This week we launched support for the iCal format from the Intervals calendar page. Intervals users can now export the current calendar view to the iCal format simply by clicking on the iCal icon in the upper right corner of the screen. This will only export what is currently displayed on the calendar allowing users to customize which data they would like to export to other calendering programs. Users can now get their Intervals tasks, milestones and notes into Google Calendar or iCalendar on the Mac. In fact, any calendar program that has support for the iCal format should import Intervals data.

We’ve Upgraded Our Intervals Plans! We are excited to announce some big changes to the Intervals monthly plans. Each plan has been upgraded — at no extra cost to our customers — to include more active projects and more document storage. Why are we doing this? Because we’ve been listening to customer feedback and agree that upgrades like these are good for everyone and allow our customers to do more for the same monthly price.

“Intervals has quickly become the backbone of our business and thanks to it we are running smoother than we ever thought possible!” Sam Hembury Evado Media

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We recently moved our Pelago office to some new digs. As we prepared for the move we challenged ourselves to think of ways we could reduce our energy consumption in our new space. We were able to make quite a few improvements to our office environment, resulting in less energy usage. Some of these updates are easy enough to implement, while others would require working with a contractor (and the permission of your landlord, of course). We were fortunate that our new offices are in a recently renovated building and we were able to work closely with the contractor to implement several aesthetic and cost-saving features.

Less computers doing less work

The first thing we did was reduce the number of computers in our office. We had a few older computers still hooked up to monitors that we were using for testing. We donated the older machines and optimized our current ones. We modified the power settings on our current computers to conserve energy as much as possible by going into sleep mode and turning off the display when not in use. By managing power settings better and reducing the number of computers, our off-peak power consumption has been limited to just enough phantom power to keep the computers in standby mode.

Upgrading our LAN

Gigabit switches are purported to be less consumptive then their megabit predecessors. And they are a lot faster. By replacing our switches we gained a significant speed increase over our LAN while also using less power. It’s a win-win.

T5 Flourescent Lights

Instead of recessed halogens our new office has minimalist fluorescent lamps hanging from the ceiling. These lamps use T5 fluorescent bulbs, a popular energy-efficiency alternative due to their potential to cut energy use by more than 60%.

Location, location, location

Our original office space was a gorgeous loft above an enclosed courtyard. But it had one major flaw. The southwest facing wall was composed entirely of windows. The light was elegant, the type of light photographers dream of capturing. The light was also searing. Our office would overheat, especially in the winter months when the sun would slink low on the horizon. We had to keep the AC going to keep our computers and servers from overheating. Our new office has windows on all sides which helps the keep a breeze running through on hotter days. And the window-to-wall ratio is better. We get just the right amount of natural light while keeping the heat out and haven’t had to turn the AC on once yet.

Enclosed server room

Our new office has a dedicated server room. It’s a closet we converted by ducting it with AC vents, installing a fan, and deadbolting the door. By keeping our servers in this separate room we can control the temperature more precisely, cooling down the servers without having to cool down the entire office. Servers run optimally at temperatures we humans find uncomfortable. Now we can keep both happy.

AC and Heat where they matter the most

Composed of two rooms joined by a hallway, our office has different temperature needs for each room. We work mostly in the back room, so it’s more important that the AC and heat be directed there. Whereas the front room faces the sun differently and generally needs less climate control. Working with the AC installer we were able to dampen the vents in each room. We also programmed the thermostat to only monitor the room temperature during working hours. We now control how often and how much AC and heat is applied to each room.

Virtualization

Perhaps one of our biggest energy improvements is one that we are still in the midst of executing. As a company that builds web-based applications it is important for us to have multiple combinations of OSes and browsers. We need to be able to test our web-based software across all possible scenarios our customers may encounter. And when a customer reports a bug we need to be able to replicate their working environment. Rather than have a machine for each scenario, we’ve virtualized each combination. Now we can any number of scenarios from our desktops.

Easy enough, right? But what about servers? This is where we are headed next. We have several servers in our office for handling all aspects of designing and developing web-based software. All of those servers can be replaced with one rack-mounted Virtual Machine Server. The beauty of such a solution is that we can set up as many Virtual Machines as we need. Not only will we have removed the hardware limitations of using one physical device per server, but one server will use far less energy than its multiple counterparts.

