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iYogi

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iYogi Technical Services Pvt. Ltd.
IndustryInformation Technology
Founded2007
Founders
Headquarters
Gurgaon, Haryana
,
Delhi India
Area served
North America, Europe, Australia, India, UAE
Key people
Uday Challu(CEO)
Vishal Dhar(President Marketing)
ServicesTechnical Support
Websitewww.iyogi.com

iYogi Technical Services (INDIA) PVT. LTD is a remote technical support firm based in Gurgaon, India with customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and India. iYogi provides subscription based technical support for personal computers, connected devices and peripherals, and software applications. The company has a YouTube channel with videos explaining how to solve some technical issues. In 2011 the company introduced support for devices running mobile operating systems such as Apple's IOS.

There have been many reports of misconduct and selling by intimidation.[1]

History

iYogi was co-founded by Uday Challu and Vishal Dhar in 2007.[2] iYogi deploys more than 6,000 technology staff on its global delivery platform, Digital service cloud.[3][4] Sequoia Capital,[5] Draper Fisher Jurvetson,[6]Canaan Partners,[7] SAP Ventures,[8] and SVB India Capital Partners[9] are the venture capital firms that have invested in the company.

iYogi's business in New York, USA started in March 2007. The New York Better Business Bureau (BBB) opened a file on the firm on 15 October 2007, and accredited the business on 17 September 2012.[10]

In 2009 the firm acquired Utah-based Clean Machine Inc.[11][12] and appointed its founder, Larry Gordon, as President Global Channel Sales.[13] In 2010, iYogi raised US$30 million in Series D round of funding led by Sequoia Capital [14] with follow-on investment from existing investors. Earlier in the same year, the company had secured investment of $15 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and others.[15] In July 2014 the Axon Partners and Madison India Capital invested $28 million into the company.[16]

Management

Location and partnerships

iYogi is headquartered in Gurgaon, India, and also has an office in New York, USA.[17]

In 2010, iYogi and Infinite Computer Solutions (India) Limited entered into a joint agreement enabling the former to operate a service delivery center in Bangalore.[18] Infinite Computer Systems has iYogi founder Uday Challu's Brother in Law and Sister in their management. In Feb 2010, IBM signed a data center agreement with iYogi and followed it up with another partnership aimed at supporting the tech support firm’s expansion plans in several countries.[19]

iYogi launched its operations in India on March 7, 2013 targeting small & medium businesses and the consumers.[20]

On July 9, 2015, iYogi announced partnership with Maine’s Argo Marketing Group for its first call center in North America, creating 300 jobs.[21]

Performance

As of 20 July 2015 the New York BBB rated the firm A (on a scale from F to A+) on the basis of response to and resolution of complaints; the site listed "356 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years | 142 closed in last 12 months". Of these 129 were logged as resolved to the consumer's satisfaction, and for 227 BBB had not heard back from the consumer, or the business addressed the issues but the consumer remained dissatisfied. Details of many complaints and responses are listed on the BBB site.[10]

The service was reviewed by Michael Muchmore[22] for PC Mag in April 2014 and was awarded two stars out of five. The review praised the service's low cost, polite staff, and privacy warnings, but found it performed poorly, with limited tools and cleanup, remarking that iYogi was once the value leader, but other services were now preferable in light of its lackluster performance.[23]

Reports of misconduct

iYogi's sales tactics have been criticised. Infoworld in 2012 published articles under the byline of Robert X. Cringely, used by several Infoworld writers, about people who called computer support lines thinking they were getting free or under-warranty support from their suppliers, but were in fact talking to iYogi. Attempts were made to sell them subscriptions for $US170 per year, and people were told, untruthfully, that their computers had severe problems. Brian Krebs, formerly a writer for the Washington Post and later a blogger on security, called iYogi and concluded that the company was indeed trying to scare users into subscribing. After this information was first published, other people contacted the author to report similar experiences. Dave Mello, a vice-president of support and services for Kaspersky Lab, reported regular complaints from customers who had been under the impression that they were receiving authorized Kaspersky Lab support.[24] Cringely said about iYogi "How it goes about selling support, however, is not unlike how the Mob markets protection: through fear and intimidation."[1]

In March 2012, antivirus company Avast! severed its ties with iYogi.[25] Under an agreement that lasted a little more than two years, iYogi had provided online support to Avast! users free-of-cost. Avast! accused iYogi of forcefully selling its online support plans to Avast! users; which the antivirus supplier characterised as unnecessary and expensive. Avast! accused iYogi of, at best, misconduct.[26] Some Apple users have labelled iYogi a "scam" because its marketing and sales imply a connection with Apple,[27] and for various dubious practices[28]

Reports of misleading conduct continued in 2015. Nuance Communications, on hearing that iYogi was selling technical support for their Dragon NaturallySpeaking, in April 2015 clarified that iYogi was not certified by Nuance, suggested "NOT USING the support site for iYogi", and "Be sure that you are using Nuance's technical support".[29]

