Meet our bloggers

Afshin has over 19 years of industry experience and brings expertise in the management, design and deployment of multi-tier enterprise systems infrastructure. Prior to working at SunGard Availability Services he has held senior management and technical positions with a number of technology companies including successful Canadian startup PlateSpin, Ltd. and Unisys Canada. He was also a founder and managing partner of Toronto-based BITManagement Inc., which was successfully sold to GNTS, a division of Enterasys Networks. Afshin holds a B.Sc. (Data Management Specialist) degree from the University of Toronto

Andrew began his career with Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada) in 2000, working as an engineer within the technical development team and focusing on the design and implementation of the business IP network. Since then, he has held various positions within the telecommunications industry, including sales engineering roles at TELUS Communications and Bell Canada, as well as a leadership role within the IT division of Plan Group. Andrew rejoined Allstream in 2010 as a sales engineer team lead and quickly made the transition to a technical sales manager within the central region team. Andrew recently became the proud father of a little boy, whom he hopes will continue the family telecommunications legacy.

When Anne powered up her first Mac, it triggered a love of all things internet, transforming a self-professed non-techie into a technology enthusiast. She got her start in high-tech marketing with a global software firm moving later to join a group of applications developers who planned to be masters of the universe developing a global online community long before Facebook. Anne is passionate about the power of communications and collaboration and is currently a member of Allstream’s solutions marketing team.

As the senior manager of collaboration technologies at the University of British Columbia, Anthony Knezevic and his team provide synchronous communications in support of the Faculty of Medicine’s mandate – in particular the Distributed Medical Education Program. Faculty, staff, researchers and students require the ability to meet and share information using voice and video. CT’s services are identified as any technology using real-time communication to facilitate learning locally and across the distances that separate our numerous facilities in the province.

Brian Bloom is an independent journalist and tech blogger whose work has appeared in Computing Canada, PC World, CIO Canada and various other publications. He was previously a staff writer at ComputerWorld Canada, covering a wide range of enterprise technology topics. You can find him on LinkedIn.

Bruce brings together a deep technical understanding of VoIP and communications technologies to help companies simplify their operations, lower costs and become more competitive. A background in marketing, sales, information systems and operations enables him to bring technology to life in real world applications. As Allstream’s Marketing Manager for voice, Internet, and SIP trunking product suites he is uniquely positioned to power business success with the latest in telecommunication services.

Carlos Henriques is Security Architect, Team Lead at Allstream. He specializes in security architecture and design, malware analysis processes, DDoS intelligence and verification, content filtering and many other areas of information protection.

Cheryl Binning is a Vancouver based TV, digital media and print writer, as well as a small business owner. She’s been writing about business, entertainment, the media, and way too many other subjects to list, for over 15 years.

As Chief Corporate Officer for MTS Allstream, Chris is responsible for the Strategy, Corporate Development, Regulatory and Corporate Communications functions of the company.
Since joining MTS Allstream’s predecessor AT&T Canada in 1999, Chris has held a series of increasingly senior positions within the Company, initially as Vice President, Government Affairs. During his tenure, the company has been a leading advocate for a pro-competitive regulatory framework on all significant files including the contribution subsidy mechanism, competitor
network access, anti competitive behaviour, wireless spectrum auction rules and foreign investment restrictions.

Prior to his career in telecommunications, Chris fulfilled senior roles in two other significant, federally regulated industries in Canada – oil and gas, and agriculture – as well as with the Government of Canada. Chris obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Alberta, Bachelor of Laws degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and practiced law in Edmonton, Alberta from 1983-1993.

Chris serves on the Board of the Canadian-American Business Council.

Mi6 creates B2B social networks & communities that build reputations, generate results and make markets. Mi6 provides consulting and programs that establish organizations as a thought leader and valuable contributor in their respective markets in order to build their reputation as a trusted advisor, start and strengthen relationships and generate revenue. This is achieved by developing systems of engagement through the development and use of content, network, community and business development.

Chris is a B2B specialist and the co-founder and community manager for Silicon Halton a technology community with over 650 members and 250 organizations. Silicon Halton will be a featured case study in the upcoming book “8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success”. He has over 20 years experience in developing programs focused around customer and member development and retention.

