Con Zwinkels, managing director and founder of LeaseWeb
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – Based in the Netherlands, web hosting provider LeaseWeb (www.leaseweb.com) has been offering hosting services throughout Europe for more than a decade.
But after 13 years, the company has decided to venture outside of Europe and expand into the highly competitive market of the United States.
The company will open its first data center in the US early in the first quarter of 2011. The Manassas, Virginia facility is just the beginning of its large-scale global expansion program, which will increase the LeaseWeb brand on an international level.
Operating 30,000 customer servers located in five data centers in Amsterdam and Brussels, as well as PoPs with more than 20 Internet exchanges in Europe, LeaseWeb hopes it can match this same network performance in the US.
In an email interview with the WHIR, LeaseWeb managing director and founder Con Zwinkels discusses the upcoming expansion into the US with its new data center in Virginia.
WHIR: How long has LeaseWeb been planning to expand its services into the United States?
Con Zwinkels: LeaseWeb has been looking into expansion to the US market for about a year.
WHIR: What are the greatest challenges in offering services in the US compared to Europe?
CZ: The US is a huge country that is also very competitive. Customers have high expectations regarding the service they receive and these are some of the main challenges we have faced compared with Europe. However, we feel the high quality services we provide will be unique and will enable us to compete well in the US market.
WHIR: Will the hosting services and pricing in the US be comparable to those offered to European customers?
CZ: LeaseWeb has a reputation for offering value to customers. The price of our services enables customers to receive cost-effective solutions as well as a high quality service. We will ensure that any offering in the US is competitive and in line with LeaseWeb’s core values.
WHIR: Why did LeaseWeb choose to build a data center in Virginia?
CZ: The Virginia area is especially rich in connectivity. Like Amsterdam, we have high quality providers and so are providing American customers with the best possible service for our first US data center.
WHIR: LeaseWeb’s data centers at EvoSwitch are known for their ecologically friendly features. Will this new Virginia data center also have green features?
CZ: Yes. One of the reasons we chose this center is because it is highly energy efficient. We use a lot of innovative technology to ensure energy consumption is kept at its most efficient. The technology is similar to that which is used at EvoSwitch; low energy usage data centers keep costs low for our customers, ensuring our offering is green and cost-effective. This is also in line with our CSR policy to curb energy usage to the greatest extent possible.
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