Exponential-e to meet demands for flexible working with Virtual Office in the Cloud

Exponential-e is enhancing its powerful Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) proposition after research revealed that 72 per cent of business professionals struggle with their company’s flexible working policy due to technology issues.

In total, six in 10 of those surveyed admitted that they would be more likely to take advantage of flexible working if IT was better. To facilitate demands for a more adaptable working experience, Exponential-e is entering into a strategic partnership with IT Service Provider, Intermedia. The collaboration will place a whole range of IT services at a customer’s fingertips by combining Exponential-e’s desktop solution with Intermedia’s business applications to provide a Virtual Office in the Cloud that can be delivered as a service to any device and from any location.

“Just one per cent of the business professionals that we surveyed are satisfied by their existing work/life balance. However, 62 per cent think that this could be improved if they had more access to flexible working,” reflected Lee Wade, CEO at Exponential-e. “Providing access to solutions that enable a more versatile working experience but don’t require the business to invest vital resources into managing a complex IT estate is key for today’s organisations. Our relationship with Intermedia enables us to combine hosted desktops with cloud applications, to deliver a scalable Virtual Office in the Cloud that organisations don’t have to worry about maintaining.”

Using Exponential-e’s wholly owned 100 Gigabit Ethernet Network, businesses will be able to run desktop infrastructures in a virtualised environment. As part of the offering, Exponential-e will also offer companies an uncontended, private connection to Intermedia’s Email, Security, Mobility, Archiving, File Share and Collaboration services.

The hosted service will operate within the Local Area Network (LAN) and on the clean side of the firewall, resolving privacy concerns. Organisations can combine Exponential-e's private managed desktop with Intermedia's business applications, delivered using a private Cloud, to ensure that corporate data is only provisioned in a secure environment. Since virtual desktops sit on the LAN, they continue to be controlled by the existing IT policies and staff but remove the need for organisations to manage the user experience for each device.

Richard Walters, General Manager for Intermedia EMEA adds: “I’m delighted that Exponential-e has chosen Intermedia’s Office in the Cloud solution, and look forward to partnering with them to drive its DaaS offering onto further success. All too often we see businesses spending excessive amounts of time and money on outdated internal computer systems. With Office In The Cloud, businesses can pay per month, per user and operate from any device with an internet connection, avoiding the need for any high initial outlay while providing the flexibility, support and peace of mind that all organisations need.”

The offering will also support SMBs that need computing resources, which can be scaled or contracted to support business needs and future growth. The hosted service means companies no longer need to rely solely on their existing architecture and can simply spin-up additional desktops when further capacity is required. To help organisations easily manage the service, Exponential-e offers a flexible model that means businesses only pay for the services they use and are billed on a monthly basis. The solution is delivered through a single end-to-end Service Level Agreement (SLA) that ensures businesses receive consistent network performance, with a single point of contact to manage the solution.

Through the Virtual Office in the Cloud, customers will be able to enjoy:

· Flexibility: Simply click to spin-up additional desktops to meet demand
· Ease of management: Managed through a centralised IT environment with a single sign-on portal
· Bring your own Cloud: Virtual desktop sessions follow end users across devices and locations to deliver a customised IT environment for each user
· End-to-end SLA: Delivered through a single platform that provides one point of contact when managing the service
· OpEx cost model: Flexible pay-as-you-go model for IT services designed to provide a predictable monthly low cost per user
· Expand and contract: Easily scale the services that a business needs through a pay-as-you-go model
· Privacy issues resolved: Using a private network ensures that corporate data never leaves the user’s IT environment
· Reduce IT maintenance staff overheads: Enable IT to focus on strategic initiatives
· Superior end-user experience: All services remain within the organisations IT environment and are delivered using Exponential-e’s wholly-owned network which means no sharing or dropped connections
· Mobile collaborative working: Users can work from the same centralised file control and storage