Archive for March, 2009
Virtual Freedom: Offices on the Move
We at IVDesk were going to put together one of those handy “Top 10″ lists of the best reasons to go virtual in your business. It seemed like a great idea, but after we talked with our virtual clients all around the country, we kept hearing the same thing over and over – Freedom. So, we digress. Let’s go straight to number one!
What does freedom mean to you? Making your kids soccer game? The ability to see more clients? Increasing your workforce without increasing your overhead? All of the above? If you are reading this, chances are you could use a little more time to do what you want, when you want. We might have the perfect solution for you.
If you are new to the ‘virtual’ world, or you can’t quite grasp how your company could operate without a physical location to call home, that’s okay. It isn’t for everyone, but we think you’ll be surprised at just how easy and cost-effective it can be. Today’s economy has business owners thinking of new ways to stay competitive and profitable.
How can IVDesk help your business?
REDUCE YOUR OVERHEAD
Fortune 500 companies and small businesses share one big headache – overhead. All businesses have it, and all businesses want nothing more than to get rid of it. Rather than focus on cutting labor, think about cutting expenses instead. All the major expenses of having a physical office can be reduced drastically with a virtual setup. Lease payments for extra space, office equipment and utilities can add up quickly. Your variable expenses now become one fixed monthly cost. Your accountant might just send you flowers.
Let’s do a quick comparison to see how we can boost those financial statements:
|
Instead of this… |
You can have THIS! |
| One hour with your ‘computer guy’ | One month of 24/7 support |
| Less than a week of office space | Completely mobile office |
| Electricity or water (you get only one) | No extra utility bills |
| One half of a Microsoft Office license | FREE Microsoft Office for all users |
| A couple tanks of gas to/from office | Just stay on the couch |
We could go on, but we want to highlight just a few ways IVDesk can truly reduce expenses – and we didn’t even talk about increased productivity!
ATTRACT QUALITY EMPLOYEES
We know it’s hard to find good help. How do you compete with corporations offering expensive benefits to attract high-level employees? You can offer them something better – flexibility. Being able to work away from the office allows them to get more work done, in less time, and have a life. Time with family, squeezing in a golf game, working outside the confines of 9 to 5 – these are things that matter more than a few dollars.
A virtual office allows you to expand your search for quality employees across the globe. You aren’t limited to the local offering of help because we can setup a remote worker just like an employee down the hall. Share files and applications, collaborate in live online meetings, print to the same printers, even talk on the phone over the internet. With a convenient per-user/per-month pricing structure, you can now hire temporary contract help anywhere in the world.
LOOK BIG – EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT
Some consumers have a real sense of comfort working with a ‘bigger’ company. With a virtual office, you can appear to be a major player, even if it’s just you and your reflection running the company. Access to advanced technology gives you the ability to work with clients anywhere, anytime. This gives you an advantage over your competition, which is stuck in the office.
FREEDOM
There’s that magic word again. With our remote hosting services, you need a computer and an internet connection. That’s it. Home, office or coffee shop – it doesn’t matter where you choose to setup shop – you are ready to do business. Achieving balance between work and home has never been easier. With IVDesk, you can take care of business and get back to life.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Your software applications, your network and your employees are installed and hosted on our state-of-the-art secure servers. We take care of your data with daily backups, 24×7 support and unlimited storage. Your data is accessible anytime, anywhere.
No expensive servers.
No special connection software.
No long-term contracts.
We understand embracing a new way to operate your business can be difficult. Whether you need to take small steps and try us out, or are ready to sprint to the finish line, we can help. You are in complete control of your system.
With years of research and development, IVDesk has the tools to help you succeed. One call can truly give you more time, more money and less stress.
Please visit www.IVDesk.com, or call us at 800-711-1438, to find out how easy freedom can be.
1 comment March 16, 2009
The Small Business Solution You May Not Know About
If you own a small to mid-size business or are in the process of researching the endless tasks at hand to start your own business, chances are technology isn’t at the top of your list. When trying to keep your business afloat and your priority is meeting the payroll each month, last night’s failed backup probably doesn’t cross your mind. Capital is tight, the economy is struggling and here you are wondering why you should be reading about technology. Read on – it just might change the way you do business.
In order to consider a different way to handle your IT needs, you must think outside the proverbial box. Let’s face it, hardware and software companies do not cater to small businesses. The cost of servers, backup drives, software licenses and support is enough to make a business owner cut corners on technology just to keep the office running.
