50 Emails a Day is Manageable Says US Small Business Workers

A new survey by Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft hosted Exchange provider, found that 94 percent of respondents[1] feel that 50 or fewer emails is a manageable number to receive each day without feeling overwhelmed. The commissioned survey also found that more than one in five adults who receive work-related email already feel as though they get more each day than they can manage. With an increasing amount of communication being done via email, this insight into how small business employees manage work email can help improve productivity and workplace satisfaction.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• Majority of small business workers don’t use smartphones: Slightly less than two in five adults who receive work-related email say they use a smartphone (38 percent).
• Smartphone users get more email and are more stressed: 12 percent of Americans who do not use smartphones and receive work-related emails experience email overload, whereas 37 percent (or more than one in three) of Americans with smartphones who receive work related emails do.
• Gender makes no difference: Men and women seem to be in agreement with what is a manageable amount of work-related emails to receive each day.  94 percent of men and 95 percent of women who receive work-related email say that 50 emails or less is a manageable number of work-related emails to receive each day.

“Email has perhaps become the most critical business communications tool,” says Jonathan McCormick, COO, Intermedia. “The productivity benefits of business-class email are immense, in terms of being able to share and store information, schedules and contact information with colleagues and across computers and mobile phones. But without the right tools and guidance, employees can be challenged to manage the flow. It’s vital for workers and organizations to develop the right mindsets and skills around managing email.”

Email overload can hurt productivity and lead to miscommunication and errors. Some activities employers and employees can take to combat feeling overwhelmed include:

1. Unify Your Communications – Email is one element to unified communications (UC), an integrative approach to uniting all key communications services important to business operations and success, including voice, instant messaging and document sharing among other components. Email supplemented by a unified approach to communications gives you a complete view of communications across the business and among employees.  UC is guided by you and your business. For example, with instant messaging, a support team likes to have a group chat open throughout the day whereas a business owner may only want to use it at certain times during the day.
2. You Determine the Priority, Not Your Inbox –Review email and ask yourself if the messages relate to your priorities for the next hour, day or week. This question can help you manage the number of emails you respond to each day, ultimately helping you feel less overwhelmed with your work email.
3. Organization is Key – There are two approaches to email organization so choose the one that works best for you. The first system is to create folders for different work activities/projects in your email program and file away your incoming emails appropriately. For example, create a folder for “IT” or “Payroll” and file away all messages in your inbox into those folders. The second option is to read emails and respond/delete as they come in and, at the end of the day, file them into generic folders (e.g. Follow Up Required, Need to Respond, Completed).
4. Read and Respond – Keep responses to emails concise by specifically addressing the questions asked in the emails that need answers. For incoming emails that can be answered quickly and easily, respond to those first before visiting the more time-intensive messages.

METHODOLOGY: This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Intermedia from June 3-7, 2010 among 2,071 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact PR@intermedia.net

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[1] Respondents are adults who receive work-related emails. For the purposes of this survey “online adults who receive work-related emails” are defined as full time/part time employed adults who work for a company with less than 250 employees and receive work-related emails. This survey was conducted online in June, 2010 by Harris Interactive on behalf of Intermedia.

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Brazil-based Brasoftware creates SaaS portal to reach its vast customer base

Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider, today announced a new member of its partner program, Brasoftware – one of the largest software distributors in Brazil with over 80,000 customers. The addition of Brasoftware further establishes Intermedia’s global presence, coming on the heels of the company’s UK datacenter launch.

Brasoftware is an Intermedia Private Label Partner. It offers Intermedia’s hosted services – including Exchange 2010 – under its own brand, setting pricing and controlling customer billing. Intermedia maintains, monitors, and upgrades all hardware and software. 

Continue reading, "Intermedia and Brasoftware Partner to Deliver SaaS Communications in Latin America"

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Excerpt from a new white paper, “Hosted Exchange Buyer’s Guide” coming soon to the Intermedia Resource Center.

The mark of an IT manager’s success has changed, with emphasis now placed on Return on Investment (ROI), and IT’s ability to do more with less money and fewer people.

Just as sales managers oversee an increasingly mobile workforce, IT managers are overseeing infrastructure and mission-critical applications operated by third-parties. In the past, IT managers operated intricate networks within their company’s walls. Executives could physically look at each server and application. The uptick in adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS) has altered this landscape, with IT executives partnering with off-site providers who do the heavy-lifting to support and maintain these same mission-critical applications and networks.

The good news? By eliminating much of the guesswork typically associated with the on-site rollout of applications, of server purchases and storage expansion, SaaS enables you to focus your technical expertise on true business benefits and ROI.

SaaS Surge

Economic pressures and SaaS’ proven benefits have encouraged businesses to investigate and adopt SaaS. In fact, 37 percent would consider SaaS or business process outsourcing (BPO) because of its increased flexibility, according to a 2009 report by AMR Research. Other reasons: Faster implementation; lower initial costs; improved productivity; better alignment between IT and business lines; and increased ROI.

