opus:interactive | If These Servers Could Talk

by Jeremy Sherwood

Walking into Interop in Las Vegas reminded me very much of a big kids’ Disneyland. The lights, the overly large gimmicks that scream “Look at me! Look at me!” It really was sensory overload. Looking back on the event I can still remember the booths that really made an impression. There was a lot of good swag, and of course the cheap booths that attempt to persuade you with a simple little 25-cent plastic clapper (although my 1-year-old digs the plastic clapper).

Booths that made a lasting impression despite the products or services they were selling were the booths that didn’t make you feel like you were dealing with trashy used car salesmen.

I think the booths that made a lasting impression despite the products or services they were selling were the booths that didn’t make you feel like you were dealing with trashy used car salesmen. A good example is Qwest. Although they are a big player they really invited you over to their booth to play multiplayer Half-Life2, which Eric and I played for multiple rounds, fragging each other as well as 12 strangers. (The opus boys were in the top five every game we played.) The booth was very inviting, with no real sales hook to buy or sign up for anything. It was just “come and experience what Qwest broadband can do for you and your business.” The speaker was optional, and most of it was about Qwest providing bandwidth to the whole conference. I thought it was really well done.

A different aspect of Interop that was really nice was the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the vendors we work with. After spending almost two whole days with David from GTA on the phone/RDP completing our Firewall certifications, it was nice to put a face with a name and experience. The other great thing about meeting with GTA was speaking with their president. He was very personable, but more than that he was very interested in the things we wanted changed for the better. He truly expressed the desire to receive negative as well as positive feedback. That really reassured me that they are a great partner to have.

All in all, Interop itself really brought home that we are doing the right things and heading in the right direction. There wasn’t anything that jumped out and said, “Oh man, you better do this or change this. You are behind the curve.” In reality, most everything said, “ You guys are ahead of the curve.” Which is great to hear.

Last but not least: Las Vegas. What an interesting place. Where the people are proud to say, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” I never thought that would be something to be proud of. We saw Old Town Vegas, spray paint artists, and the million-LED walkway (cool technology, poor use of it). We almost got Nuss to take his picture with two guys from Chippendales to send home— now that would have been funny. We rode one too many monorails, walked more than any human should have to, ate way to much heavy food, never slept enough, inhaled well beyond some legal limit of second-hand smoke, and, most importantly, enjoyed every minute of it.

by Eric Hulbert

Wow! The booth babes were incredible. These shows never cease to amaze me. Every other booth had models sporting ultra slinky spandex wear showing off their products trying to draw you in to their booths. It works!

I took this pic of the opus Director of Ops and one of the Blackcat booth babes.

I was very happy to see that we are well ahead of the curve in almost all areas of the IT lifecycle and daily managed services sustainability practices.

We met with existing vendors, like Ironport, Cisco, Network Hardware Resale, Array Networks and GTA, and it confirmed to me that we have made great decisions in our vendors and partners.

We found a new vendor to replace Intermedia for our Hosted Exchange offering. We talked at length with their COO about their offerings, their network, their solution overall and their technical infrastructure.

The In-Row RP and RC air conditioning units from APC are awesome. This is for sure the design we will go with next year.

We also looked at more of the APC Infrastruxure line and it continued to assure us that their solution/product is the correct answer for us when we build-out/expand next year. They make a newer, same-footprint modular UPS that has 25KVA power modules versus the 10KVA power modules we have now. We are limited to 100KVA for that zone. The new UPS will allow 250KVA scalable to 500KVA. It is a very impressive product and will continue to be the front-runner for our next UPS solution. Their in-row cooling products are incredible. We watched a demo on the Chatsworth CPI Passive Cooling solution and I must say I was not impressed. It was limited by the static pressure available under the raised floor in the facility (a design principle we want to move away from in the future). The In-Row RP and RC air conditioning units from APC are awesome. Chilled water or glycol can be chosen for the configuration and can be combined with their HACS (hot aisle containment system) for the ultimate in high density. This is for sure the design we will go with next year.

Factoids:

• Learned how to play craps. That game is pretty fun. Also played a bunch of limit hold’em, blackjack and roulette. Always good to get in a little gambling time when in vegas!
• Saw KA at the MGM. Wow that was pretty sweet. The drinks were quite nice!
• Watched Jason Nuss drive a simulated Formula One car at Caesar’s Palace. That was intense.
• Great steak at Nine Fine Irishmen at NYNY.
• Absolutely the craziest cab rides. We took a cab from the airport, and the guy was insane—very bitter about Vegas cab drivers. Late in the week, we took a cab from Fremont Street back to the MGM and the driver was NUTS. He just wouldn’t stop talking, and he drove us through the dark section of Vegas and talked about drug runs he took, and how he met Cuba Gooding Jr. and how he was cheating on his wife, etc., etc.

Nuts.