Craig is Allstream’s Senior Manager, Hosting, Cloud and Professional Services. He is an experienced senior product management professional with a focus on both the application and connectivity aspects of the Internet. At Allstream, he is responsible for product management and development of the company’s Managed IP Services portfolio, including Security, Cloud, Hosting and Managed Networks. In a prior role he led the development of Allstream’s online customer self-service and social media strategies.

Craig is Allstream’s Senior Product Manager for Managed Security Services. Infected with gadgetitis at a very early age after receiving his first handheld video game (Mattel Electronics Football), he is a technology aficionado with over 20 years of experience in various industries that includes computer hardware, software development, online gaming, networking and security. Outside of work, he is an avid martial artist and webmaster for a number of martial arts websites and spends most of his free time chauffeuring between swimming pools, soccer fields and ballet studios as he cultivates his family’s next generation of athlete gadgeteers.

Darin Stahl is a Lead Research Analyst with the Info-Tech Research Group with 29 years of experience in the information technology industry, including over 20 years managing complex IT environments.  Darin has extensive experience leading IT organizations in several industries, including financial services, insurance, and manufacturing.

David Senf is IDC Canada’s Program Vice President, Infrastructure Solutions Group. His team forecasts and tracks the markets and competitors in the cloud, servers, storage, networking, security, software tools, and virtualization. He works with vendors, the channel, CIOs and IT professionals to form a complete picture of buying patterns.

In the decade prior to joining IDC, he sold, managed and implemented IT consulting initiatives ranging from Web portals to online presence. His accumulated understanding of technology trends from a business strategy and IT “nuts and bolts” perspective enriches his research with both strategic and tactical advice. He has taught courses he developed on SOA and XML at the University of Toronto.

David has worked with and presented to thousands of Canadian organizations – and most of the IT vendor community. He is often quoted in the press on a range of leading technology trends.

Dax Nair is the Director of Marketing for Unified Communications at Allstream. Dax and team are responsible for developing and launching value-added products and services that are adjacent to the company’s core network offerings. He is an avid racquet sports enthusiast, blogger and social media observer. Follow Dax on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn. Here is a plug for Dax: Check out his blog on social media and racquet sports at http://racquetsocial.com/.

As President of Allstream, Dean oversees all aspects of the company’s business operations and guides its strategic planning and growth initiatives. Dean has had a long and distinguished relationship with Allstream. Prior to assuming his current position, he was President of the Enterprise Solutions Division. He has also served as Chief Corporate Officer; Chief Strategy Officer; Chief Marketing Officer; Executive Vice President, Customer Operations/Service Delivery; Executive Vice President and President, IT Services; and Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development.

Looking at her career you might consider Deki to be a telecommunications transformer. With 15 years of communications experience at Fonorola, Sprint Canada and MTS Allstream, her roles have spanned positions like Provisioning and Internet/Data Specialist all the way to Sales Manager and National Market Manager for Small Business. Always trying to redevelop and grow in new ways, Deki prefers to enjoy her evolution as the caterpillar instead of becoming a butterfly. After all, caterpillars have a whole life ahead of them!

The expertIP editorial team consists of industry professionals from the communications, design, marketing and IP networking sectors. Together they provide editorial oversight and creative directions to all content decisions pertaining to the blog. To contact the editors, please email expertIP@mtsallstream.nvistaging.com.

Ed got his first taste of the Internet over 20 years ago and was immediately drawn in. He learned how to develop websites, and by his first year of high school had launched a profitable online business. This passion led him to study systems engineering and eventually landed him at Allstream. Ed loves tackling new technologies and unsolved problems and isn’t afraid to try an outside-the-box approach to solve them. Ed’s role as a service prime for Business IP (MPLS) and Internet in the Technology Group provides him with a chance to see the up-and-coming technologies and tackle some of the more complex customer requests that come along.

From the tender age of seven, Eric has been fascinated with computers and technology. After programming some basic games and gaining an understanding of the inner – workings of his TI99 computer, the proverbial hook was set. Thirty years later, he is now managing the Security Sales Specialists organization for MTS Allstream. Eric’s humble beginnings in the IT security field started when DSL was first emerging in the market. He was part of a team that evaluated the technology before it was sold on a commercial scale. This newer and faster technology required IT security’s next generation of solutions and devices. Eric helped develop a SWAT team to sell DSL and other circuits with bundled security services. Over the past 14 years, Eric has held many roles in the field of IT security. He brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the expertIP blog.

