Earthlink Announces Partnership With InMotion
Vancouver, Washington - August 27, 2008 – Earthlink subsidiary and broadband network company, New Edge Networks, has been chosen by the largest entertainment and electronics airport retailer in the United States.
InMotion has engaged New Edge Networks, to build and manage a private wide area network that it does not want to know is there. Allan Ghelerter, Director of IT for the specialty retail chain that operates 55 stores in about 30 major airports around the country explained, ”We want our network to be transparent and do what it is supposed to do; we don’t want to have to pay attention to it. Our customers have to catch planes.”
InMotion awarded New Edge Networks, the business communications unit of EarthLink Inc., a three-year contract valued at nearly $1 million to build and manage a private network based on Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology. Network installation is underway.
Jacksonville, Florida-based InMotion selected MPLS so that it can integrate multiple existing legacy networks into one that can prioritize communications traffic. This will help optimize use of available network bandwidth, and enable improved performance of latency-sensitive applications used to operate online business functions. MPLS also makes it easy and quick to add and move stores on the network.
Mr. Ghelerter added, ”Our new MPLS network is the centerpiece of InMotion’s strategic initiative for investing in technology so we can both grow and offer an excellent customer experience.”
A principal driver for InMotion’s migration to an MPLS network is the company’s new strategic initiative for offering fast digital downloads of music and movies through an in-store kiosk called PlayPoint. The self-serve kiosk lets customers browse music or movie titles and play trailers before they swipe a credit card to purchase and quickly download their selections from a server based in Seattle, Wash.
Credit card transactions are routed from individual stores to InMotion’s payment processor, ChasePaymentech, through a direct network connection that New Edge Networks already has in place. A private network that does not traverse the public Internet provides added security and makes it easier for the retailer to achieve and maintain compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards imposed by credit card companies.
In addition to PlayPoint, which is currently available in about half of the stores, InMotion intends to use the new network to power a new point-of-sale and inventory management system, in-store camera systems with digital video recording, secure Internet access and corporate email.
The MPLS network can prioritize data traffic based on the customer’s preference. This helps InMotion optimize use of available bandwidth yet ensures applications perform at customers’ expectations.
Kevin Flaherty, Vice President of sales for New Edge Networks remarked, ”By managing InMotion’s private network, New Edge Networks becomes an extension of InMotion’s IT staff. This frees them to focus on other strategic IT activities for supporting a business that spreads across four time zones.”
With a managed network, InMotion’s IT staff gets access to an online dashboard that allows them to see near-live network performance results, make appropriate decisions and take necessary action. The online portal allows InMotion to check status of orders, see technician notes on trouble tickets, and more.
Mr. Ghelerter noted, ”One of the reasons we selected New Edge Networks is because they seem to better understand the nuances of dealing with airports and their security restrictions. Installers can’t just walk through security check points with screwdrivers and expect to get in and get out quickly. It’s a tough environment to work in.”
InMotion is a division of Gate Petroleum, a diversified private company that also operates more than 200 convenience stores and service stations in the Southeast, eight concrete plants in six states, four private resorts and various real estate holdings.
New Edge Networks, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a wholly owned subsidiary of EarthLink Inc. (NASDQ: ELNK). New Edge Networks builds and manages private networks for businesses and communications providers. Through its nationwide backbone network with about 900 switches and Internet routers, New Edge Networks uses any blend of access technologies (xDSL, frame relay, ATM, cable, wireless, and satellite) for providing broadband connectivity at any business address in the United States. Network options include any combination of access, network management functions, and on-site installation services.
To learn more about New Edge Networks, please visit: www.newedgenetworks.com.
Mosso Announces New Chief Uptime Officer
San Antonio, Texas – August 21, 2008 – Clustered hosting provider, and Rackspace Hosting’s cloud division, Mosso, has named technology industry and operations veteran, Bruce Runyan, as its new Chief Uptime Officer.
In this role, Mr. Runyan is responsible for ensuring that Mosso continues to provide a reliable and consistent customer experience as the cloud scales, and creating an environment that allows Mosso to introduce new capabilities and capacity without impacting the experience.