Here are some key points to look for when shopping around for a provider.

Managed Servers and Colocation are hot topics throughout the northwest. If you have been exploring hosting options I’m sure the question “What is better dedicated managed servers or collocating servers?” has come to mind. I generally respond with 3 buckets to assist clients in there search for service. These buckets help identify what you need and from whom. They are “You Do”, “I Do” and “We Do”.

The first bucket is “You Do.” This bucket is as it sounds, that you want someone to take care of all your services. Generally speaking this is what is called a Managed Server Solution or Dedicated Server. You pay trained certified technicians to managed servers, operating systems, applications, database, firewalls, security, disaster recovery, data back etc all in a secure data center facility. This solution is really designed for those companies who don’t want the headaches and responsibility of managing the upkeep of servers. A good number of companies use this solution so they don’t acquire any assets the depreciate and have a life cycle of about 3 years. This solutions is more of a worries free and headache free solution. The “You Do” is growing rapidly as more and more companies want to focus on there core business and not have to worry about the technical side of things.

The Second bucket is “I Do.” This bucket is really designed for the do it yourselfers out there. Colocation space is really what you need. You rent space just like you might at the gym for a locker to put your clothes in. You have your clothes and you just need a safe place to put them while you work out. Colocation of servers is very similar. You rent secure space, power, cooling, and connectivity for your servers. The biggest advantages of doing this are network reliability and guaranteed uptime. Yes I know, there are a lot of companies that have servers under someone’s desk or in some back closet, but that being said, you are only as strong as your weakest link. What happens when your internet goes down, or you lose power? What about the security of someone coming into your office space, or on those really hot summer days that broom closet gets pretty hot? The answer is trouble. The cost for that is far more expensive than to rent space in a facility. Besides this way if something were to go wrong you have someone else to blame, and generally you receive refunds for any outages.

The final bucket is “We Do.” This is really the best in both worlds. It truly is the buffet of services. You pick what services you would like to add to your current, or new solution, and how much control, or level of responsibility, you wish to have. All three buckets are great because the features they address to each unique business.

Now the real big question is what provider should I pick? We’ll answer that question in our next entry. Stay tuned.

When the Portland Development Commission stepped up efforts to inform businesses about a program that rewards job creation with tax breaks, the businesses listened.

Before the push to educate the industrial community about the merits of investing in an enterprise zone covering much of North/Northeast Portland, the PDC had typically granted breaks to three of four new or expanding businesses per year in the 10 years since the zone was created.

This year, on the heels of an aggressive outreach effort with an assist from a strong economy, the enterprise zone program has added 10 companies and expects to add 12 more by the end of the year, said PDC’s Seth Hudson, senior economic development manager and manager of the North/Northeast Enterprise Zone.

Among the new participants to sign on this year: Advanced American Construction, Oregon Steel Mills and Oregon Transfer Co.

The zone currently has 20 active participants who together intend to invest $222.4 million in new buildings and equipment. They will generate 2,100 new jobs and receive an estimated $12.4 million break on property taxes that would have been assessed on the new value of their businesses. The tax breaks last for five years.

The zone hit another milestone this year with the addition of a special “e-commerce zone” overlay, which rewards Internet-oriented companies with income tax breaks for investing in computers, software and related gear.

It gained its first customer, Opus Interactive, which has spent $662,000 on new facilities and a data center in recent months.

Portland’s enterprise zone isn’t the only one to prosper in the past year. There are 55 such enterprise zones scattered across the state and activity is on the rise in most of them, said Art Fish, business incentives coordinator for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

Enterprise zones are a legal construct created by the state to spur business investment. They are implemented locally by cities and counties.

In essence, the enterprise zone program gives manufacturers a temporary property tax break for investing in new buildings and equipment if the investment results in new, well-paying jobs.

The zones typically are situated in economically distressed areas with an industrial bent. The e-commerce zone gives income tax breaks to Internet-oriented companies like Opus Interactive that invest in software, computers and network gear.

According to an annual report on the program issued this week, enterprise zones have generated 5,884 new jobs, 53 percent more than a year ago. Fish expects the numbers to climb in the next few years as projects in development are completed and business operations begin.

“We’re looking at on the order of a 50 percent jump,” he said.

In Portland, the North/Northeast zone covers an area bordered by Interstate 205 and Forest Park to the east and west, and by the Columbia River and I-84 to the north and south. It was amended this year to include Opus Interactive, which is in Northwest Portland.

The biggest new investment in Portland is Oregon Steel Mills, which plans to spend $72 million on new facilities and to add 390 people to its payroll. In exchange, it will get a $3.69 million break on its property taxes.

Not every newcomer is as large as Oregon Steel. The class of 2006 includes Triad Mechanical, which will invest $500,000 and add 29 employees, for a tax break worth a little less than $28,000.

Actual Article (must have Biz Journal Subscription to read full article online): Biz Journal