If you are a small business like Pelago, you probably wear a lot of different hats throughout your day-to-day operations. Everything from accounting to marketing becomes your responsibility. And while it may be tempting to outsource as much of your job as possible, I can tell you from experience it is a bad idea.

There is a big difference between subcontracting and outsourcing. When you subcontract work out to an individual you maintain a working relationship with them. For example, we have a wonderful bookkeeper who keeps our accounting accurate and up-to-date. And we have a CPA do our taxes. When you outsource, you hand a piece of your small business off to a third-party who will take control of it. There are some necessary responsibilities relevant to the “business of our business” that we simply can’t outsource away. Believe me, we’ve tried. It doesn’t work.

As a web design and development agency we’ve had either experience and opportunity to outsource different aspects of our small business responsibilities. If you are part of a small business in the technology and/or creative service realms you may find the following all too familiar, or a warning to be carefully heeded.

Project Management

The project manager is the bridge between yourself and your clients. It doesn’t matter if you have someone in that role full-time or not. And it doesn’t matter what project management software you use. What matters is that you have someone responsible for managing your clients. You need someone who understands the nuances of your small business — how different people will react to different scenarios — and who can navigate various scenarios while keeping the project on time and under budget. Leave this up to someone on the outside and all the personality of your small agency goes out with it.

Design

Creative agencies often produce the best work when they are designing for themselves. Why? Because you become your own client. The subjectivity of an outside client’s whims are no longer a factor. Take a look at the self promotion section of Communication Arts magazine and you will see some amazing work being done. Ownership and passion come through best when creativity is unbridled. What about client work? It’s your bread and butter, so keep that in-house, too. There is a conversation that goes on behind the scenes of any design project. Tune out that creative chatter and your client work will suffer. When you outsource design you also outsource the human dynamic that makes great design work.

Development

Several years ago it seemed that outsourcing development work overseas was going to put everyone out of a job. At least that is what everyone was saying in the news. It didn’t happen. Development work may be distilled to a bunch of ones and zeros and it may be argued that anyone can knock out lines of code. But it’s not just ones and zeros and it’s not easy to hammer out code. When developing web sites it is important that the code be clean and manageable. And more importantly, managing resources overseas becomes crucial to any project. When outsourcing development work the project manager must deal with inverse time zones, language barriers and the absence of face time. It turns out these obstacles make outsourcing development more trouble than it is worth. The pendulum has swung the other way and more companies are bringing development back. When managing multiple development projects at the frenzied pace of a small business it makes far more sense to keep the developers close-at-hand.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Perhaps one of the most convoluted and mysterious aspects of any business is optimizing your web site for search engines. SEO is the most tempting aspect to outsource, but don’t. I’ve noticed that Google rewards honest and genuine online efforts. If you make sure the code behind your web site is thorough and the content is original and useful, you’ll have addressed 90% of your SEO requirements. That said, if you have to get on page one of Google than working with an SEO consultant may help. They practice the voodoo it takes to go that last 10%. However, they are not a replacement for managing your own basic SEO efforts. It’s up to you to come up with your message and spread the word, as you will see next…

Marketing

Simply put, no one is going to be as passionate about getting the word out as you are. Marketing consultants are great at coming up with ideas but won’t see them through with the same zeal. It’s one thing to brainstorm new and seemingly bulletproof ideas. Executing ideas is what separates great creatives from mediocre ones. And great creatives who share your passion are most likely already working at your small business. Whether it’s an employee or an owner, our dedication to our small business is unparalleled and should be tapped for all things creative. Our best ideas and campaigns have come to us when we give our brilliant ideas enough time to ferment. Outside marketers will often slap your logo onto a harmless, yet seemingly clever product — think umbrella, we’ve got you covered! — and that’s that. Own it yourself and you’ll soon be devising relevant and subversive schemes to get people’s attention.

Check out the LaTeX for Humans review of Intervals on their blog. Looks like the author has found Intervals useful for many things, including managing a PhD!

I have tried a lot of different packages that do a lot of different things – from Basecamp to Open Workbench, from Manymoon to Zen. But at the beginning of October, I finally found something that works really well: it’s called Intervals.

Intervals is a great tool for managing tasks. Intervals also provides a suite of online tools for tracking time and managing projects. These time, task and project features can be used in combination or exclusive of one another to manage your personal projects or a small business. As this reviewer discovered:

I have used Intervals daily for the past two months and it has really helped me to plan my work and get more done.

Written a review of Intervals recently? Contact us and let us know!