We ended 2008 by saying:

“We are taking forward one thing from 2008 - love what you do and do it more. Every month is a stepping stone to stay true to our vision - to provide simple, powerful and affordable tools to help people work smarter.”

We carried this vision with us to 2009. More than just building new features, 2009 was about reliability, stability, security, ease of use and understanding our users better. Since the app is already feature-rich, we spent a considerable amount of time concentrating on the stuff that hides under the hood - how to make the app faster, more usable and simple for our users. Even though you don’t request these things, these are the essential ingredients that help you make a choice.

2009 has also given a lot of meaning to our brand. What we stand for and why we exist? We often include users and customers into our discussions about what they feel about our brand. Is it simplifying teamwork or is it about getting peace of mind when you know that your projects are running smoothly. Is it about creating systems at your workplace and automating things or is DeskAway about something that is simple, powerful and yet affordable? So many variations, but at the end, one line sums up what people think of us, where we have come from and where we plan to go. This is why we got started in the first place back in 2007.

“simplifying people’s lives in the workplace so that they have more time to do the things that they really enjoy. “

The end result is a shot at having a work-life balance that is well poised so that work becomes meaningful. We try to capture that moment of ‘aha’ when you either strike-off that task or when you are in control of your work. That feeling of ‘freedom’, ‘excitement’ and ‘lightness’. Life@Work has become more complicated, wired and information-overloaded - and that is all the more reason it requires refinement and simplification.

Before we get into 2010, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has made it possible for our small company to compete in the global world. To all the people who reviewed, features, interviewed, tried, purchsed and came in contact with our company and service.

These are site and blogs which mentioned us in 2009…

20:20 social
Digital Media Buzz
CMS Wire
On Software
Smashing Apps
Web 2 and More
Be Bizzy
The Gray Hair Speaketh (Sanjay Mehta’s Review)
AppVita
TechPluto
Life Hack
Blissfully Domestic
Mashable
Michele Corey’s search for the Perfect Project Management tool
Indian Startup Diary
Blondish.net

These are print magazines that wrote about us in 2009…

Technofirst Magazine
BenefIT
Indiatimes Article

These are channels that featured and interviewed us in 2009…

CNBC Young Turks
StartingUP - ETNow

Thank you all!

Lastly, thank you team for getting these features rolled out to the world…

FreshBooks Integration
Open Task Lists, Recurring Task options & Team filters
Blog email, update company name, adding team members and editing/deleting message comments
Revamped milestones page, colorful labels and at-glance overdue stuff
DeskMail - Add tasks and reply to task comments via email
OpenID Support
Status Updates
Task Calendar View
Adding tasks from anywhere
Uploading files within task, extending deadline before commenting
Recurring task & cloning tasks
Blog RSS and better search
Upload files to messages
Themes
User Reports

Thank you for your time and wishing you Happy Holidays! Stay safe.

Cheers,
Sahil Parikh
Founder & CEO

P.S - So, what can you expect from 2010?
Simplifying the user experience and features even more
A few killer features thats going to rock this app!
Features and enhancements requested by our users
Integration with other tools and services (e.g. Google, Twitter etc.)
Additional help and interactive tutorials & videos
and obviously the unplanned stuff

Pluggd.in is a blog about startups, entrepreneurship and tech in the Indian sector. Sahil recently contributed a guest post on common SaaS myths and ways to overcome them.

Using online software to increase productivity and grow your business is a no brainer. I can’t imagine why any small business would not readily adopt SaaS. What’s holding them back (besides poor bandwidth penetration in some areas) when they can pay a monthly subscription, not have to worry about installation, upgrades and have access to the same tools that their competitors have? This is close to having ’software utopia’ for the small business!

Lets go back in time….

- People might not have been prepared to put their money with other people’s money when banking was established. Banking and online banking is mainstream now.

- People were probably afraid to get on an aircraft which weighed a few tones and promised to soar like a bird. Today, air travel is a given.

Back to the present.

Currently, we are witnessing one of the biggest shifts in enterprise software (software used for business) and as everything else, it comes with it’s own set of myths, mindsets and confusion. Here are a few I have experienced over the last few years from people who are still not ready to adopt online software for their business.

“My data is more secure with me than putting it on someone else’s server”

Your data is more secure at your vendor’s data center than your own internal network. Security is more than just about taking daily backups, maintaining uptime and setting up a firewall. It’s about password policies, encryption, intrusion detection, offsite backups, secure transmission, software updates, patching etc. If hosting or maintaining servers is not your core business then you are better off renting out software from a reputed vendor who understands all these things. This will ensure peace of mind in the long run.

Read More.

Are you so busy that you don’t have time to do anything else or attract new opportunities that might help you grow your business? This is what we felt a few months back when we caught ourselves getting extremely busy and deep into the day to day nitty-gritty. We were almost turning mechanical - working on new features, releasing them, answering support queries, helping customers etc. We knew that we needed to free up time to think about where we are headed, what are “really” the features that customers want and how are we going to deliver it to them by still being highly competitive. We had to make room for our team to think about new opportunities and ideas. Isn’t this what business is about? More than fire-fighting and details, isn’t it about dreaming, thinking and envisioning where you want to be say a year or five years from now?

You need to be a sponge that absorbs new things, a glass that is not filled right to the top and you need to create that little bit of spare time in the day where you probably are not caught up in the details. This is where we think creativity is born. New ideas takes place. Innovation happens. Ultimately, you make yourself more relevant!

DeskAway just got featured on Technofirst Online, the online counterpart of the Technofirst Magazine, which is available across 4 locations in India.

Currently one of the best positioned (price, support, features) in the small business online project collaboration market worldwide. DeskAway combines a mix of simplicity, feature-richness and affordability into its project collaboration service with a focus on key social features in the SMB project 2.0 space

They have also interviewed Sahil, DeskAway’s founder and CEO. Read More.

Thanks Shibi and Technofirst team!

Small tasks often come scattered throughout the day and possibly becomes the single most important enemy of productivity. Since these are work related we can’ t even ignore them. First instinct is to get everything done as soon as possible. Next comes the stress of how to get them done and there is not enough time.

Trying to do everything is like going to a buffet where your senses go ballistic and you start eating everything. In the end you not only feel like a big potato but feel a sense of dissatisfaction and wish you had tried some of that dessert or had eaten this instead of that.  Compare this to ordering a la carte where you know how much you can eat and you order just about enough to leave the restaurant feeling satisfied.

Managing and completing small tasks is much like ordering from an a la carte menu. Know what you want to eat, order and feel satisfied.

Know What You Want to Eat

Every morning make a list of the things you want to get done by the end of the day. You might list around 8-12 items .  Write these down anywhere. I normally use the Stickies on my mac.

Order

Go over the items and ask yourself - What is the minimum I need to accomplish so that I  will be satisfied and happy at the end of the day? Do I have time to get these done? On days that you have meetings or are out for some reason plan less.

Over-ordering (even by looking at so much food on the table) can kill your appetite or leave you feeling sick.

Satisfaction

Enjoy the process of getting tasks completed and delegate when necessary. I like checking-off tasks that I complete to give me some pleasure of achievement and help me to move forward.

It’s important to feel satisfied, happy and positive when leaving work in the evening and keeping the above points in mind might just achieve that.

Bon Appetite!