Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Why Saskatchewan Needs To Sell ISC

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Information Services Corporation of Saskatchewan will soon to put up for sale despite objections from the official opposition and labour unions. The Governing Saskatchewan Party promotes the sale of ISC to private investors as an opportunity for ISC to grow and expand beyond operating the land titles and vital statistics systems for the provincial government.

In order ot diversify from a resource based economy and embrace what is often dubbed the knowledge economy expanding the information technology industry is one of the vital first steps.  The announcement by Fujitsu Canada of their proposed  data centre near Regina shows interest within IT companies in growing their operations in Saskatchewan.

Selling ISC is a key to the growth of the Information Technology industry in Saskatchewan to show the industry that the mentality of the Romonow-Calvert era of we are the government that taxes you, regulates you and also competes against you is over.  Today's Saskatchewan is open for business without government getting into your business.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

If You're Trying To Find A Microsoft Surface Tablet In Canada...

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Microsoft's better late than never entry into the tablet market arrived a few weeks ago, for those potential buyers of the Microsoft Surface tablet have been doing more searching than buying. An online check at Walmart, Best Buy, London Drugs, Future Shop, and The Source shows that none of these big five retailers do not even carry Surface tablets. The only retail store that sells Microsoft's tablet is the Microsoft store. With only one Microsoft store in the entire country, it makes this Canadian think that the tablet market North of the 49th parallel doesn't really matter to the executives in Redmond.

For those who are not within convenient driving distance from the Microsoft Store in Toronto, the alternative for those who really want a Surface tablet is to order it online at microsoft.ca.  Selling at $519 the equivalent of an entry level iPad not including shipping charges.  For Microsoft, launching the Surface in a market that is dominated by the iPad and Android tablets, keeping the retail sales of Surface tablets within their own sales channels will end up hurting a product they are trying to launch into an already crowded market.