Fall 2018 Newsletter

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CONGRATULATIONS, TODD! TODD DOMRES PROMOTED TO DIRECTOR OF SALES Todd Domres was named DCN’s new director of sales in May 2018, replacing Kevin Kaeding who retired in July.

Since joining DCN in February 2014, Todd has served as business development manager.

As the new director of sales, Todd’s responsibilities are to expand DCN’s government, wholesale, and commercial sales programs, and develop its diversification strategy.

A graduate of the University of Mary, Todd has bachelor’s degrees in accounting and business administration and a master’s degree in business administration. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

CONTACT TODD

Todd currently wears a couple of hats at DCN, serving as the director of sales and business development manager. If you’re a government, wholesale, or commercial customer, or a DCN owner company, you can reach him at 701-323-3039 or tdomres@dakotacarrier.com.

Todd Domres

Prior to working for DCN, Todd was a telecom sales and business development manager who led a nine-person sales team that exceeded annual revenue and order goals while under his direction. He also brings project management, strategic communication, and customer service experience to his new role.

FALL 2018

CEO’S MESSAGE Celebrated Traditions, A Look Ahead

Seth Arndorfer, CEO

The kids are back at school, and some of North Dakotans’ favorite pastimes like football and hunting are in full swing. It’s a season of celebrated traditions and new beginnings.

One celebrated tradition at DCN is recognizing employees’ milestone service anniversaries. This year, we celebrated 20 years of service for three employees: business manager Nancy Bjorndahl, retired director of sales Kevin Kaeding, and most recently, transport technician Daniel Tenderholt. See article on right.

Two years after DCN was formed, Daniel came on board. Since then, he has made significant contributions to the statewide fiber optic network operated by DCN and our 15 owner companies. I’m thankful for Daniel’s contributions to DCN and his ongoing service to our employees, owner companies, and customers.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

CONGRATULATIONS, DANIEL! 20 YEARS OF SERVICE AWARD Earlier this year, transport technician Daniel Tenderholt celebrated his 20 years of service at DCN. From his first day on the job, Daniel has helped DCN transform into North Dakota’s premier service provider.

When he joined DCN DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer (left) with Daniel Tenderholt (right). in May 1998, his first project was to work with technicians from our 15 owner companies on the installation and turn up of our network’s two main fiber rings. These rings serve as the backbone of our collective network, allowing seamless transport of customers’ data across North Dakota and beyond.

“Daniel has been a key member in helping DCN and our 15 owner companies maintain our network, keeping it running at optimal speed and performance for North Dakotans,” said DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer. “He’s an incredibly talented technician, and we’re lucky to have him on our team.”

Congratulations Daniel, and thank you for your 20 years of service!

Learn more about Daniel and his experiences over the past 20 years at dakotacarrier.com/blog.

CONSOLIDATED TELCOM EARNS AWARD RECOGNIZED FOR COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY Congratulations to Consolidated Telcom, one of DCN’s 15 owner companies, on winning a Smart Rural Community Showcase Award at the NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association’s 2018 Fall Conference.

The award recognizes Consolidated Telcom’s commitment to helping make its community a vibrant place for people to live and businesses to thrive.

www.DakotaCarrier.com

Consolidated Telcom’s Marketing and Public Relations Manager Rhonda Fitterer (left) with NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association’s CEO Shirley Bloomfield (right). Photo credit: NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association.

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LOCAL STUDENTS GET HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE This past summer, we celebrated the retirement of director of sales Kevin Kaeding. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Kevin and learn from him, and I wish him the best in retirement.

As DCN prepares for the next 20 years of growth and beyond, we’re excited for what the future brings.

Collectively, DCN and our 15 owner companies continually invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure to broaden our statewide fiber footprint.

This ensures North Dakota remains a humble leader in providing its residents and businesses with highspeed, premium connections.

DCN has also expanded our Fargo and Bismarck data centers to provide North Dakota businesses, and businesses that have a North Dakota presence, with the technology to compete globally or position their data closer to end users, enhancing users’ experience. Our industryleading facilities provide co-location and cloud services for businesses in a secure, climate-controlled environment, feeding the equipment with redundant cooling, power, and network connections to maximize uptime.

In addition to these hardware, software, and facility investments, we’re proud to share our commitment to educating the technology industry’s future workforce by offering a five-week mentorship program.

Congratulations to Ian Ritz, the student who most recently completed the program, and thank you to DCN Ethernet/IP Engineer Tim Paulson and our Network Operations Center (NOC) employees who have contributed their knowledge and experience to help students learn.

I encourage you to check out the articles in this newsletter and visit dakotacarrier.com/blog to learn about what’s happening at DCN and how we’re growing to meet the technology needs of North Dakota businesses.

ENGINEER TIM PAULSON LEADS FIVE-WEEK MENTORING PROGRAM DCN offers a unique opportunity to IT students in the Bismarck and Mandan areas: a five-week mentoring program created to foster IT learning with realworld application of classroom topics. The program has been primarily led

by NOC Ethernet/IP engineer Tim Paulson, but it has also been supported by various DCN Network Operations Center (NOC) employees.

