I'd like to introduce Josh Eimer of Strat IS, an IT company based in Cranbrook BC.

Josh is also involved in the Cranbrook Arts Council, and can occasionally be spotted spreading some joy in a T-Rex suit.

Here's Josh's take on what things have been like over the last few months.

What is your name, role/title, and name of organization/business you’re with?

My name is Joshua Eimer. Like other small business owners, I wear most of the "hats" over at StratIS! StratIS provides organizations remote and On-Site IT support and infrastructure for a fixed monthly cost. StratIS provides services to organizations primarily in and around the East Kootenays; but, through the magic of remote management, we have some clients as far as Nanaimo and Blairmore that we support. Our services are as flexible and varied as our client’s needs are: some clients need just a basic hosted website, others need us to manage access and permissions on their servers and remote infrastructure, and for others: we provide a full IT department! StratIS has always been heavily security focused; with most of our supported end points being in medical clinics, dental offices, and CPA firms; security is not something anyone wants to get wrong and we don’t get a second chance to do right!

How has the current Covid-19 situation affected your daily operations?

IT support has been categorized a critical service since everything hit the fan. In the East Kootenays, we have been very fortunate to avoid the worst of the pandemic. For most of our contracted clients, they all are in industries that similarly were categorized as critical services, so while some of those businesses have modified staffing or other changes, this time has been surprisingly normal for us. Working remotely is how we provided reliable and responsive support to our clients before the pandemic, so it was a simple reminder to our clients: that we were already setup for this, and here was a sheet with their login information. Some of the biggest challenges we faced were how to best handle things like CAD/CAM work over a remote connection, thankfully there has been significant work in the last few years around technology specifically suited to these particular issues, due largely in part to cloud gaming services. Shipping has been less predictable as well, but thankfully most people seem understanding. Seeing how flexible the cloud has made us to rapidly adapt to new business situations has maybe been the biggest surprise to me. For the team to simply spin up a new phone system in the cloud, send the softphone links and quick start page via email, and have an office phone system that bridges all of the staff's living rooms together in under an hour; it’s just not something that would have been possible even a few short years ago!

What positive or uplifting things are you seeing during this time?

It has been amazing to see just how much our local communities can pull together to get something done or to help people in need out. Our communities are finding unique ways to stay connected with each other too! The EK Business Breakfast Group has run their normal meetings like clockwork, over Zoom. Our CDAC board meetings happen like usual, over Zoom. And I know at least a few people who have wine nights with their friends, over Zoom. Seeing our communities rally behind initiatives to help organizations like our food bank is both heart-warming and inspiring! Seeing such cool ideas like the Heart of the Community as well as the Front Porch Project certainly gave me hope that this was temporary, and we would eventually find a new normal.

What are you doing to find joy right now?

My wife and I are in the middle of building/renovating right now, so there's only as much joy as drywalling allows! Kidding aside, I bought an inflatable T-Rex costume and have been out bringing joy to some of my friends, family, and businesses that we work with. It has been so refreshing to engage with people in such a simple and non-serious way. I don’t think people want to see an IT company advertising right now. So for me: if I can do something funny, give away some gift cards, or make someone laugh; that will make both of our day’s a little brighter! Dr. Burwash and I have an ongoing, friendly, competition of who has the scarier outfit right now; I’m pretty sure he has me beat on that one!

Is there anything specific you’d like to share, or wish people knew right now?

A lot of organizations are struggling right now. A lot of them are trying to figure out how to meet their organization’s goals with stricter regulations, reduced grants, less staff, and reduced cash flow. If there is a local non-profit, organization, endeavor, or just something else that you appreciate; please consider helping them out if you can. It is important that our economy has a chance to rebuild, and make no mistake: it will, but these groups are also wildly important to enabling opportunities for our communities and we want to see them be OK too. Stay safe, and stay strong!