IT Consultants See Growing Demand for Cloud Services, VoIP in 2011

Feb. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- You're scrambling in 100 directions.  Monthly costs are just too high.  Something's got to change, but you don't want to lay people off.  Where and how do you save?

Maybe some newer technology will keep costs down.  There's the buzz about cloud computing too.  Would that help?

As it turns out, it would.  Many organizations plan to turn to cloud computing and virtualization in 2011.  43%, according to a Gartner survey (up from just 3% currently!).
( http://www.gartner.com/technology/innovation/it-predictions.jsp )

You need two things with these technologies – reliable servers and solid support.  IT staff and consultants are tasked with supplying both in the next few years.

One San Francisco-area IT consulting agency has responded with force.  Fremont-based PlanetMagpie bought a larger building late last year, and introduced private cloud services to meet the growing IT demand.

"Companies have to move forward now.   I moved us up here so we'd have more server space to meet the demand, and a better location to reach customers all throughout the Bay Area," said Robert Douglas, Founder and President of PlanetMagpie.

More Businesses Moving to the Cloud, Embracing Social and SaaS
Take note:  If you aren't innovating with newer, lower-cost IT, your competitors are.  Or will be this year.

Technologies like cloud computing, Software-as-a-Service and Voice over IP appeal to organizations because of their cost savings and flexibility.  They allow for social media engagement as easily as communicating across the office.  

PlanetMagpie is confident in their appeal to results-driven organizations.  "Our quote requests for Lync Server alone have almost doubled in the past month."  Robert commented.

Bullish on 2011 with a New Office and New Mascot
To make sure they'd have plenty of cloud server capacity, PlanetMagpie picked a new office in the Fremont Tech Center with triple the server space they had before.  And they've brought in a new mascot for good luck.  "Magpie was the company's first mascot and our namesake.  She saw us through the .com bust and the years of growth after."

Now "Pie" has arrived to take up where Magpie left off.  Like Magpie, Pie is a British Labrador.  She comes from Wildrose Kennels (http://www.uklabs.com/) in Mississippi, the oldest North American breeders and trainers of British/Irish Labs.

"She's so much fun, for the office and with clients," said Doreyne Douglas, VP of Operations.  "IT Consulting is a pretty demanding field.  Having Pie bouncing around the office lowers the stress level and keeps us all grounded.  She's also a daily reminder of the wonderful dog who started it all."

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PlanetMagpie (http://www.planetmagpie.com) provides custom IT consulting, web development, network support and managed IT services for small business, mid market and enterprises. They are headquartered in Fremont, CA, and serve the Bay Area, California and the USA.