IVDesk offers a better solution for small business.
- Remote access to your data from anywhere, anytime.
- Microsoft Office licenses are included.
- Predictable IT costs with a per-month pricing structure.
- No upfront capital for equipment, freeing up your money for other things.
- High security computing protects your data better than in-house technology.
- 24-hour support is just a phone call away.
- Lower IT costs by virtually eliminating the need for local support.
- Disaster recovery for worry-free computing.
- Spam filtering is customizable and protects you from that unwanted email.
- Mobile phone compatibility syncs your data so you are never out of touch.
- Unlimited storage with no hidden charges.
- Website hosting is included to cover all your web needs.
- Shadowing users allows your employees to work together on a file at the same time – no matter where they are.
THE NEW WAY TO SETUP YOUR OFFICE
IVDesk was founded to help small businesses affordably streamline office technology. Imagine having secure access to all of your applications, all of your data, 24×7 support, access from anywhere at any time and lower software, hardware and support costs. IVDesk offers all this for a per-user/per-month fee so your technology budget will finally be predictable. All you need is a PC and an internet connection.
NO SERVER NEEDED
Save the money you would spend on a server and all the expensive backup needs, appliances and support required to maintain it. IVDesk is your server…only better. We host your applications, email, and even your website. We check every file and email for viruses, load necessary updates, backup your data every day, and welcome your remote employees with a secure and stable connection. If you have a question, you can call us anytime.
SOFTWARE MADE SIMPLE
Trying to keep up with software versions and licenses is time consuming. The expense of Microsoft Office licenses alone can bust a budget. IVDesk includes the Microsoft Office suite in the monthly fee. All your other applications can be hosted, distributed to employees and maintained. We keep track of your software for you. Compliance will never be an issue again. Employees simply login and instantly have secure access to their programs, files and email. Serve clients anywhere, anytime.
PROTECT YOUR DATA
How secure is your data? Your data is just as vital to the operation of your company as the mega corporation down the street. The high cost of the technology and expertise required for security makes it an area most small businesses neglect. IVDesk has invested in the top technology so you don’t have to. We protect you from the outside world by securing your connection, encrypting your data, storing it with a redundant systems, then we back it up daily and weekly. Don’t worry if your physical location is down, we keep your data safe and accessible. Each employee is setup with individual permissions for applications and files for security within the office. IVDesk takes security very seriously and limits access to your data from within our office as well.
GET OUT OF THE OFFICE
Purchase parts in your pajamas or balance budgets over breakfast. Small businesses need flexibility. We know you can’t get it all done between 8 and 5. It’s not a good feeling when you are sitting in your hotel room scrambling to get your presentation finished for tomorrow’s meeting when – poof – your server decides to disconnect you. You don’t know what’s worse, losing the connection or knowing there is nobody to help you get it back. Telecommuting should be a viable and helpful option for small business employees. Instead it can be cumbersome and frustrating. IVDesk allows employees to logon any hour of the day and when your “computer guy” is fast asleep, we are ready for your call should you need a little help. No more glitchy connections with your server. You can work from home, hotels, coffee shops, client locations…anywhere with an internet connection.
SUPPORT WHEN YOU NEED IT
IVDesk never sleeps, gets sick or takes vacation. Your employees have support staff available 24×7 with one phone call. Working remotely, on your schedule, has never been easier.
FREE YOUR CAPITAL
The expense of setting up an office with a reliable network is overwhelming. Once you acquire the equipment and the software licenses, you must then manage and maintain it. Hardware becomes outdated seemingly overnight. Software is constantly being updated with new versions or releases. IVDesk can save you the hassle and handle it all for you.
Take a look at a small business with 20 employees and the costs incurred upfront to setup a very basic in-house network. These are conservative estimates.
Upfront Capital Needed for Technology:
|
IT Needs |
In-House |
IVDesk |
| Server (hardware/software) |
$9,000 |
$0 |
| Backup (hardware/software) |
$2,500 |
$0 |
| Microsoft Office |
$7,000 |
$0 |
| Anti-virus Software |
$2,000 |
$0 |
| IT Support |
$40,000+ annual or $150/hr outsourced |
$0 |
| TOTAL: |
$60,500 |
$0 |
And that’s just the basics. Because we structure our pricing on a per-user, per-month basis, there is no need for upfront capital to invest in equipment or support. Your IT budget is now stable and predictable.
