Q&A: Nick Nelson, UK-2/Dotable

• By The WHIR, October 07, 2008

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Q&A: Nick Nelson, UK-2/DotableIn an email interview with the WHIR, UK-2's US director of sales and marketing Nick Nelson discusses the company's recent acquisition of Dotable, and the role the new company will play in the larger organization's plans.

By David Hamilton, theWHIR.com

October 7, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Last week, The UK-2 Group (www.uk2.net) acquired community-focused Web host Dotable (www.dotable.com), bringing with it over 10,000 domains to the British hosting giant and a large community of resellers, making it a challenge for UK-2 to keep Dotable's community feel and customer loyalty.

A major British hosting provider since the late nineties, UK-2 Group delivers domain registration and hosting services to customers worldwide through hosting brands including UK2.net, US2.net and Resell.biz. Dotable is the latest in a long line of web host acquisitions including midPhase (www.midphase.com), Stargate (www.stargate.com), and WingSix (www.wingsix.com).

UK-2 has taken measures to preserve Dotable's winning formula by keeping on founder Robert Walker. Widely known in the industry as "Aussie Bob," Walker will share general management duties of Toowoomba, Queensland-based Dotable.com with Nick Nelson, UK-2's US director of sales and marketing.

UK-2 says Dotable will keep its human feel, including its active forums where customers feel more like a community than clients, according to the company. Walker, Nelson and UK-2 chief executive officer Ditlev Bredahl have all been engaging with customers and addressing their concerns through these forums since the acquisition announcement.

"I believe this decision strengthens Dotable in the marketplace, and pushes the Dotable brand forward," Walker said in a statement. "The UK-2 Group gives Dotable benefits in greatly increased buying power, increased staffing and the ability to pass on some amazing offers to our clients. The aim is to keep that friendly feel of Dotable, with the strength of a major company now behind us."

In an email interview with the WHIR, Dotable co-manager and UK-2 US director of sales and marketing Nick Nelson discusses Dotable's acquisition and the implications this partnership will have for the future.

How does UK-2 plan to keep the community feel of Dotable that has been important in attracting and retaining customers?

First and foremost, during the process of the acquisition, it was very important that Robert "Aussie Bob" Walker stayed on with Dotable. Bob founded Dotable, and is the backbone of the company. UK-2 Group recognizes that and has made sure his presence will remain.

Dotable also will never be in a call center, it's growth will be controlled to allow us to keep it very personable. Dotable is a community, and at the core of the community are its citizens. We want to make sure we can stay on a first name basis with all our clients.

What specific improvements can customers expect as UK-2 leverages its power as a Web hosting giant?

In less than a week, we've already implemented many upgrades to the community. By popular demand, we've deployed UK hosting for Dotable clients, this in conjunction with Dotable's Australian hosting presence as well as the core Los Angeles presence, Dotable is able to accommodate all our clients. Dotable is about accommodating the clients. After all, if we don't service our clients, someone else will.

Beyond that, a Site Builder was a popular request - we've introduced rvSiteBuilder across our servers. We have installed @mail on all servers to provide clients a complete Premium webmail solution.

There is still plenty to come. Our clients want a premium spam defense, that's in the works. We're working with R1Soft to ensure that all of our clients data is protected.

Simply put - Dotable is getting a facelift. While others are cutting costs, and dropping prices to compete in the budget market, we recognize there's a place in the market for Dotable - premium hosting at affordable prices in the community setting.

How will you be sharing general management responsibilities with Robert Walker?

Bob and I have worked together in the past. We're great friends, and it's always been my desire to work with him again, so it's a great pleasure to finally achieve that. Simply put, we'll both be doing what we do best. What those exact tasks will be is up in the air. But his success is no fluke, and UK-2 Group recognizes and plans on utilizing that.

Will this be UK-2 group`s first presence in Australia or is this an expansion of current efforts in the country?

The Dotable acquisition wasn't as much about physical presence. While we do value the Australia market it introduces us to, we're very excited about entering the Reseller market. Dotable will be built for the designer, and entrepreneurs wishing to enter the Hosting market with all the tools necessary to succeed.

How much reseller focus is there already at UK-2 and how will Dotable factor into UK-2's reseller business?

While UK-2 Group has been active in the reseller market since its purchase of Midphase in December 2007, which included Autica.com, and this year also introduced UK Reseller Hosting, this is only the beginning. It's pushed very aggressively in the UK with UK2.net, including a risk-free three months free deal as a trial to introduce UK consumers to the idea of Reseller Hosting. The Dotable factor will be significant - it will soon be hard to avoid Dot, the Dotable Mascot. Dotable will fill the void in the reseller hosting market as we see it, a need for a worry-free multi-domain hosting solution for designers and IT professionals who want to focus on the core of their business, consulting and design, and not stress over the administration of a dedicated server.

Anyone who has seen the Dotable forums will clearly know that you, Aussie Bob and UK-2's Ditlev Bredahl have addressed customer concerns very actively. How has this communication helped Dotable's transition to UK-2?

We're only a week into the transition, but between the excellent communication methods provided by the Dotable community model, our commitment to sticking with a winning formula in the current Dotable model as well as the amazing Dotable clients the transition has been flawless. Communication is the core of it all though - it's what we feel is missing in the majority of the Reseller Market, and part of the void we will fill. With proper communication and maintaining a transparent business such as Dotable, the sky is the limit. It's a great model.

Do you have any final thoughts on the Dotable acquisition?

We know that many of Dotable's customers were very loyal to Aussie Bob, and when there's a change along this scale, we know that many customers become very apprehensive of Dotable's services will change. We're excited for the challenges ahead, but most of all are confident that with the excellent team we have built, the true success of the Dotable community model of hosting is only beginning.

Tags:  dedicated server  reseller hosting  Domains  spam  ETT  Gate.com  Iona  MidPhase  NEC  R1Soft  Stargate  UK2  UTICA  WingSix 

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