World Leader in Dedicated Hosting Redefines the IT Infrastructure Model for SMBs

January 16, 2007; 01:02 AM

The Planet, now the world's largest privately held dedicated hosting company, redefined its product portfolio, service offerings, up-time guarantees and business model to introduce a new era of On-Demand IT Infrastructure capabilities for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). The company will leverage its world-class data centers, high-performance network, extensive managed services and professional IT organization to close the IT performance gap between large corporations and smaller companies with limited resources. Research from Frost & Sullivan's Stratecast Partners shows that The Planet also reduces IT infrastructure costs by up to 75 percent for SMBs.

Formed through a merger of two hosting powerhouses -- The Planet and EV1Servers -- the company also announced it has selected "The Planet" as its new corporate identity. The Planet currently operates six geographically distributed and highly redundant data centers linked by one of the world's fastest networks at 100 Gigabits per second. It serves more than 22,000 customers, powers more than 2.8 million web sites, and accounts for approximately two percent of all U.S. Internet traffic.

"Today marks a significant milestone in our evolution, as we set a new competitive agenda for delivering products, services and support that redefines how SMBs purchase, use and maintain their IT infrastructures," said The Planet's Chairman and CEO Douglas E. Erwin. "In the high-stakes reality of business, customers want reliability, predictability and competitive pricing. We are ushering in an entirely new value proposition for our customers, with options expressly designed to fit their on-demand IT infrastructure requirements, backed by the strongest uptime guarantees available. As a trusted partner, we take care of the IT infrastructure so our customers can focus on building their businesses and succeeding in their marketplace."

"As one of our largest server customers, The Planet enables broader access to the leading-edge server technologies previously available only to large businesses," said Dell CEO and President Kevin B. Rollins. "With more than 40,000 Dell servers in its world-class data centers, The Planet provides the IT infrastructure necessary to meet its customer's most demanding business needs."

"Technology providers perennially under-serve SMB companies, which limits their ability to use important growth-enabling tools," said Melanie Posey, Research Director for IDC's Web Hosting and Telecommunications Vertical Markets. "The Planet appears to be heading in the right direction, positioning itself to provide SMBs with the right combination of products, services and strategies to meet their evolving needs."

As noted, previously, Frost & Sullivan's Stratecast Partners has completed a research study comparing in-house IT infrastructure costs to purchasing IT infrastructure as an on-demand service from The Planet. The white paper -- which can be downloaded at www.theplanet.com -- compares the financial investment required to purchase, operate and internally maintain an IT infrastructure instead of using a provider like The Planet. Initial results show that The Planet's on-demand IT infrastructure reduces IT costs by as much as 75 percent for small businesses, while increasing reliability through its world-class data centers.

A New World of Services & Support (See separate release: The Planet Launches Services for On-Demand IT Infrastructures; Backed by 100 Percent Uptime Service Level Agreements)

The Planet today introduced the industry's best and most stringent service level agreement for its entire customer base. With guarantees of 100 percent uninterrupted network and uptime for managed services customers, the company stands behinds its promise of reliable and predictable service.

The company also introduced new support selections that provide organizations with choices for managing their IT infrastructure. Whether it's Built-In Value support, managed services or personalized services, companies can customize plans that meet their specific business requirements, backed by support professionals with credentials and security designations from Microsoft, Red Hat, Cisco, CISSP and SSCP.

New Security & Data Back-Up (See separate release: The Planet Introduces Advanced Security and Backup for SMB On-Demand IT Infrastructure Customers)

With malicious threats on the rise, companies face a barrage of questions about how best to protect their infrastructures. The Planet today introduced the security and automated backup services to augment the company's strong network-based protection in both its Houston and Dallas data centers. Businesses can now select F-Secure anti-virus software for both Windows and Linux environments, in addition to two new choices for Check Point firewall products. To help protect their businesses, the company announced expanded offerings of its DiskSync(TM) solutions that deliver completely automated and continuous recovery and back-up for critical data, providing customers with total control and no need for intervention.

New Web Site and Customer Portal (See separate release: The Planet Launches Web Site and Customer Portal with New Corporate Identity)

The Planet's new Web site -- www.theplanet.com -- provides customers with easier and more intuitive navigation. Quick-launch features deliver immediate access for finding and tabulating precise server configurations to meet customer's exacting requirements. In making server selections, price calculations appear instantly in a single view and are updated as upgrades are made.

The new customer portal -- known as Orbit -- offers a highly intuitive, menu-driven information resource to help customers quickly and easily access critical data. Developed with significant customer input and feedback, Orbit provides immediate access to billing status, system administration, and support and sales updates, in addition to news that headlines the portal's landing page.

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 2.8 million Web sites worldwide. By offering the best choice of servers, software tools and world-class support, backed by state-of-the-art facilities and unmatched network connectivity, The Planet helps turn information technology into a powerful competitive advantage that enables customers to successfully grow their businesses. For additional information, visit www.theplanet.com.