With a background spanning leadership positions in the high technology sector, from startups to Global 100 enterprises, as well as extensive technical consulting, Mr. Runyan brings broad management, operations, and customer service expertise to this newly created position at Mosso.
Jonathan Bryce, Co-founder of Mosso noted, ”Our goal at Mosso is to minimize downtime as much as possible, and we’re looking forward to working with Bruce to improve our processes, and infrastructure, in order to ensure that The Hosting Cloud delivers the performance and uptime that our customers expect and deserve.”
Mr. Runyan remarked, ”I’ve been helping companies improve their operations, effectiveness, and customer experience for decades, and I’m excited at the opportunity to bring my expertise and focus to the unique challenges now facing emerging cloud environments. Rackspace and Mosso are well known for their extremely rigorous SLA’s, and industry-leading Fanatical Support. My job is to integrate these capabilities, and then take them to the next level, by providing bulletproof reliability, consistency, and scalability so that our customers can have complete confidence and trust in the cloud.”
Prior to Mosso, Mr. Runyan served as VP of Operations and Customer Care at open source solutions provider Fonality. While at Fonality, Runyan significantly scaled service and manufacturing capacity while simultaneously reducing operating costs. Before Fonality, Runyan was the director of Global IT solutions at Autodesk where he was responsible for IT Governance, and the optimization of the company’s front and back office systems. Other positions have included VP and GM of Professional Services at Genesys Telecommunications, President and COO at TelePost, and VP and CIO at Borland International.
Mr. Runyan holds a BS in Physics from Purdue University, and an MS in Operations Research from Stanford University.
A recognized leader in the global IT marketplace, Rackspace delivers a diverse suite of enterprise-class hosted IT services to businesses of all sizes. Customers choose Rackspace for its hosting specialization and expertise, backed by the company’s award-winning Fanatical Support. Rackspace serves as an extension of its customers’ IT departments, by handling infrastructure maintenance and management. Rackspace’s portfolio of companies also includes the Mosso cloud computing platform and Mailtrust, a provider of business-class hosted email solutions. Rackspace is recognized as one of FORTUNE Magazine’s 100 Best companies to work for, ranking number 32 on the 2008 list. Rackspace’s portfolio of hosted IT services includes managed hosting, email hosting and cloud hosting.
Mosso, LLC is the home of The Hosting Cloud, providing enterprise-grade hosting through an easily managed interface so that developers, designers and IT managers can deploy reliable web applications quickly and easily. Founded by two former Rackspace employees, The Hosting Cloud is built upon a cross platform, clustered-computing architecture.
To learn more about Rackspace, please visit: www.rackspace.com.
For more information, please visit: www.mosso.com.
XO Announces Partnership With RingCentral
Redwood City, California - August 21, 2008 – Web host, Internet and telecommunications services company, XO Communications’ Concentric, has partnered with RingCentral, to provide enterprise-class hosted applications.
Solutions will include Web site hosting, business email, Microsoft Hosted Exchange, corporate domain management and perimeter email protection. Concentric customers will have access to RingCentral’s hosted business phone system and Internet fax to streamline and enhance their business communications.
Barbara Branaman, Executive Vice President of product and marketing for Concentric explained, ”’Small to medium businesses need streamlined communications solutions that are affordable and do not require the purchase of complex technology. The RingCentral hosted business phone system compliments a small business’s voice services by providing a centralized phone and Internet fax solution for mobile and distributed employees. With RingCentral, we now offer a comprehensive suite of affordable small business services including everything a small business needs to create a big business presence on the web and on the phone.”
RingCentral’s hosted services help people connect to businesses and mobile professionals worldwide. Delivering the power of a sophisticated phone system without expensive hardware to buy or maintain, RingCentral takes the high cost and hassle out of communications proving you don’t need a ”big company” budget to look like a big company. RingCentral combines a toll-free or local number with advanced call management, PBX, voicemail and Internet fax, enabling customers to set up multiple extensions with voicemail, automatically screen, forward and place calls, allow their customers to click-to-call directly from the website, view call logs for sales leads, send and receive faxes, and receive message alerts.