Esra is an emerging technology and trend enthusiast with over 17 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. As part of the Allstream Network Architecture team, she is responsible for service and network evolution alignment. Esra has a BSc. In Electronics Engineering from the Middle East Technical University and an MBA from Colorado State University. Esra also enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.

As Vice-President of Information Technology, Gary Davenport is responsible for the definition and implementation of transformational business initiatives using information technology for the Allstream business unit of MTS Allstream Inc. In this role, Garyleads a team of dedicated IT professionals focused on improving business capabilities in a very competitive telecommunications industry. He is also the Executive Sponsor for Allstream’s Workplace 2.0 Program enabling much greater levels of employee mobility, productivity and engagement. Prior to joining Allstream in 2006, Gary spent his career within the retailing industry working for theHudson’s Bay Company. During his last seven years at Hbc as VP of IT and then as CIO, he led the transformation of one ofCanada’s largest and most complex IT operations. In 2004, Hbc’s progress was recognized with the winning of 5 prestigious IT industry awards in a 12 month period. Gary has participated on many North American and European CIO Councils and also served on the Board of Directors of the Voluntary Inter-industry Communications Standards (VICS) organization. He currently is the President of the CIO Association of Canada. Gary holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree fromYork University.

George is the Vice President, Information Systems and Technology at IA Clarington, a Canadian wealth management firm with the philosophy of helping their hundreds of thousands of clients across Canada achieve their financial goals.

Grant is Director, IP Product Strategy at MTS Allstream. A sailor, martial artist and self-professed propeller-head, he has over 20 years of experience across all aspects of technology development, network planning and product marketing. Grant’s experience in building and supporting voice, data and IP-based services will inspire many of his posts for the expertIP blog.

Often quoted in the Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Bloomberg and Reuters, Ian Grant is a noted commentator on the Canadian technology marketplace. An economist by training, he has worked in the technology industry for more than twenty years. Founding the SeaBoard Group in 1986 Ian has helped many of Canada’s corporations, governments and financiers understand, and develop action strategies to exploit the opportunities presented by new technologies and new markets. Prior to the SeaBoard Group Ian was the founder of the Yankee Group in Canada, a company he led for a decade. In addition to his work with the SeaBoard Group Ian is an active board member of several development stage companies. Ian holds a M. Sc. (Economics) from the University of London (LSE) and a B. A. (Hon) from the University of Winnipeg.

James Grainger is a Toronto writer, editor and author. His work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire, Sharp, Hardly Magazine, Elle Canada and Fashion, and he is the author of The Long Slide.

Jason W. Eckert is a geek, technical trainer, consultant, Web/application/game developer, and best-selling author in the Information Technology (IT) industry.  With over 20 IT certifications, 22 years of IT experience, 3 published mobile applications, 2 published mobile games, and 19 published academic textbooks covering topics such as UNIX, Linux, BlackBerry, Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, Cryptography, PowerShell, and LAMP, Jason has brought a wealth of expertise to the classes he has taught at triOS College for the past 13 years.  Jason has now assumed the role of Dean of Technology where he continues to promote, refine and improve the college technology programs (Information Technology Professional, Enterprise Web & Mobile Developer , Video Game Design & Development and Video Game Design Technologies). You can find more information about Jason @ http://jasoneckert.net/about_me.html

A veteran technology journalist who has covered everything from start-ups and the reseller channel to smartphones and enterprise IT, Jeff Jedras was reporting on cloud computing before the term had even been invented. His work has appeared in trade magazines such as Computer Dealer News and ComputerWorld Canada, as well as newspapers such as The Ottawa Citizen and The Vancouver Sun. And he still loves his BlackBerry.

A die-hard customer advocate, Jeff is responsible for Allstream’s digital marketing strategy and operations. Beyond his day job in B2B marketing Jeff is a true renaissance man and “jack of all trades” who enjoys the odd bit of carpentry, graphic design, musicianship and vertical skateboarding.

Marketing. He is responsible for product management and marketing, marketing communications, field marketing, strategy and planning, and customer experience. Jim has extensive business marketing experience and worked for more than 20 years at MCI/Verizon in the United States. Jim has held various senior roles within the IT, finance and marketing functions and most recently was the Senior Vice President Business Product Management and Development at Verizon. Jim holds a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Finance/Marketing from the Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California at Los Angeles.

Johanne has over fifteen years of telecommunication experience, weathering a vast range of national initiatives. Working on initiatives from a layer 1 through to layer 3 has afforded her the opportunity to build her project management skills to the strength they are today. By and large, humor is her secret weapon to fostering strong project teams and successful outcomes. Johanne’s mark as a dynamic lead resonates on any project she oversees.