Late last year, 86 percent of SMB users were expected to adopt SaaS, according to a 2009 Microsoft survey. Driving factors include ease of set-up; the ability to connect to software via the Internet; virtual storage; access to files and email from anywhere; ease of maintenance and updates; and maximizing IT investment, AMR Research finds. Some are concerned about total cost of ownership (TCO); security; unavailability of applications; integration issues; lack of customization; application performance; complicated pricing; pre-existing contracts with vendors, a Forrester Research report shows. Addressing these concerns during early contract negotiations ensures your SaaS partnership delivers on its promise of savings and productivity gains.

Rev up ROI

SaaS gives IT managers the tools to create and abide by monthly budgets. You know how much the provider will charge each month, the anticipated results and can determine in which ways and time-period the solution will pay for itself and generate revenue or cut costs. Generally, SaaS shortens the ROI timeframe, increasing the value of your investment in less time.

SaaS also helps you cope with your no-doubt small IT staff. As developers further-enhance their products, the SaaS provider implements the latest applications, reducing the onus placed on IT for upgrades and compatibility issues. Clearly comparing the expenses associated with on-premise vs. SaaS implementations only underscores your expertise at determining the most cost-effective solutions for your company.

SaaS also increases your personal ROI. As the SaaS champion you are directly responsible for the hard dollar and hour savings you’ve shared with C-level executives, a process that puts you in direct contact with corporate leaders and boosts your visibility and acumen. By underscoring the business – not technology – benefits, you also emphasize your value as a leader who constantly seeks ways to use IT to improve your company’s operations, productivity and bottom line. For more tips on managing your career in a world of SaaS, see the “Ten Tips for Managing Your Career.”

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New press release today in recognition of Earth Day:

On Earth Day, SMBs Can Save “Green” by Going “Green” with Cloud-Based Technology

Small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) decrease power consumption and reduce utility bills when switching to cloud-based communication services, according to Intermedia, the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider. Intermedia delivers Exchange, the leading business email platform, from its cloud infrastructure – four datacenters – direct to nearly a quarter million business people.
Continue reading, "SMBs Cut Cost & Carbon Footprint By Outsourcing Business Communications"

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We’ve relaunched our Intermedia Resource Center, located on our website. Containing case studies, articles, white papaers and more, the resource center has information on topics including hosted Exchange, mobility, unified communications, control panels, partners and Software as a Service.

Check out the resource center today to see what’s new!

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The article in last week’s Wall Street Journal, Tech Start-ups Cope with Data Flood, brings up a pressing business problem: the handling of ever increasing volumes of data.

The article’s emphasis is on tech companies that make systems to handle greater amounts of data at a lower cost. This is definitely needed. However, the article misses a larger point – the problem small companies face dealing with disparate sources, types and locations of their data.
Continue reading, "Small Business Data Problem – Web 2.0"

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Keynote speaker, Joe Panettieri, editorial director of Nine Lives Media Inc.’s MSPmentor.net and TheVARguy.com, took the stage at Intermedia’s second annual Partner Summit to discuss the Seven Habits of Highly Successful MSPs…

First the good news: The market for managed services continues to grow, as more busi­nesses entrust non-core operations to exter­nal specialists. AMI-Partners says small and medium business­es will triple their spending on remote managed IT services over the next five years. And nearly 70% of the best MSPs now offer software as a service (SaaS) solutions involving email, collaboration and recurring revenue opportunities, according to the annual MSPmentor 100 survey results. The potential for growth, however, attracts more and more players to the market. Numerous resellers are recasting themselves as managed services pro­viders (MSPs). The competitive landscape ranges from one-person shops to $1 billion-plus companies. And therein lies the bad news: an aspiring MSP has quite a crowd to rise above. To succeed, an MSP must establish a brand, differentiate its services, woo skeptical customers, evaluate business partners, and manage profitable deals…

Habit 1: Get Team Buy-In

Habit 2: Measure Everything

Habit 3: Build Your Brand

Habit 4: Raise Your Prices

Habit 5: Market and Sell to CXOs

Habit 6: Go Vertical

Habit 7: Catch the Next MSP Wave

Stay tuned for more detailed blogs on the 7 Habits of Highly Successful MSPs including exerts from an article by the same name.

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Bob Leibholz, SVP Sales & Business Development kicked off Intermedia’s Second Annual Partner Summit – taking place at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley today.

Sponsored by BlackBerry/RIM, Dell, Ingram Micro, Level Platforms, LiveOffice and Unison Technologies, the conference brings together top Intermedia resellers – many of them managed service providers and hosts – with industry thought leaders to discuss the future of hosted communications.

