Conferencing Tech Helps Virtual Offices Look Large

Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology - by Dann Anthony Maurno
Friday, February 29, 2008

The trend toward flexible work hours and remote collaboration may have reached its apex in its latest incarnation -- the virtual office.

"I can compete one to one with ... edifices in Boston, using the mother of all technologies: the world wide web," says Hadi Shavarini, CEO of Blue Robin Inc.

Blue Robin, which designs and supports e-business infrastructures of data, voice, and video for companies, has no edifice at all -- it is a virtual company that enables virtual companies. While technically headquartered in Waltham, Blue Robin executives work from homes in Newburyport and Lexington, and collaborate with web developers in India and China.

Virtual offices can make a small company look giant, and break down geographic barriers of who you can hire, says Dave Minker, CEO and co-owner of a Massachusetts branch of CMIT Solutions, a Texas-based IT services company with locations around the country. "You have someone in Colorado who needs access to 15 grand worth of software development tools and your databases and files, but you don't have to install all that in Colorado."

Minker and co-owner Dean Gabbert set up virtual offices for small-business owners throughout Boston, offering their Flat Rate IT service. Typical customers use remote desktops connected to terminal servers at CMIT offices. Minker estimates that the hypothetical Colorado worker can be set up and operating in under 30 minutes.

That speed is essential to modern business, believes David Marshak, Cambridge-based senior product manager of unified communications and collaboration products at IBM Corp. "At IBM 10 years ago, we saw that consumer-type technologies like instant messaging and social networking could be harnessed for business purposes" in the form of real-time collaboration. "Sending around documents and waiting for a response was not how to get business done. It gets done by getting together to make a decision."

The result of that forward thinking is IBM's Lotus Sametime, which has been purchased by 29 of the Global Fortune 50, according to Marshak, and includes such collaboration capabilities as instant messaging, web conferencing, VoIP and integration with business applications. IBM uses the technology itself, out of necessity: 40 percent of IBMers are able to work remotely. "We couldn't collect all that talent in one place," says Marshak. "IBM used to stand for 'I've been moved.' Now, nobody moves."

The less they drive, fly and flip light switches, says Blue Robin's Shavarini, the better. "Imagine between 10 or 15 of us how much gas we don't use in a day, and no building to light up," says Shavardi. "I'm proud to say we're keeping a very low carbon footprint."

The green angle appeals to young workers, as do the technologies that they grew up using,―like social networking, which IBM offers with Lotus Connections. To new workers, a 1-inch-by-1-inch face on a screen with voice-over-Internet chat is interaction enough. Still, it is no substitute where customers are concerned, says Marshak, and the advantage to IBM salespeople and consultants is not to work at home, but to be near customers.

Another upside Minker observes is business continuity. "We use VoIP, so when it snows, the engineers can plug the phone into the cable modem, and no one is the wiser." (The downside is, of course, no snow days.)

"The idea of not working until you get to the office is not a reality for many of us," says Marshak. "The work-life balance is tough. If it's always worktime for someone who needs to get to you, when is your downtime?"

Shavarini believes people find their own balance. Blue Robin employees work when they choose, as long as they work. "This way the free time you have you really enjoy, with a longer lunch break, reading a book. You don't have the experience of talking about the Red Sox around the water cooler, but I worked in an office and wasted a lot of time talking about the Red Sox."

"There has to be an element of trust in a remote worker, from managers and colleagues," says Marshak. "You don't want someone complaining 'here I am in the office all day while he's out playing golf.' People within IBM have developed a sense of trust that if you don't see people online, they're probably working harder."

The answer, says Shavarini is to "bring in the right people. Even if you breathe down someone's neck, if he wants to slack off he'll slack off. Find people who truly embrace the company, culturally, and they won't slack off."

And if they don't embrace the virtual culture, severance is a toggle switch away. "If someone goes sideways," says Minker, "you disable the account and that's it. Remote desktop does a nice job of containing your intellectual property on the equipment you own."