John Koperwas is the IT and Telecommunications Manager, Exhibition Place.

Hovering on the border between Gen-X and Gen-Y, Joseph has “grown up” with technology. As a blogger for ExpertIP, Joseph’s experiences selling everything from SaaS (when it wasn’t called “SaaS”) to data networks for large enterprises keep him at the forefront of the latest technology trends. Today, Joseph manages a sales team at Allstream and is focused on working with new customers. When he’s not tapping away at his smartphone, you’ll find Joseph sipping a red with his family and friends.

Larry Sampson is the CEO of New Brunswick Information Technology Council, a role to which he brings his more than 35 years’ experience in the ICT sector as both a practitioner and a volunteer. He’s worked with clients in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia , in the telecom, e-learning, pharmaceuticals, retail and finance sectors.  A lapsed runner, avid cyclist, and lover of vini italiani, Larry, his partner Darcy Grant, and their Ferrari red tandem bicycle make their home in Fredericton.

When Laurette first connected a new modem to her computer and dialed onto the Internet, she didn’t realise that it was the first step that would lead her towards a 14-year career in telecommunications, specializing in enabling IP services for Canadian and international businesses. As Allstream’s Senior Product Manager for Internet Services, Laurette is excited to be a part of the Internet IPv6 evolution and help customers begin their network transition to IPv6. When not on the computer, Laurette might be found enjoying the arts, travelling or just admiring nature.

A keen interest in understanding the how’s and why’s of human behavior and decision-making led Maelyn to embrace a career in marketing research. She brings 15 years of research experience in financial services, consumer packaged goods and telecommunications. As Senior Manager, Customer Insight at Allstream, Maelyn is a passionate champion of the voice of the customer. A Certified Net Promoter Associate, she advocates the use of customer feedback and insights to drive meaningful improvements in the experience Allstream delivers to internal and external customers.

Mario has 23  years of experience in the telecommunications industry as a leader in roles at Bell Canada, AT&T  Canada and Allstream. As Sr. manager, field operations for the province of Quebec, he is responsible for managing customer relationships and the network team. In his career Mario has held leadership roles in a diverse range of areas, including customer operations, network services, customer care and OSP.

Mario Perez is president of Telax, which offers advanced call distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR), 100%call recording, advanced reporting and more.

Mark Goldberg is head of Mark H. Goldberg & Associates Inc., a telecommunications industry consulting practice that specializes in assisting its clients to understand the implications of changes in competitive markets. Drawing on more than 30 years of global industry experience, for 16 years the firm has assisted clients in Canada and around the world in all sectors of the industry: new entrants and incumbents, end users, manufacturers and software suppliers, government regulators and industry associations. In the course of his corporate careers, he gained the perspective and led changes from many perspectives of telecommunications: communications service providers, regulation, research and development, equipment architectures and large customer networks.

As one of the blog moderators, Mark helps expertIP readers get their dose of daily IT news. In the Allstream Digital Marketing group, Mark’s focus is on developing social media initiatives and connecting with Canadian IT folks online. And with a background in photography and a perspective as a business owner himself (wonderlabphoto.com), Mark understands how critical it is to stay connected 24/7.

Melanie is Industry Director, Information Communications Technologies for Frost & Sullivan. Her experience base covers a broad range of sectors, leveraging long-standing relationships with leading industry participants’ senior executives and customer organizations in the areas of:
• Voice, IP communications and conferencing
• Instant messaging and presence
• Unified communications
• Social networking
Ms. Turek holds a BA with Honors from Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Mike is the Technical Sales Engineer at AudioCodes, a company that designs, manufactures and sells advanced Voice over IP and converged VoIP and Data networking products and applications to Service Providers and Enterprises. Mike’s previous roles of Technical Sales Engineer for Global Carriers as well as Senior Marketing Manager at Allstream gave him a keen perspective on customer requirements and technology trends in the North American market.  In his free time, Mike is involved with competitive rock climbing and is a national level judge for the selection of Team Canada.

