The Planet Adds Canada's Computan to Managed Hosting Customer Roster

HOUSTON, Aug. 4, 2008 – The Planet, the global leader in IT hosting, today announced that Computan has joined the growing list of customers taking advantage of its new Planet Northstar Managed Hosting capabilities.  Based in Canada’s Ontario province near Niagara Falls, Computan is an information technology consulting firm that specializes in developing business-intensive Internet solutions.

In business for more than 20 years, CEO Tan Qureshi and his team develop innovative and complex applications for clients in three primary vertical lines of business: sports, hospitality and government.  Among the applications are systems for global reservations, content management, club management and loyalty programs.  Computan also develops comment and survey systems, e-magazines and newsletters.  In every case, clients require immediate access to systems and data around-the-clock.  To complement these requirements, Computan operates a 24-hour development cycle encompassing onsite and offshore work.

“At Computan, we’ve built our reputation on excellent service and performance, which enables our clients to revolutionize their online businesses,” said Qureshi.  “We have a large international client base as well as development that spans the globe, so it’s critical our systems are always up and running. As a Microsoft Gold-Certified Partner, we implement their applications regularly, so we’re deeply familiar with the platform.  Managed hosting is the way of the future, particularly with the access to a dedicated team around-the-clock, advanced service level agreements, security of the data centers and one-hour hardware replacements.

“When we spoke with the Planet Northstar team, their knowledge base was impressive.  They took time to understand our business and to learn about our growth plans.  In particular, our ability to have both a highly knowledgeable senior database administrator and a network administrator on our dedicated account team offered a significant extension to our company. We can focus on what we do best, which is taking care of our customers.  I can leave the worry of my infrastructure to Planet Northstar,” said Qureshi.

“With Planet Northstar, the dedicated team of talented and seasoned professionals are personally accountable for the customer’s success,” said The Planet’s Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Steve Kahan.  “Each customer’s requirements are different, which is why we employ the Anticipation Advantage Methodology to fully scope requirements based on their business goals and growth plans. As customers grow, their IT infrastructure is ready to scale, enabling them to take advantage of new business opportunities without the worry of how to accommodate the infrastructure.”

 

Computan Snapshot

Tan Qureshi started his business in 1988, following a multi-year career with General Motors and EDS. An Ottowa native, he transferred to Ontario to manage IT infrastructure support at a local GM manufacturing operation, armed with deep experience on a broad range of hardware and software platforms, including DEC VAX, HP, Compaq, Microsoft and Novell.

Initial work in his newly created company focused almost exclusively on Novell platforms.  Over time it became clear to Qureshi that Microsoft applications would ultimately be most valued and required by his core customers.

As an avid sports enthusiast, Qureshi first built his business on managing IT requirements for tennis and soccer teams, whose broad needs were ripe for his development organization.  Managing these teams requires extensive databases and scheduling, which were a perfect beginning for the newly formed company. Today his work spans the globe, with around-the-clock development that follows the sun’s path. The work, he notes, never ends, which contributes to Computan’s success.   

A video featuring Tan Qureshi can be found on The Planet Web site at http://www.theplanet.com/videos.aspx?video-tabs=4

 

About The Planet

The Planet is the leading provider of On Demand IT Infrastructure solutions, hosting more than 22,000 small- and medium-size businesses and 7.6 million Web sites worldwide.  The Planet Alpha division provides the widest array of self-managed dedicated servers and advanced services backed by 24x7x365 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 additional information, visit www.theplanet.com.

###