 1 minute per article with a small amount of basic html. Providing a broad and comprehensive resource for Linux and Open Source news from around the world will always remain a part of this new business and people who are willing to help out now, may end up being first in line when the job opportunites actually manifest. So I appologise for the length of this email, but I thought I would give CLUG members the first chance at an opportunity to help out with a new company dedicated to Open Source Software and the first shot at some possible employment (Cameron knows first hand my obsessive attention to detail right Cameron?). Once actually up and running, some sort of ongoing support/acknowledge to the CLUG will also be considered in the future. Thank You ______________________________ Open Enterprise Solutions Open Solutions for an Open World Johnny Stork Calgary, AB Canada http://www.openenterprise.ca http://www.open-solutions.ca |
