The Planet Raises Bar After Merger

• By theWHIR.com , January 17, 2007

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The Planet Raises Bar After MergerBy Justin Lee, theWHIR.com

January 17, 2007 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Last May, hosting powerhouses The Planet and EV1 Servers announced that they were integrating into a single entity in a high-profile merger after the two companies were acquired by private equity firm GI Partners.

Throughout the remainder of 2006, the newly formed management team of the combined companies, led by new CEO Doug Erwin, quietly worked towards the successful completion of the integration.

By redefining its product portfolio, service offerings, uptime guarantees and business model, the company added new on-demand IT infrastructure capabilities designed for small and mid-sized businesses.

Meanwhile, the company grew by an astounding 182,000 over the past six months to reach 1.89 million hostname mark. By comparison, Netcraft cites the average increase for the five companies with more hostnames than The Planet during the same period was 1.46 million hostnames.

The dedicated hosting provider officially launched Monday under its newly branded name, simply known as The Planet (theplanet.com). Steve Kahan, VP of marketing for The Planet, says the two dedicated hosting providers have worked hard to combat numerous obstacles and execute a merger that has "exceeded expectations" in relation to customer feedback and results.

"When you look at the geniuses who plan mergers, often times they don't work well," says Kahan. "And they don't work well for a number of reasons, whether it be people trying to mesh together, trying to bring together different cultures, people from different locations, prior lines that might not be consistent and all that. [Those were] things we very much focused in on this year in bringing together the merger of The Planet and EV1 Servers."

As result, The Planet is now the sixth-largest hosting provider in the industry, according to Netcraft (netcraft.com), with more than 22,000 customers and more than 2.8 million Web housed in its six data centers, and earning a combined revenue of approximately $110 million.

The company will use its data centers, high-performance network with high-speed 10 gigabit Ethernet links with Level 3, Savvis, Global Crossing and Verio Networks, and extensive managed services to deliver dedicated hosting services to its traditional customer core market of SMBs. Additionally, Kahan says the company will enhance its distribution and sales capabilities to focus on satisfying its current customers.

"We'll continue to focus in shared hosting, primarily through our resellers," says Kahan. "But our number one priority is dedicated [offerings], and we will be moving into the lower end of managed services."

To facilitate this significant shift in direction, The Planet has implemented a comprehensive strategy starting with the introduction of strict service level agreements for its entire customer base. The agreements ensure a 100 percent uninterrupted network and uptime for managed services customers.

Meanwhile, the company's new support selections provide organizations with choices for managing their IT infrastructure, enabling them to customize plans around their specific business requirements. The company has also upgraded its security and automated backup services to include F-Secure anti-virus software, Check Point firewall products and DiskSync solutions.

Finally, the company has launched a new Web site and customer portal, entitled the Orbit. Developed based on customer input and feedback, it offers an intuitive, menu-driven information resource to provide customers with immediate access to billing status, system administration, support and sales updates, and news.

Kahan believes that these new offerings and enhancements will all help The Planet to achieve significant success, projecting a 27 percent growth this year.

"If you're going to catch on with the mainstream you got to be able to group your solutions and position in a way that mainstream buyers understand," says Kahan. "So we will be positioning our solutions as self-managed solutions, we will offer managed solutions, we will offer specialized solutions like insomnia gaming, and hosting accessories."

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