Since the age of 13, Mike was fascinated with computers and technology, spending much of his time building and rebuilding any computer that he could get his hands on. Eventually, he combined his skills with his entrepreneurial spirit and built a small home-based business that would help to get him through university. After school, he began to build his experience in both sales and marketing, working for some of Canada’s leading technology companies. He is now in the role of Partner Marketing Manager helping Allstream build marketing strategies across all product portfolios that are supported by key technology partners. After a long week at the office, you can find him “slappin’ the bass” with his band at a local Toronto watering hole.

Mike has more than 20 years of experience in the Information and Communications Technology Industry where he has maintained a focus on growth-oriented services including advanced networking, security and management services.

Michael has over a decade of experience in the telecommunications industry. As Chief Technology Officer, he is responsible for the design, deployment and operation of MTS Allstream’s network. In this role, he oversees the long term vision, ongoing services development and the day-to-day performance of the network. Michael also sits on the Board of Directors of TRLabs and is a triathlete, skier and pilot.

Natasha brings over 12 years of marketing, event planning and business development experience to her role at Allstream.  When she’s not busy being a ‘marketeer’, she scales mountains in Kananaskis, Alberta.  She successfully summited Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010.  Another little-known fact is her skill of Ukrainian dance.  She toured the world with the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers, a professional dance company based in Edmonton, Alberta.

Neil McEvoy is the Founder and CEO of the Cloud Best Practices Network, an industry forum whose objective is to build a knowledge base of cloud best practices that underpin a consulting and solutions program that assists customers to migrate successfully and profitably to cloud computing. He is based on Toronto.

As Technical Content Manager at Allstream, Paul works with product management to ensure that the technical and marketing information produced by Allstream is accurate, compelling and well-written. He is a Professional Engineer in Electronics and Telecommunications with many years of experience working for market leaders like Siemens, Nortel and Motorola. Paul also keeps an eye on the latest industry developments and is always looking for new trends or products that would be relevant for Allstream and their customers.

Rachel Foster is an award-winning B2B copywriter who shares her insights on technology marketing in articles for the Content Marketing Institute, Chief Content Officer magazine, Business 2 Community and her Fresh Marketing Blog. One of Rachel’s blog posts was recently picked up by MarketingProfs. Rachel gives seminars on B2B copywriting, technology marketing and content marketing.

She spoke at MagNet, Canada’s Magazine Conference, and Content Marketing World 2012. In her free time, Rachel enjoys Lindy Hop (swing dancing), Pilates and baking French macaroons.

Robert Hart is president of the Canadian Cloud Council, a national, vendor-neutral association providing an educational forum for Canada’s cloud computing thought leaders, policy makers and industry advocates. The Canadian Cloud Council’s second national cloud conference “The Cloud Accelerator” (Ottawa, Ontario – October 15&16, 2012) featuring Sir Terry Matthews, Government of Ontario CIO David Nicholl, and RIM’s Doug Jones, will be tasked with building an actionable and executionable plan for accelerated Canadian cloud adoption. For the full conference program, visit: www.canadiancloudcouncil.ca . Early bird members will receive a $200 discount on a full conference pass before September 1, 2012.

Rosa Park is a freelance video journalist and a founder of White Lioness Media, a video production company based in Toronto. She has written and produced web videos for various publications including The Globe and Mail and other corporate clients. She is a graduate of the Ryerson University’s broadcast journalism program.

Ryan Patrick is a writer, editor and journalist with more than a decade of experience covering and writing about all things IT. His work has been featured in trade pubs such as CIO Canada, ComputerWorld Canada and Network World Canada.

Ryan Demelo is currently the Sr. Product Marketing Manager for Allstream’s Managed IP Services. Before his move to the Telecom business, Ryan lead the Canadian Software Marketing at a large IT solutions provider. His main areas of focus has been around Virtualization, Private Cloud, Data Centre transformation, Unified Communications & Collaboration and Security. At Allstream he remains focused on Cloud, Network Security, WAN Optimization, BC/DR and Managed Network services. Outside of work, he enjoys playing golf, watching hockey and travelling to warm destinations.

As the Director of Operations Transformation at Allstream, Scott is responsible to challenge existing practices and to design and implement improvements that will deliver service excellence to customers.  Scott has over 16 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, and has held leadership roles in a diverse range of areas, including Customer Operations, Network Services, Regulatory Affairs, and Technical Sales.