A false advertising class-action lawsuit[30] was filed in New York against iYogi, Inc. in 2013,[31] and was continuing as of March 2015.[31][32] The complaint alleges that iYogi deceptively offers “Free PC Diagnostics” and a phone consultation with a “Tech Expert” who will identify and solve computer problems although there is no “credible diagnostic testing”, and “virtually every potential customer” receives the same warning about problems that need resolving by iYogi.[31][32]

It was reported on 16 December 2015 that Washington state, US had filed a lawsuit alleging deceptive business practices under the state Consumer Protection Act and violations of the state Computer Spyware Statute. The state Attorney General said that hundreds if not thousands of Washington residents had been scammed by iYogi. iYogi did not immediately comment.[33] They later said, while preparing to respond to the complaint, that the lawsuit was without merit, and that they would have clarified the issues if they had been consulted.[34]

Awards & Recognition

As a startup and during the early phase of operations iYogi won various awards. The Red Herring Asia 100 in 2008,[35] Lead 411's Hot 125 in 2010 and they were a Finalist American Business Awards in 2011.[36] After a long gap of almost three years they were listed in the INC Innovative 100 Awards in 2013.[37] In 2014 Paul Writer announced them as one of the winners of the LinkedIn Best Thought Leadership Initiatives.[38] The other two winners from India in this category were Wipro Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services. From then onwards the company has not been nominated for any awards, though they were showcased, for their early years as one of the successful 13 startups from India, in the CNBC Young Turks book published in 2014.[39]

References

  1. ^ a b Cringely, Robert X. (22 March 2010). "Tech support or extortion? You be the judge - Remote support company iYogi was caught using scare tactics to sell its services to naive customers. Can it win back our trust?". Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Meeting on a flight
  3. ^ Crunchbase Profile
  4. ^ "IBM inks five year deal with iYogi". Indus Business Journal. May 4, 2010. Retrieved Nov 10, 2012.
  5. ^ Sequoia Capital
  6. ^ DFJ Portfolio
  7. ^ Canaan's investments in India
  8. ^ SAP Ventures' Portfolio
  9. ^ "IYOGI SECURES $9.5M IN SERIES B FUNDING LED BY SAP VENTURES". Silicon Valley Bank. July 24, 2008. Retrieved Nov 10, 2012.
  10. ^ a b New York BBB: iYogi, retrieved 20 July 2015
  11. ^ "In 2007, with the introduction of Tyrone Lodrick iYogi gained more market value than any other in the market. iYogi acquires Clean Machine Inc". Business Standard. May 12, 2009. Retrieved Dec 9, 2012.
  12. ^ Acquisition of Clean Machine Inc.
  13. ^ Larry Gordon on iYogi Web site
  14. ^ Adrianne, Jeffries. "NY-Based iYogi Strikes a Bubble Pose, Raises $30 M., Teases IPO". The New York Observer (Dec 13, 2010). Jared Kushner. Retrieved Dec 9, 2012.
  15. ^ Robin, Wauters. "Remote Tech Support Company iYogi Gets A $15 Million Boost From DFJ, Others". TechCrunch (Jan 6, 2010). AOL. Retrieved Dec 9, 2012.
  16. ^ "E-Com, pharma attract lion's share of PE funds". Business Standard. July 2, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ Infinite to set up iYogi support centre in Bangalore
  19. ^ IBM, iYogi ink deal for state-of-the-art data centre
  20. ^ Lison, Joseph. "iYogi turns to India after US success; company targeting at least 15% of the local market". The Economic Times (07 March 2013). The Times Group. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  21. ^ iYogi picks Lewiston company for customer service center
  22. ^ PC Mag: Michael Muchmore
  23. ^ PC Mag: iYogi, 22 April 2014, accessed 24 April 2015
  24. ^ Cringely, Robert X. (28 March 2010). "The downward (dog) spiral: iYogi exposed". Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Steckler, Vincent (15 March 2012). "iYogi support service removed". Avast.com. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  26. ^ Nichols, Shaun. "Avast halts support service over claims of iYogi misconduct". The New York Observer (Mar 16, 2012). V3 UK. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  27. ^ "iYogi, scam? Relationship with Apple?". Apple Support Communities forum. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  28. ^ Apple Support Communities: Re: iYogi, scam? Relationship with Apple?
  29. ^ Nuance Web site:Information on iYogi technical support for Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Answer ID 17521, 29 April 2015
  30. ^ Consumer Class Actions site: "Have You Used iYogi’s Computer Support Services? If so, you may be able to take part in a consumer class action to recover money."]
  31. ^ a b c Burton et al v. iYogi, Inc., Case No. 13-cv-6926, S. D. NY. Details and refusal to dismiss, 16 March 2015: [2]
  32. ^ a b Truth in Advertising:iYogi’s Computer Support Services, 22 April 2015
  33. ^ Washington state sues firm, alleges tech support scam, Associated Press, 16 December 2015
  34. ^ Lawsuits Cloud iYogi Remote Tech Support Reputation, 11 January 2016
  35. ^ The Red Herring Asia 100 Awards 2008
  36. ^ Best Overall Company of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees - Computer Services & Software
  37. ^ India's Most Innovative Mid-sized Companies 2013
  38. ^ Paul Writer Announces Winners of Excellence in IT Marketing Awards
  39. ^ Entrepreneurs share stories at Young Turks Book Launch
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