VC Firm Gets VPN_

ntil recently, road warriors at Zero Stage Capital were doing a pretty good job helping the likes of BlueStreak.com and Silknet Software get up and running.

To date, the 20-year-old venture capital firm has worked with more than 100 technology companies and raised $250 million.

Now Zero Stage is poised to do even better. Thanks to a new Net connectivity solution from integrator iCorps Technologies, the VC company's dial-up service has been replaced with a VPN.

MIKE HADLEY, president and CEO of iCorps, says Zero Stage's new solution provides a fast, secure and economical way to access info.

"Our people are high-level investment professionals making important decisions," says Brian Johnson, managing director and CFO of Zero Stage, Cambridge, Mass. "Getting even one more hour of work from them each day is a significant result."

The VPN achieves that increased productivity by providing remote workers with a secure, dedicated pipe for data access, says Mike Hadley, president and CEO of iCorps, Boston.

After replacing Zero Stage's headquarters-based server with an upgraded system, iCorps installed the VPN, complete with firewalls from Sonic and software from Microsoft.

For now, the virtual network links the VC firm's Cambridge operations with two remote workers via the Internet. Before the year ends, iCorps will have extended that VPN to all four Zero Stage branches. The company's three satellite offices reside in New Haven, Conn.; Portland, Maine; and Providence, R.I.

"The firewall is an appliance on the network that acts as a barrier between the office and the Net," says Hadley. "Sonic's product is very cost-effective for smaller companies [such as Zero Stage]." For larger clients, iCorps usually deploys firewalls from CheckPoint or Cisco.

Meanwhile, Zero Stage had a number of connectivity options to consider,among them, leased lines such as full or fractional T1, DSL, frame relay and ISDN.

At first, the VC firm opted for DSL, but one remote worker has since switched to a cable modem over fractional T1.

"DSL presents an opportunity for small and midsize businesses but generally not for the larger ones," says Hadley. "The big companies tend to be more data-intensive and need more bandwidth."

As for fractional TI, it poses a less expensive option than its full-line cousin. "That's because you're using only part of the [leased line],one portion for data and the other for voice," says Hadley, who estimates that Zero Stage is saving anywhere from $100 to $400 each month as a result.

The VC firm relies on Winstar, its longtime phone service carrier, for bundled voice and data access.

"Normally I would recommend a [brand name],a PSINet, UUnet or HarvardNet,as the ISP," says Hadley. "But they've had success with Winstar as their carrier."

At the server level, iCorps installed version 5.5 of MS Exchange, the software company's messaging and groupware package, for calendaring, e-mail and information sharing among Zero Stage employees. Outlook 2000 runs on the client workstations, and iCorps will update Exchange to version 2000 within the next few months.

"Once we make that upgrade, the partners will have access to more and better data-sharing capabilities," says Hadley. "They'll be able to not only send e-mails and schedule meetings but to get info from the server too."

Right now, Zero Stage employees use PDAs for e-mail only, relying on desktops for the majority of their workday tasks. But Johnson

BRIAN JOHNSON, managing director and CFO of venture capital firm Zero Stage.

"We're figuring the cell phone-PDA will be the access point of choice in the near future," he says. "But [handhelds] that can access the Net are pretty limited in their capabilities right now."

Hadley says Zero Stage will make a prime candidate for some of the up-and-coming wireless technologies that link devices to the Web anytime, anywhere.

"The ultimate goal in the VC world is to have access to info no matter where you are," he says. "These people need on-the-spot data about finance, Wall Street and the stock market."

What impressed Johnson most about iCorps was the integrator's ability to assess Zero Stage's needs and deploy a technology solution that would allow the VC firm to accomplish its objectives as cost-effectively as possible.

Nowadays, iCorps helps Zero Stage maintain its network, providing testing, troubleshooting and general service and support.

"They work as an outsourced resource for us because they know our business," says Johnson. "When we went to them for help, they knew what technologies were out there and what to recommend for us. They're very responsive too."