Shane Schick is the editor of expertIP. The former Editor-in-Chief of IT World Canada, Shane has been writing and speaking about the impact of information technology for more than 15 years. He was the founding editor of ITBusiness.ca, wrote a regular column on IT for The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business and edited ComputerWorld Canada, CIO Canada and Computing Canada. Shane has spoken at IT industry events across Canada and appears reguarly on CBC, CTV and BNN to discuss technology trends. An award-winning journalist who has been recognized for excellence in science and technology reporting by the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, Shane is a judge for the 2012 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. Google+

Sharmila is a Delivery Manager with the Allstream Collaborated Delivery team, working on the Financial and Service Provider sales channel. She has more than 10 years of experience in telecommunications with five of those years focused on project management. As a Certified Project Manager, Sharmila enjoys navigating all aspects of complex projects.

Shawn Taft has worked in the IT arena for over 15 years. He currently manages the Cloud and Managed Hosting portfolio at MTS Allstream and also supports the company’s sale of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery products. Shawn lives in Corktown and is a big fan of the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Raptors. He can’t stand the Leafs.

For more than 10 years, Stefan Dubowski’s articles and interviews have appeared in a variety of publications, including The Globe and Mail, Network World Canada and Channel Insider Canada. Specializing in communications technology, he has covered everything from infrastructure (the evolution of the PSTN; the advent of SIP trunking) to applications and implications (enterprise social media; how to develop bring-your-own-device protocols). His career began at The Computer Paper in 2000. He made his way over to IT World Canada where he developed stories for Network World Canada, ComputerWorld Canada and IT Focus. His career took him to Decima Reports where he helmed Telemanagement, the communications technology journal, and then to High Road Communications where he honed his corporate communications and public relations skills working with companies such as Avaya and Microsoft. Based in Ottawa, Stefan develops editorial content for numerous organizations including media firms, industry associations and the federal government.

Tanya has over 20 years of experience in technology and was one of the few women to run a bulletin board system before most people had heard of the Internet. She has been with Allstream for 13 years and has held many roles within the organization, from IT Security Specialist to her current role as Manager of the Customer Releases team. Tanya is also a Montreal native who relocated to Ontario in 1998.

Ted grew up during the microcomputer revolution and was first exposed to the Apple I and Commodore PET computers at an early age in school. Years later, he began a career in more advanced desktop computing, which has led him to a path in engineering and telecommunications. At Allstream, Ted is a leader tasked with supporting and shaping the minds of highly-skilled technical individuals who provide customers with solutions to their business challenges. Ted likes to study evolving technologies and sees cloud as a game-changer for many businesses that are looking for an edge.

With over 12 years of telecom product development and marketing experience, Thabang brings a deep passion for strategy, engineering and operations to his role as Sr. Manager, Unified Communications Product Management. Away from work, Thabang enjoys time with his young family (shout out to Michael), playing tennis and making old school hip hop beats in his home studio.

Vawn Himmelsbach is a freelance writer and editor based in Toronto. She has covered technology and travel for more than a decade, for media outlets such as CBCNews.ca, The Globe & Mail, Metro News, ITBusiness, PCworld Canada and Computerworld Canada. She also spent three years living abroad and working as an Asian correspondent. Check out her blog at Chicsavvytravels.com.

Vito Mangialardi is the Director of the Business Continuity Management (BCM) program at MTS Allstream. He is a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) with the Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI) Canada and more than 16 years of direct experience with business continuity management.  Vito also functions as a subject matter expert in the area of business continuity and emergency management and services to external clients.

Under Vito’s leadership, MTS Allstream was honoured with the 2009 Award of Excellence from the Disaster Recovery Institute of Canada. The Award of Excellence is presented each year to an organization that demonstrates excellence in planning and preparedness in the areas of continuity management, technology recovery and crisis management. MTS Allstream was the first Telecom Company to receive this prestigious award.  Vito was also personally honoured with the 2012 National Award for Business Continuity Management from the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness. This award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and contribution to the field.

Vito is also an executive member of the Canadian Telecom Emergency Preparedness Association. This national Association, which is partnered with Industry Canada, works with other telecommunications service providers collaborating in adopting measures to provide national emergency response capabilities for telecommunications in the event of major disasters. Vito has written numerous articles on the topic of business continuity management and frequently speaks at conferences and facilitates workshops bringing business continuity management topics to life through his personal experiences.

Vito’s career has spanned more than 30 years and has included a variety of public and private sector roles that include the telecommunications, environmental, automotive, transportation and electric power generation industries. His expertise has been used to help deliver technology, facilities and operational programs to support business protection and growth.

Follow Vito on Twitter: @emergplan