KAMLOOPS: Leading technology solutions provider FuseForward and private funding firm Old Kent Road Financial (OKR), announced the creation of CanShield Solutions, a joint venture designed to meet the growing demand in data centre and cloud services in Western Canada.

CanShield Solutions, formerly operating under Canadian Shield Data Center, will focus on providing a full suite of cloud and critical IT solutions, including colocation, managed infrastructure, public cloud on-ramp and hybrid-cloud environments.

Additionally, CanShield Solutions will continue to consult with clients regarding security, cloud migration and critical IT infrastructure.

“We’ve proven our data centre operations in British Columbia, where we’ve established an exceptional team and customer base,” said George Emery, CEO of CanShield Solutions.

“Adding the expertise of FuseForward and OKR will place us in a prime position to expand our existing services, upgrade our operations and meet the needs of new clients requiring critical IT support. This is very exciting for our team and will provide an enhanced data centre solution for Western Canada.”

CanShield Solutions will continue to operate out of its existing 10,500 square foot purpose-built data centre facility in Kamloops, British Columbia. Today, CanShield’s clients benefit from a highly skilled team focused on delivering IT solutions for universities, cities, managed services providers (MSPs) and the private industry.

This includes provisioning over 400 strands of fibre, redundant cooling, power management and security protocols. CanShield Solutions’ favorable location in Kamloops, a seismically stable zone, offers a direct fibre path to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, meaning only 7-11 milliseconds in latency.

This strategic edge location tied with CanShield’s services – colocation, managed infrastructure and cloud solutions – allows organizations to future-proof their technology platforms.

“CanShield Solutions ties in perfectly with our current product offerings,” said Mark Damm, CEO of FuseForward.

“We’ve been building enterprise-level cloud solutions and supporting organizations with security, analytical and application infrastructure for decades. Working with the CanShield Solutions team and data centre, we can now provision highly secure and reliable IT infrastructure in Western Canada, supporting a pure hybrid-cloud platform and 24/7 network operations centre, while ensuring data residency. This is critical for the public and private enterprises we serve.”

Wes Mills, Investment Partner at OKR commented, “We’re delighted to launch this joint venture with FuseForward and the CanShield team. We see critical IT infrastructure as being at the forefront of the global economy. This venture further expands our focus on data and research-oriented companies, supporting our clients to be part of the global IT solutions landscape.”

CanShield Solutions provides critical IT solutions, including colocation, managed infrastructure, cloud on-ramp and hybrid-cloud environments. Additionally, CanShield supports clients through consultative services looking at IT security, cloud migration and critical infrastructure. Our team consists of industry experts who strive to provide long-term value to our clients through innovative product development and exceptional customer support. www.canshieldsolutions.com

FuseForward accelerates digital transformation for critical service providers including utilities, education and healthcare providers. FuseForward provides secure cloud environments, managed services and technology solutions for public sector and enterprise customers and is an Advanced Consulting and Technology Partner in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN). www.fuseforward.com

OKR Financial provides non-dilutive financial solutions to small businesses and entrepreneurs by leveraging SR&ED Tax credits and Government funded programs. The solutions are to assist companies to manage their cash-flow needs and let them focus on growing their business without giving up equity and control.

OKR Financial takes pride in bringing their clients into the OKR ecosystem of consultants, Angel/VC investors, accelerators and incubators, and other professional service providers. OKR Financial is led by founders and managing partners Dr. Jason Neale and Randy Thompson who have a team that specializes in finance for early-stage growth and are technology experts, that understand the needs for growing companies.

During the summer of 2020, the company launched OKR Venture Fund I, which is focused on equity financing for emerging growth companies. Dr. Jason Neale and Randy Thompson’s extensive background in angel and venture capital, including several successful exits and was the catalyst to provide another solution for the Canadian tech ecosystem. www.okrfinancial.com