Vlad Shmunis, President and CEO of RingCentral noted, ”Growing businesses rely on Concentric web hosting and messaging services to reach their customers effectively and project an established, professional image. The RingCentral hosted business phone system is a perfect fit with these services enabling businesses to extend their professional image and brand through the most critical communication channel, their phone. We are thrilled to partner with Concentric, a recognized leader in business IT infrastructure.”
The new service is available August 11, 2008. For a limited time, existing Concentric customers will receive the first 30 days free when signing up for the RingCentral service through a link in the Concentric Customer Gateway.
Ron Heradian, Chief Systems Architect for long-time Concentric customer, Global System Services Corporation offered, ”We were really pleased to find RingCentral through Concentric. RingCentral streamlines our messaging platform for global communications. By utilizing this service, we have consolidated our phone services, resulting in better service for our customers at a lower total cost. Now, we have a solid business communications capability that enhances our highly mobile business model.”
RingCentral provides an award-winning hosted business phone system for small business. With top industry honors, including PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award and Small Business Computing’s Excellence in Technology, RingCentral offers full-access to core small business phone services and helps improve productivity for tens of thousands of customers worldwide. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, RingCentral is privately held with backing from Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures and DAG Ventures.
Concentric, founded in 1997, is a business unit of XO Communications Services, Inc. Concentric provides enterprise-class hosted applications including web site hosting, business email, corporate domain management and perimeter email protection. Leveraging its patented Clustered Hosting Architecture, Concentric delivers superior performance, reliability, and security. Concentric accounts are backed by a three month Satisfaction Guarantee and 24×7 U.S.-based telephone technical support.
XO Communications, a subsidiary of XO Holdings, Inc., is a provider of national and local telecommunications services to businesses, large enterprises and communications service providers. XO offers a portfolio of services, including local and long distance voice, dedicated Internet access, private networking, data transport, and web hosting services, as well as bundled voice and Internet solutions. XO provides these services over an advanced, nationwide facilities-based IP network and serves 75 metropolitan markets across the United States.
To learn more about RingCentral services, please visit: www.ringcentral.com/concentric/rco.
For more information about Concentric, please visit: www.concentric.com.
To learn more information about XO, please visit: www.xo.com.
Atitude Digital Media Selects The Planet
Houston, Texas - August 18, 2008 – Privately held dedicated web hosting company, The Planet, has been selected by Brazil’s Atitude Digital Media, to manage its mission-critical IT infrastructure.
Helder Conde, Chief Technology Officer of Atitude Digital Media noted. ”In our business, our Webcasts are live, with several hundred people online for each event. Nothing can go wrong with the level of clients we serve. Our reputation is earned every time we conduct a Webcast, so uptime, stability and security are critical to us.”
Based in Sao Paulo, the 20-year-old company provides webcasting services to some of the world’s largest companies, including Pfizer, Schering-Plough, AstraZeneca, Novartis and Avon, as well as a number of medical societies.
In the past four years, the company has conducted more than 700 Webcasts with thousands of hours of live content to thousands of people in more than a dozen countries. A customer of The Planet since 2005, Atitude previously used dedicated hosting services for managing the company’s complex infrastructure.
Mr. Conde noted, ”We’ve grown rapidly, and we were looking for a company that provides all the services and technical expertise of Planet Northstar. Their Anticipation Advantage methodology helped determine exactly what we needed to create a top-notch infrastructure that could scale with our growth, and at a budget that was workable for us. We expanded our footprint to include additional servers, load balancers, firewalls, SAN storage, managed backup and database management. At Atitude, our core values include being responsive, trustworthy and committed to our customers, and I’m impressed our dedicated account team shares these values.”
Steve Kahan, Vice President of marketing and product management with The Planet added, ”Our development of the Anticipation Advantage enables customers to thoroughly plan their IT infrastructure beyond their needs just today. The methodology also provides key process indicators about when they need to begin scaling, which eliminates the worry and frustration many organizations experience in the face of rapid growth. Equally as important, the account team of highly skilled and seasoned experts is always available to customers so they have the confidence that a knowledgeable partner who knows their business is always available to help.”
