PilotOnline.com: Local businesses give telecommuting a fresh look

By Phil Walzer

"There's no question that getting together face to face, going out to dinner, all the things you do as employees — you have to keep some ties to that."

Ned Lilly, CEO of xTuple, a software development firm in Norfolk, has a similar philosophy.

"Almost everybody is doing some work at home," Lilly said, but "whenever possible we like for people to be here. We do think there's a benefit to being in the same place, leaning over the next cubicle and saying, 'Let me show you this,' or standing around the break area and talking about something."