“The managed service provider and hosting markets are competitive,” says keynote speaker, Joe Panettieri, editorial director of Nine Lives Media Inc.’s MSPmentor.net and TheVARguy.com. “To be successful, you’ve got to differentiate your services, woo skeptical customers, evaluate business partners, manage profitable deals and stay on top of a constantly changing industry. Intermedia’s Partner Summit is a forum for partners to not only discover how the hosted communications landscape is evolving, but also develop practical ways to drive profits.”

The summit comes on the heels of Intermedia’s launch of hosted Unison – an industry-first unified communications offering specifically built for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

“The Partner Summit is an opportunity for Intermedia and our most strategic partners to collaborate on growing our business and serving our customers,” says Serguei Sofinski, chief executive officer, Intermedia. “The market for hosted communications is changing, and Intermedia has developed new services – including unified communications – to assure our partners can continue building their revenue and margins.”

 Additional topics at the summit include:

• Hosted Exchange 2010: Differentiate from Those Only Offering One Version Behind
• Hosted Exchange Migrations Made Simple: Tools and Technical Support for Easy Migrations to Intermedia Service
• Unified Communications for SMBs: From Unconnected Communications Tools to Unified Communications
• Intermedia’s Hosted Unison Offering: Architecture, Technical Aspects, Business Benefits and Beyond
• Partner Feedback: Group Sessions with Intermedia Senior Management

Intermedia’s Partner Program: Intermedia empowers thousands of MSPs, VARs and IT consultants – as well as select Fortune 500 companies – to sell communications services under their own brand. Intermedia offers two reseller programs. The private label partner program is for those who wish to generate recurring revenue from existing and new customers with high margin hosted communications services – all under their own brand –  while Intermedia maintains, monitors and upgrades all hardware and software. The affiliate program is for partners that prefer to promote Intermedia solutions and earn a commission for each sale they make.

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We recently reported a 20 percent increase in year-over-year revenue and a 15 percent increase in the size of our customer base. We attribute this growth to our continued focus on the customer experience, including development of our new DataEcho™ architecture that guarantees the safety and availability of customers’ Microsoft Exchange data.

In 2009, we were the first to market with hosted Exchange 2010, launching the service moments after Microsoft announced the availability of its Exchange Server 2010 software. Eighty-two percent of Intermedia’s new customers are choosing hosted Exchange 2010 over hosted Exchange 2007, which we continue to offer. We also made substantial investments in the service, support and proprietary technology we deliver around hosted Exchange and other communications services, a key source of our differentiation versus niche hosting players and online service providers. Milestones included:

• Reaching 225,000 premium hosted Exchange seats: Intermedia is the world’s largest hosted Exchange provider.
• The first SaaS industry 100 percent data protection guarantee: Intermedia guarantees that customers’ email and other business-critical data stored in Exchange are fully protected in any eventuality. Intermedia is able to credibly offer this guarantee, which is enforced by stiff financial penalties, because of the proprietary DataEcho architecture the company developed to work with hosted Exchange 2010.
• Addition of fourth US datacenter: Intermedia opened a new East coast datacenter featuring multiple Tier-1 Internet provider connections and hardware from Cisco, Dell and EMC – investments that assure high reliability and the fastest round trip for email. Exchange 2010 customers are able to choose among Intermedia’s East and West coast datacenters for the location of their mailboxes, further accelerating round trip times for email.
• New features for greater customer control over the Exchange environment: Intermedia added new features to its proprietary HostPilot® Control Panel that further enable Exchange administration to be delegated to non-technical staff. These features included remote device management, which enables customers to remotely wipe data from a lost BlackBerry in just a few clicks. Intermedia also developed UserPilot – a product that enables clients to unify log-in capabilities across their hosted Exchange and on-premise Microsoft applications.
• Continued excellence in reliability and customer support: Average 2009 speed-to-answer for 24×7 phone-based customer support was under 60 seconds.  Intermedia continued to offer a service level guarantee for 99.999 percent availability, which is less than six minutes of downtown a year.
• Expanding reseller network to over 4,000 private label partners: The number of partners and affiliates reselling Intermedia to their own customers substantially increased. Intermedia also extended its partner program to Latin America and inked a North American distribution deal with Fortune 100-ranked Ingram Micro.

“Small and mid-size businesses demand enterprise communications capabilities that are incredibly simple to set-up and reliable to use,” says Serguei Sofinski, chief executive officer, Intermedia. “To deliver that kind of experience, we invest heavily in our premium infrastructure, support, HostPilot Control Panel and Exchange Concierge™ migration service. We will continue to make these investments in 2010.”

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Interesting articles from the day:

Smallbiztechology.com, 10 Practical Suggestions To Grow Your Business in 2010

Redmond Channel Partner, 2010 a Boom Year for Cloud Computing?: There’s still a lot of hype surrounding the platform, but if recent market research is any indication, computing in the clouds could achieve a breakthrough of sorts in 2010.

ReadWriteWeb, 5 Enterprise Trends to Watch in 2010

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