I confess I haven’t had a lot of time to formulate my thoughts on this. I certainly would not call myself an expert in IT by any stretch of the imagination. However, today a series of articles came through my feeds that culminated after reading a guest post by Will Pate at StartUp North.

The first news item was:

Industry feels pinch as numbers of IT grads plummet (Globe Investor).

The synopsis? Canada’s University and college enrollment in IT and computer related fields have dropped from 36% - 64% depending on the province.

At ThinkNB this year, I spoke with recruiters from UNB and the NB Community Colleges. They confirmed that enrollment was down. UNB was addressing this with a new program that will combine business with computer technology in a Bachelor of Information Systems program.

Next news feed article today:

N.B. IT doing well: software exec (Telegraph Journal)

According to the quote in the Telegraph Journal:

“I would say the knowledge industry in New Brunswick is healthy,” says Paul McSpurren, former president and chief executive officer of Moncton-based Whitehill Technologies Inc.

“And will be healthy and vibrant in the future.” 

NB also recently held the Rising Stars awards where 10 ITC winners will be able to participate in a year long mentorship and networking program.

Now I want to send you the last article that I mentioned by Will Pate. If you’re an entrepreneur or thinking of starting your own business, read his post.  Let’s make sure that NB is in the race. 

Will’s right. This is a race and as Canadians we do tend to just plod through until the work is done. But when you’re following the industry and you see how fast it changes and how someone is always coming out with something new or different. We have to be able to keep pace. I have met many people in NB in the ITC sector and they all have a passion for what they’re doing.  As Paul McSpurren said in today’s Telegraph article, I think the knowledge industry in NB is healthy.

We have innovation happening here in NB. We have groups like catalict whose tagline says “Start your engines. The race is on.” We have the Wallace McCain Institute that helps entrepreneurs grow their business.

There are other organizations I could mention as well but the point is that I think we recognize in NB that there’s a need for speed, experience and skills to get ahead in this industry. And maybe because NB is always playing catchup with the rest of the provinces, we’re already used to racing.

What do you think? Is NB in the race?

Ok, this is already overdue. Since Cyber Monday, it has become a bit of a crazy time for those of us with e-retail companies, so I’ve been a tad neurotically busy lately. I was also caught up in trying to write intelligent, witty interviews for this piece and I’ve decided to just git er done instead;)

Day two of ThinkNB was a hub bub of activity. Spheric was the first of the companies that I interviewed.

Spheric

I noticed their booth right away. The bright orange booth header with We’re Lazy spanning the top drew the eye of many of the crowd attendents. As I made my way over to the booth I noticed the Spheric team all wearing bright orange t-shirts with an energy to match. I had the opportunity to talk with Adam MacDonald, co-founder of Spheric.

What is Spheric?

Spheric provides Enterprise Portals using BEA Aqualogic. We’ve recently expanding into application development and ruby on rails development. Apps like the facebook application called Expressions as well. We’re based in Moncton, NB.

Why are you called Lazy?

It’s all about simplicity and reducing redundancy. We have a disdain for repetition and prefer to automate processes. Our clients love us for it.

Who are some of your clients and success stories?

Spheric is proud to have a stellar lineup of clients such as Procter & Gamble, Bristol & Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Property Guys and more. Some of our clients are early adopters and are developing enterprise portals (Enterprise Social Architecture™ ) that incorporate social networking aspects to their portals. One of our clients has 68 servers with 14 million active users.

Are you funded or self-funded?

Self-funded

How are you marketing Spheric?

We haven’t very much to this point, nor really needed to. We always said we were the biggest company you never heard of. We’ve had very good success with our association with BEA Aqualogic and direct customer relations. We will be attending more trade shows and conferences but we have a solid referral system.

What technology is used at Spheric?

.net, php and Ruby on Rails. .

Who are your competitors?

There really aren’t any locally. 70% of our work is hired through the vendor.

Do you find it challenging being in New Brunswick?

Yes, it does provide complications. The time and expense of travel adds up. Since 98% of our clients are outside of Atlantic Canada, we are travelling a lot.

What does Spheric have that makes it stand out among everyone else?

Our work culture is unique. We have developed a 3 level certification process that all our staff go through to ensure they will mesh in with Spheric. This creates continuity and ensures that our team is prepared and passionate about the work we do. Our clients receive a team and not an individual. We’re able to deliver on time and above expectations.

From talking with several of the Spheric team members at the booth, this company culture was very evident. They were infectious, fun and yet at the same time exuded an air of competency.

What does the future hold for Spheric?

More direct sales. European expansion and continue to build on our customer base and partnerships.

Spheric also has a couple of impressive recent news releases.

