Context & Continuity

Press Release: LA County's Largest Child Service Agency, The Sycamores, Selects CenterBeam to Manange I.T. Infrastructure

SAN JOSÉ, CALIF., August, 2005 – Today, CenterBeam announced that The Sycamores, one of Los Angeles County’s largest child service agencies, has selected CenterBeam to manage its IT infrastructure. The Sycamores was founded in 1902 and delivers comprehensive support services to more than 2,100 children every year.

Managing Offshore, 8/5: The Case for Captivity

Small And Captive

But small firms can benefit from going captive, as well. CenterBeam is a venture-backed company in San Jose, Calif., that offers outsourced IT services to mid-sized businesses. Even now, CenterBeam as a whole employs only 170 people, smaller than most observers recommend for a captive center.

But when Kevin Francis came in as CEO in early 2003, he needed to cut costs. At the same time, he felt it was vital not to outsource technical support, since that was a primary way his company interacted with its customers and thus was important for the brand. He looked at sites in the U.S. and in India, but ultimately decided to locate in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, though it was not as inexpensive as India. Francis did this for several reasons: He could save 35% to 40% on his overall site costs, he had access to English-speaking, technically talented workers, and he felt that cultural and time differences were manageable.

Forrester, 6/15/2005: MSP Model Will Find A Home In The SMB Market

“CenterBeam remains the most visible company that is offering complete infrastructure outsourcing to the SMB.”

“Most MSPs sell their services for a three-year term, but if pushed, they will reduce this to two years. CenterBeam even offers a month-to-month Total Satisfaction Guarantee that does not tie a client to a minimum contract length. Furthermore, CenterBeam uses its own propriety technology, so it is not easy to transfer responsibility to a new outsourcer in a seamless fashion. CenterBeam is at the high end for desktop management services ($50 per seat per month) but assumes more responsibility for the network, server, and messaging infrastructures. PC backup pricing will vary in terms of storage capacity used, from 2 GB to 10 GB in the propositions. CenterBeam provides services integration into Active Directory when it has responsibility for server and Active Directory management.”