My first blog and my first entry, wow!  How times change!  Just a little background, I started in the world of technology in the early 80s.  I held many roles on the operations side of government and private sector businesses.  I have owned 2 businesses and now I am a Senior Systems Engineer at Mitel.  I hold several industry certifications from Mitel, Cisco, VMWare, Microsoft and Oracle.  Today I would rather state that I am learning what I don't know than to display everything I have learned and maybe forgot.  I chose the title SE Up North because I have a home and resort in the furthest north spot in the continental United States, Angle Inlet, MN in the Northwest Angle of Minnesota.

Over the past 30 years technology has evolved very fast!  While us technology people are supposed to be really smart (At least people tell me that all the time!), we can be really slow to get the big picture.  "If we don't learn to adapt to the businesses we are supporting and meet the needs of the organizations that are requesting services, we are going to die just like the dinosaur"  Successful organizations always find a way to complete their task even if there is resistance.  Back in my younger days, I never understood that and always thought I was in control.  The people I supported always figured out a way to get done what they wanted even if the IT group said "No" (Which was a pretty standard answer from IT, trust me I know because I was usually saying it).  In the early days of technology this meant figuring out a way to stop that user from doing what they needed or "thought they needed (Remember, I was in control!)"  Now I find myself looking back with so much wisdom (Smile) or is it just age (Am I really getting old?)  How many people say "I wish I knew what I know now back then!"

Now here I am, 2012 and 4 years into a whole new career and in college at the same time!  I am a Senior Systems Engineer at Mitel, a student at Western Governors University and I love it!  I get to listen to some of today's best minds tell me how they want their business to operate.  Then I take that information and build a plan to support their business and hopefully exceed their goals!  We have a great team at Mitel and many great products that all support an organizations communications.  It is funny, 4 years ago when I started I said "I sell Voice over IP", today I more accurately state "I sell solutions that allow your business communicate better!"  It really is so much more than just Voice Over IP.  But that is for another blog entry.

I hope you all enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy writing it!  There will be more to follow as I plan to give my opinions to sales and technology in the coming blogs.  Take care and thank you for following me!

Sincerely,

SE Up North