IVDesk has devoted years of research and experience to build a smarter solution for small to mid-size businesses. Call us anytime to see how we can help you.
IVDesk is the new way to do IT.
Get out of the IT business and back to YOUR business today.
Contact information: Randy Olson 612.605.9677 Email: rolson@ivdesk.com Website: www.ivdesk.com
Add comment March 16, 2009
Give Your Employees, and Yourself, a Raise with Telecommuting and Remote Access
Telecommuting is an employee benefit that your company should examine – especially with the rising cost of fuel. Employers giving their employees the ability to telecommute can end up putting the employee’s gross wages back in to their employee’s pockets. In addition, telecommuting and remote access can increase productivity across an entire organization – sometimes in very dramatic ways.
Consider this example: with gas at $4/gallon (UPDATE: even with lower gas costs, the savings are great!), an employee with a commute longer than 15 miles each way to work could save $750/year. The employee spends 1/2 hour in the car each way, and driving an inefficient vehicle they would see a savings of $8/day for the days they work from home, plus they gain the extra hour that they would normally spend commuting. If an employee were to do this twice a week, the annual savings are pretty staggering:
· More than $750 saved annually in fuel costs (not including automobile maintenance, parking, etc).
· More than 96 hours NOT spent in the car commuting to/from work.
Whether you double the efficiency of the vehicle or half the price of fuel, the math still works out to some dramatic time and cost savings for the employee.
From the employer’s perspective, allowing people to telecommute can contribute to employee retention and overall productivity. If you examine a small company with 50 employees and assume that the average number of sick days that each employee takes each year is 3, this means that annually the company is losing 1200 hours of employee productivity to sick days. If we were to assume that in 25% of these cases the employee was taking care of a sick child/family member or they wanted to work a 1/2 day, telecommuting would give more than 150 hours back to the company in time that they otherwise would have lost.
Implementing full remote access within you company could lead to some other huge benefits. Allowing sales staff to work from home after meetings or after hours may decrease conversion times and increase sales – putting more money in everyone’s pockets. Accounting and Law Firms that rely on revenue from billable hours will be surprised by the boost that full remote access can have to the bottom line – often times it is more than 50+ additional billable hours that these firms see from some employees.
Randy Olson provides companies with IVDesk, a completely hosted computer network solution that allows employees to work from everywhere, all without having to purchase any expensive hardware or software.
Contact information: 612.605.9677 Email: rolson@ivdesk.com Website: www.ivdesk.com.
Add comment March 16, 2009
Variable Cost IT Solutions
Most companies go through period where they feel as if internal IT costs are uncontrollable and almost always surprising. ”We need a couple new servers”, “We’ve outgrown our backup solution”, “I’ve got to upgrade the servers”, etc. It’s difficult to deal with IT costs that seem as if they are completely uncontrollable. Not knowing when these capital costs will occur, having issues with expectations, surprises, and low service levels.
It’s not that internal IT support or managed services support are out trying to get your money, but, with managing your own equipment and applications, it is difficult to know when those capital expenses are going to happen. Not knowing and being able to plan for those unexpected costs can cause havoc on your cash flow and profitability.
There is another way… With IVDesk, customers know exactly what to expect, a low monthly fee per user and a complete solution that takes care of all your IT needs. We run your applications on our equipment, provide Microsoft Office licensing as part of the solution, give out Outlook with Exchange and a complete Corporate Network with virus protection, data protection, backups, restores, and an unlimited 24 x 7 helpdesk.
Our focus is to offer a Fortune 500 IT experience to companies much smaller and a complete variable IT cost structure. Your staff goes up, your related costs go up, your staff decreases, your costs go down. No unexpected capital expenses, no surprises for service, everything provided and you always know and can budget your costs.
The other benefits are there too: Work from everywhere there’s an Internet connection, same exact experience as when you’re in the office. Helpdesk for everyone in your company, not just a few, and not at any additional costs. A complete solution for your needs at pricing that makes sense. We let you get back to focusing on your business and get you out of the IT business completely!
Give us a call today or see what some of our customers say at YouTube by searching for IVDesk.
Thanks,
Bill Sorenson
CEO
Add comment March 14, 2009
