including Service Advisories and Notices....

January 27, 2012:
Well, better late than never! A very happy new year to all and a special Kung Hei Fat Choi to all our Chinese friends. 2012 has so far brought great things to our company and our customers, including an upcoming massive upgrade of our private data center (details to follow) and a new medical offering in partnership with Manitoba's premiere medical billing service - look for that announcement in March!

December 20, 2011:
The hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing! Good luck trying to drive anywhere in this city in the next few days!! Remember the spirit of the holidays - whether you say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah (today is the first night after all!!) or all the best in the new year, the sentiment is the same! Be kind to one another and try to exercise patience with the crazy crowds.

Forest will be closed from December 24 to December 27, re-opening normal hours on December 28. We will also be closed on January 2, 2012 with normal hours resuming January 3.

See you all next year!

December 1, 2011:
Next, next, accept, next, next, next, done.

How many of us do this when we're installing a new update or new software?

Far too often now, companies are burying add-ons within their installs, betting on people just skipping past them as they click "next" over and over again. The worst one right now is JAVA - the updates install the "Ask" toolbar if you just click through the installation. This toolbar and others are just there to annoy you, spy on what you're doing and slow down your computer.

Pay attention to your installations - make SURE you know exactly what is being installed in your system!

October 10, 2011:
In the guise of the late, great Steve Jobs, "Let's talk Cloud."

"Cloud" is the latest buzzword that has swept the corporate IT world. It seems to bring the promise of storing everything in the ether and never having to worry about your data again, always having instant access to a bevy of what would be typically costly programs for a fraction of that cost, and never having to worry about support.

Let's get a few things straight first.

"Cloud" is NOTHING NEW. The Cloud = The Internet. "Cloud Services" = Services that are offered over the Internet. THAT'S ALL. Forest has been offering "Cloud Services" since 1999!

Here's the really important consideration. When your data is stored "In The Cloud" with a service like Google Docs or Office365 you have -NO IDEA- where your data physically is. For example, it likely is stored in multiple physical locations in multiple countries, one of which is very likely the United States, where ALL data on its soil is subject to the Patriot Act. This essentially means you have lost the ability to guarantee that data's protection and/or confidentiality. When you are dealing with customer's data and our privacy acts here in Canada, it is IMPERATIVE (and sometimes legally required) that your data reside on CANADIAN soil.

Since 1999, we have expanded our offerings, built our very own secured data center located right here in Winnipeg and we provide hosting and "Cloud Services" to over 2,000 customers.

To us, Cloud is not a buzzword - it's a way of life. It's -anything- to do with the Internet. Count on our experience in the field to answer your questions with honesty, and without ambiguity.

News Archive