Students typically spend 2-3 hours a week for 5-6 weeks reviewing 14 areas of networking technology, including:

NETWORK LAYER: • • • • • • • •

Media CAT5/6 568A/B wiring standards Single/Multi-mode Fiber MAC Addressing MAC Learning Table Frame forwarding Collision/Broadcast Domains Access ports and Trunk Ports VLANs (802.1q)

INTERNET PROTOCOL: • • • • • •

IP subnetting Address resolution Protocol (ARP) Static Routing Dynamic Routing (OSPF) Network Address Translation (NAT) Access-Lists and Traffic Filtering

Ian Ritz, an information technology student at BSC, completed the program in August. Although he was nervous at first, he said Tim’s relaxed and friendly demeanor made him feel comfortable asking any question, which helped him get the most out of the experience.

“Tim conveyed a lot of valuable information in a short amount of time, some of which I would not have been able to learn in class,” said Ian. “Classroom training is different from hands-on experience. I feel now I have a more in-depth view of networking.

I would like to thank Tim and DCN for this opportunity and would highly recommend this experience to anyone that is interested in networking.”

NOC Ethernet/IP Engineer Tim Paulson (left)

with BSC student Ian Ritz (right).

If you know a student interested in participating in this five-week program, have him or her reach out to Tim at 701-323-3010 or tpaulson@dakotacarrier.com.

FARGO DATA CENTER EXPANSION GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION SLATED FOR NOVEMBER Progress on our Fargo data center expansion is nearing completion, and we’re excited to announce we’re preparing for a November grand opening! Pictures and updates can be found on dakotacarrier.com/blog.

We broke ground on the 14,000 square-foot expansion project in October 2017. The expansion will provide additional capacity for co-location and cloud services customers. It has been constructed with the same specifications as our hardened Fargo and Bismarck data centers, including N+1 redundant power and cooling systems, state-of-the-art security, and the ability to withstand F4 tornado force winds up to 200 mph.

FOR CRYING OUT CLOUD DCN’S CLOUD SERVICES OFFERED IN BISMARCK AND FARGO Keep your business’s data close with DCN’s Cloud Services, available in our Bismarck and Fargo data centers.

As a VMWare Cloud Services Provider (VCSP), our Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) servers have the power and flexibility to scale to your business’s needs, giving you a dedicated, private space for your data. Our cloud services are housed in our secure, climate-controlled data centers and are supported by redundant network and power connections to ensure your data is available when you need it.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES KNOW YOUR DATA’S LOCATION

SUPPORT

REDUCED HARDWARE EXPENSES

FIXED MONTHLY COST

Your data lives in our Bismarck or Fargo data center, depending on the location you specify.

You’ll no longer have to invest in server equipment or set aside time and resources for its storage or maintenance.

Your account executive is available by phone or email, and our Network Operations Center (NOC) technicians provide support 24/7/365.

Upload or download any amount of your data at any time for a fixed monthly cost.

HYPER-AVAILABLE DATA

Automatic backup and disaster recovery with Veeam, the global leader in cloud services data management software *Optional add-on.

PRIVATE CONNECTIONS

DCN’s Cloud Services are supported by the statewide fiber optic network of DCN and our 15 owner companies. This unique partnership allows us to provide direct fiber connections to each of your business’s locations, ensuring your data travels to and from the cloud on private, high-speed connections.

Our Bismarck and Fargo data centers are also privately connected, allowing seamless data backup and recovery, if desired.

MOVE INTO THE DCN CLOUD

BEST WISHES, KEVIN! A WELL-DESERVED RETIREMENT AWAITS On Monday, July 16, DCN’s employees, owner companies, customers, and partners gathered in Bismarck to celebrate the retirement of Kevin Kaeding, DCN’s director of sales. Kevin was instrumental in growing our government, wholesale, and commercial sales.

In his farewell speech, Kevin thanked his family, coworkers, and DCN’s owners, customers, and partners for their support. He also reflected on the remarkable goals DCN and our owner companies have accomplished over the past 20 years:

“This company called Dakota Carrier Network exists because of collaborative efforts of so many of you that are here tonight.

Collectively, DCN has done amazing things. Visions were created and completed. Goals have been constantly met and exceeded. Future challenges will be met with professionalism and enthusiasm. DCN and our owners have built a network that is the envy of the other 50 states in the union.”

Kevin Kaeding, DCN Director of Sales, 1998-2018

Contact account executives Dana Eckart at 701-364-1304 or Jennifer Guthmiller at 701-323-3035 for your free estimate or cost evaluation which compares pricing of DCN’s Cloud Services to your current equipment costs.

2018 DAKOTA CARRIER CLASSIC 17TH ANNUAL EVENT A SUCCESS Thank you to the 116 golfers who joined us on Tuesday, July 17, for our 17th annual Dakota Carrier Classic hosted at Bismarck’s Hawktree golf course.

We hope to see you next year on the links!

Former DCN Director of Sales Kevin Kaeding (left) with DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer (right) at Kevin’s July retirement celebration.