Small business with big plans: Entrepreneur plans to develop an e-business data centre.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: Brief Article

For as much as e-business can assist northern companies to stretch into global markets, the same technology allows outside companies to extend their reach into your backyard.

Since starting Gossamer Systems Inc. more than two years ago, owner Brian Tricker has harboured big plans to build a commercial data centre for e-business that is like nothing else on the technology scene in Northern Ontario.

But what he discovered thus far is that businesses across the North simply are not ready for what he has to offer. Nevertheless, he remains determined to keep preaching to the unconverted.

Gossamer Systems is a full-range technology consulting and development services firm specializing in e-business solutions for the business-to-consumer and the business-to-business market (B2B).

The North Bay company offers a menu of services that are "all over the map," from strategic marketing and planning for companies wondering about how to incorporate their products into the e-business world to actually setting up the physical development of Web sites and linking Web systems into back end office systems, says Tricker.

Gossamer took some tentative steps in June, 1999 into the application service provider (ASP) market with the intention of establishing a data centre where they could develop and host e-business systems on behalf of clients on a per-monthly payment basis.

Unfortunately, at this point, the concept is still on hold since many companies in the North are still figuring put how e-commerce can benefit them.

"They don't see it as an investment that will keep them competitive in a more global market," says Tricker. "Some of the more progressive companies are investing in it tool and tong because they view it as one of the tools to use.

"But there's a significant gap in understanding what they read versus 'How do I apply this to my business?'"

Tricker says some northern companies sell themselves short in realizing what a globally unique product they have to offer, while others selling commodities should utilize e-business solutions more to better serve their regional customers.

"I guess I reject the fact we're not visionaries up here. I've seen the pioneer spirit to take on challenges. We lack the understanding where we sit in the global economy and how these types of technologies can really be leveraged to make them more competitive."

His conceptual centre would offer more than basic services offered by internet service providers, most common in the...