In its 20-year history, Atitude has kept a keen eye on emerging market trends. The company was originally known for creating high-quality, computer-generated slides and transparencies for corporate presentations, as well as multimedia productions. Today, it is Brazil’s leading provider of Webcasting services, hosting on average more than one each day from three studios in its Sao Paulo offices.
Mr. Conde continued, ”In the last four years, the Internet has emerged as the best platform for communications, and our client base has moved rapidly for both internal and external audiences. Our clients require extensive training both for sales representatives and physicians, and they’ve found Atitude as the perfect solution to meet these needs.”
The company manages the entire event for clients. They work directly with presenters to host the event, sending notification and reminder e-mails to participants, generating reports on results, providing on-demand access afterwards, as well as maintaining extensive databases for each company. According to Conde, the presentations continue to add value for the companies since each one is typically viewed by at least four times the number of live Webcast participants.
Mr. Conde observed, ”In years past, these companies sponsored semi-annual meetings for their sales forces, but today as new studies emerge or competitive products are announced, it’s critical that they have new data immediately, so they rely on our services to meet that demand. At the same time, if one of these companies hosts physicians at an event anywhere in the world, they can Webcast with us from any venue, and we can support the requirement since our bandwidth connections are incredibly robust. With our capabilities, we make their lives much easier.”
The costs for hosting in the U.S. are five to six times lower than those in his native country. While bandwidth costs are slowly declining, ADSL is more common and far less efficient. In addition, because taxes on hardware are approximately 70 percent, hosting provides far better economic sense for his growing business.
Mr. Conde concluded, ”Making the decision to host overseas was difficult. As our international business grew, I knew it was the right direction for our company. We’ve seen other companies emerge in Brazil, and they appear to do a good job, until the participants begin to load. It’s there they fail. Our speed and reliability set us apart, which makes our offering highly competitive.”
Ultimately, The Planet’s goal is to provide:
- High levels of network capacity and speed to deliver peak performance
- Instant scalability to handle even the largest spikes in network traffic
- Parallel, redundant, multi-tiered network routing and switching architecture to assure reliability and stability
- Multiple layer network security that prevents Delayed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks from harming businesses
- Knowledgeable experts with a passion for excellence and a commitment to operate the best networks in the business
The Planet hosts over 22,000 small and medium-size businesses and 7.7 million Web sites worldwide. The Planet Alpha division provides the widest array of self-managed dedicated servers and advanced services backed by 24×7x365 support. The Planet Northstar Managed Hosting division combines a proactive methodology and seasoned IT experts to deliver a fully managed hosting solution. With the best choice of servers, software tools and world-class support, backed by state-of-the-art facilities and an enterprise-class network, The Planet turns IT into a powerful competitive advantage that enables customers to grow their businesses.
For more about The Planet, please visit: www.theplanet.com.
TheSMESpace Announces Launch Of New Facebook Service
London, United Kingdom - August 18, 2008 – Web hosting integration facilitator, TheSMESpace’s storage solution, has developed a public sharing file component, which integrates with Picnik, an inline image editing service.
The new Facebook component can also share Flickr, for easy image uploads. Ian Osborne, CEO, commented, ”We are committed to providing increased integration with other high value web application services so that our users can get the most from their data. We believe storage to be a commodity and that the true value of working data is what you can do with it, how you can access it, and how it integrates with others.”
Mr. Osborne added, ”We already provide our users the ability to use a rich web client, iGoogle, the iPhone or a light mobile client to access their data. We also provide email backup and business collaboration features that include business groups, revision control, firewall friendly file sharing, all of which we intend to augment over the next 3 months.
”Our Storage service is built on top of Amazon S3 and we will make an exciting announcement about new ways to access our service quite soon. We will also be announcing some exciting new collaboration integration to enable our users to do even more with their data.”
SMEStorage provides access to data using various channels such as a rich web client, iGoogle, IPhone, Mobile, Facebook and Joomla. It uses Amazon S3 as to store its data and provides new users with 250MB free. TheSMESpace provides online and mobile applications for businesses and individuals – TheSMESpace is your space for business.
To learn more, please visit: http://thesmespace.com.
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