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For any founder having your 1 year birthday is a special moment. Not only did you create something that survived a year 😱, but much of the initial hesitation and self-doubt has dispersed. Although never fully gone. The 1 year birthday also provides a time to reflect and look forward to what might be on the horizon for Vivacity Technologies and the team.
As such, for this month of Viva Scoop I'm going to get a little nostalgic, send out some much-earned appreciation, and also provide an overview of where we’re heading 🚀.
Inception
Starting a company is an exciting and wonderful experience, but be prepared for the sleepless nights and emotional rollercoaster. The youthful anticipation is exhilarating though, along with the consideration of what might be possible.
Of course none of this is possible without the support of your family and friends. A big thank you to my wife Sarah for being that rock, as well as those who invested in Vivacity during our Friends and Family round. None of this is possible without you!
Customers
No business can survive without customers, they’re literally the lifeblood of any small business. With this in mind, a massive thank you to the City of Kamloops, Community Futures, and Fern Software for initially putting your trust in Vivacity. You provided the foundation for everything to come, and receiving our first pay cheque was a memorable moment.
Since then, we’ve brought on some truly awesome clients, including Redline Communications (now Aviat Networks), the City of Pitt Meadows, Simpcw Resources Group, the Kelson Group, and even undertaking a small project for the amazing non-profit Big Bear Child and Youth Advocacy Centre. Again, my sincere thanks goes out to all of you.
Building a stellar team
Building the Vivacity (Viva) Team has probably been the most gratifying experience so far. In February we hired the wonderful Stefano Stamato and if anyone has heard me talk about Stefano there simply aren't enough superlatives to describe him. Amazing work and just a great human being.
In addition we’ve brought on Angela Liu as a co-op student in May. Angela has grown massively over the last few months and is currently taking on some BIG projects for us. Furthermore, Jaime Sedore joined the Viva Team in August as a Software Developer upskilling the team in so many awesome ways.
There are also so many people who provide guidance and support either on a one-off basis, or continually. These include advisors, contractors, mentors, customers etc. I really appreciate everything you've done, and continue to do, for us🙌.
On this front, I’d also like to announce that Tarandeep (Taran) Singh Chinger will be joining our team in early October as an IT Practice Lead. Taran has a great background, while beating out over 100 applications for the role. We’re pumped Taran is joining our team and will be creating our first satellite office in Edmonton. Taran also has the smartest LinkedIn profile picture, so check it out here.
What the future holds
Looking ahead, we've been growing in a number of key areas, including digital infrastructure projects for the Kelson Group, City of Kamloops and the City of Pitt Meadows. Generally these projects have included providing a long-term strategy for the deployment and management of IT infrastructure, including data centres, fibre and networking equipment.
In addition, we’re currently acting as the CIO/CTO Office for Simpcw Resources Group, while doing several other smaller IT assessments. These projects help us build great relationships with clients, while determining where the market pain points truly are.
Our high focus area, however, is around the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) space, and how this infrastructure can be used to secure IoT, IIoT and other in-the-field devices. Along this line we’ve recently started working with several municipalities on how our PKI solution can support the growth of Smart City and Living Lab environments. Our long term goal for Vivacity has always been to make meaningful changes in the municipality space through technology and it looks like we’re starting to build a little momentum in this area.
There is always uncertainty looking forward, but we truly believe we have the ambition and team to make meaningful innovation in the IT and technology sector. To this end, a big thank you to everyone (you) who has been tuning into Viva Scope each month. We really value your interest and support, it means a great deal to the Viva team.
George Emery
george.emery@vvctec.com
Vivacity Technologies Ltd., Fraser St., Kamloops, British Columbia