To an established company there is nothing extraordinary about having a representative office that is strategically located and equipped with sophisticated facilities. But for a new operating company or set-up, this may just be a goal to be working towards.

Today however, the instant-office solution resolves this dilemma for companies big or small, established or just starting out. And with several operators offering instant offices of various types, companies now are presented with options of offices of various sizes : for one person, to an area of 40 square meters, virtual offices (no physical space), but complete with secretarial support services.

And as far back as 1997, long before this instant office business became popular in Jakarta, Mee Kim, president of CEO SUITE, was already working at its concept and development.

Today CEO SUITE has centers in two prime buildings in Jakarta, namely Wisma GKBI (Gabungan Koperasi Batik Indonesia) and BEJ (Bursa Efek Jakarta) building in the Semanggi area, Jl. Sudirman, Jakarta's most central and prestigious business district.

"The rental of our space is highly customized: we can be renting by the hour, day, month or year. You name the way you want it, you get it," said Mee Kim, a Korean-born businesswoman who has since made Jakarta her home.

Besides being a provider of office space with office equipment and facilities, CEO SUITE has since reinvented itself as a total business-solution provider, and services such as ISDN phone lines, unified messaging system, high-speed internet, teleconference & video-conference facilities, boardroom and meeting rooms are all extra conveniences for their clients when they rent an office at CEO SUITE.

The motto at CEO SUITE is a simple "pay for what you use", and this is applicable in every sense of the word including services of supporting personnel - secretaries, accountants, and IT support staff. "A simple calculation will show savings between the lease of our office space and renting or purchasing your own office building," advises Mee Kim. CEO SUITE, she added, now boasts some 700 clients in Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai.

Today, the trend of an instant office has extended beyond the United States. In a highly globalized era, information technology (in terms of accessing information from everywhere and anywhere) has played a vital role to increase the popularity of serviced offices (over preference for large conventional office spaces).

With the progress in IT, a company will also no longer need a large space and a bulky organization. The concept is towards a lean workforce and an efficient workspace! Bill Gates in many ways started the trend of operating a successful operation in a space not considered extravagant, setting an example and precedence to many companies related to IT.

In Indonesia today, the trend of operating in an instant office has developed as much as it has in more advanced countries. "When companies trim down their businesses in search of higher efficiency levels, or when their companies were designed to be small scale from the start, the concept of an instant office, or even a virtual office, would be an attractive and ideal choice," elaborates Mee Kim.

Following more dynamic business conditions and progress in the economy, demand for office space has shown healthy increases accordingly, and signs of this increase are definitely auguring well for the instant office business in Jakarta. Demand in this sector is expected to grow at a steady rate of 10 to 15 percent annually.