Spheric Technologies a Moncton based Software Development and Service Company is excited to announce they are in the final stages of completing a Co-development agreement with one of the world’s largest consumer goods manufacturers Proctor and Gamble (P&G). Spheric will maintain IP rights to a number of new productivity and innovative collaboration tools which will be utilized by P&G under a worldwide licensing agreement. This agreement is the continuation of the development of Spheric’s Enterprise Social Architecture™ which is seen as a key contributor to substantial innovation and productivity gains across the Enterprise

Spheric Technologies a Moncton based Software Development and Service Company is excited to announce they are in the final stages of completing Marketing and Sales Agreement with 2Markets a Reston,Virginia based Complex Sales and Marketing Outsourcing services Company. The agreement will continue to support the visions of Spheric’s founder which is to focus on the strengths of the Company which include multiple software development practices including Aqualogic, Ruby on Rails, as well as SharePoint. Spheric is moving ahead with its Enterprise Social Architecture™ and has become a force in the Enterprise Integration field using Web 2.0 portal environments. With the largest Enterprises looking to increase productivity and Innovation within their organizations, Spheric has created unique tools and processes to support these initiatives thus providing a competitive advantage to the adopters of this new creative collaborative communication process.

I’m fairly certain the future is bright for these lazy guys at Spheric. Dan Martell’s blog, co-founder and Director of e-Business has more highlights of the event.

Speaking with Chris Nadeau at Evolving Solutions was a pleasure. I found him to be modest and confident with an evident passion for what he was doing. 

What is Evolving Solutions?

My brother Adrian and I formed Evolving Solutions 7 years ago. In 2004 we moved into our office space where we are now in Saint John, NB. At Evolving Solutions we offer several products:

Big Santo - CMS web marketing system

Office Gateway - Online Office Project Management

Envoy - Email Marketing

YourTeamOnline - branched off of Evolving Solutions and is now it’s own company. It was originally created as Elite Coach, a product for coaches, but that evolved into the current YourTeamOnline which launched it’s beta on November 6, 2007 as a product for coaches and players to manage their teams and share with others.

Other services include web design, logo design, hosting and consulting.

I covered more of YourTeamOnline Recently that has links to a review from StartUp North and comparison with its competiton Team Page with this blog posting.

What makes you tick?

The web and sports.

Can you share some information about your clients? Success stories?

YourTeamOnline has 700 teams on it including a team in Italy. Evolving Solutions has severeral small to mid-sized companies that it provides products and solutions. Something that was very unusual compared to most other companies at ThinkNB is that 85% of it’s business comes from within Atlantic Canada.

What technology is used at Evolving Solutions?

Java integration, java api.

Are you funded or self-funded?

Evolving Solutions is Self-Funded. YourTeamOnline received a New Brunswick Innovation Fund of $50,000.

How are you marketing Evolving Solutions?

Primarily through building relationships. Although YourTeamOnline being a social networking aspect, it is virally marketed through blogs and other social media.

Who are your competitors?

Mighty Community and Spheric would both be local competitors.

Do you find it challenging being located in NB?

No

What does Evolving Solutions have that makes it stand out among everyone else?

Simplicity, no jargon and building relationships.

Chris really seemed to understand the value of relating to people in everyday terms. Their marketing reflects that and I think it will be an asset to them.

What’s next for you guys?

YourTeamOnline will continue to grow. There are lots of great features that we’ll be looking to grow and build on.

I think their passion and desire to really make a difference will take them far. You can also follow along with Chris on his blog.

thinkNB launched tonight for a mix and mingle with exhibitors and guests at the Aitken Center in Fredericton. Tomorrow is a full day event open to the public. I had the opportunity tonight to meet with a few of the exhibitors and talk to them about their businesses. It was all rather loose this evening and tomorrow I’ll dive more into specific questions when I talk to various technology industry demographics. I used this event as my first time trying out utterz.

I met Dan Martell from Spheric last year at a Wizard Academy workshop put on by the Fundy Group. We have always had lots to discuss about web 2.0, online marketing and social networking. Tomorrow I’ll be talking to Dan and the others at Spheric tomorrow to find out exactly how they’re lazy but for now here’s an utterz from Dan.

It seemed appropriate to start this blog with a new event that is happening next week in Fredericton, NB. ThinkNB will be showcasing many of New Brunswick’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies. I hope to meet up with many of them next week and highlight them on meshEAST at some point.

This is a first for NB. I think it’s a wonderful initiative by those involved such as Gene Fowler of FatKat Animation.

“We rigorously validated the concept of a showcase with the industry, and it is responding enthusiastically,” said Gene Fowler, CEO of Miramichi-based Fatkat Animation and chair of the steering committee. “As an industry, we have not always marketed effectively to New Brunswick government departments and agencies, industry and business. Our event is a first step to change this. If you are a user or buyer of ICT, you can’t afford to miss this unique showcase.

He’s right in that there needs to be more effective marketing to the NB gov’t departments and agencies. However, I would take that a step further and say that we also need to market this information to the consumer more effectively. Whenever I ask anyone outside of the industry, even among those in the web world, numerous people had not heard about the event. A quick search online shows very few mentions. It’s not a reflection on the promotion of the event. But more the mindset that much of this industry here in Atlantic Canada is insular. That’s something I hope to help change with meshEAST. So that every day Atlantic Canadians will know about the great quality of companies that are coming out of this part of Canada with products and innovations that are applicable to all of us.

ThinkNB is a great start though and I am looking forward to connecting with new and old friends.