With the pool of larger outsourcing deals drying up, IT managers with a few dozen desktops are being courted with a zeal once reserved for large corporations. Everdream Corp. and CenterBeam Inc. offer everything from PCs to Web access to tech support to hosted applications, all for a single monthly fee. These startups are hoping to get a jump on vendors such as IBM and Dell Computer Corp., which are busy ramping up PC-based service offerings for smaller companies. Calif. Everdream and CenterBeam boast similar services with slightly different prices and delivery models. In addition to PCs, Web access and technical support, customers can get bundled business applications, such as e-mail and spreadsheets, along with online backup.
Businesses can either start from scratch or work the services into their infrastructures.
Both companies are backed by impressive venture capital and have veteran IT management at the helm. Everdream's Griffiths is a veteran of IBM and was a member of the ThinkPad development team. Both companies are testing their services in California and expect to roll out their offerings across the United States next year. The services answer many of the challenges smaller businesses face, particularly a lack of internal IT skills and the prohibitive cost of new applications, Strata Source's Jones said. The small and midsize markets represent a landscape currently underserved by IT vendors, said Matthew Nordan, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc., in Boston.