The Planet Reports Record Second Quarter

July 24, 2007; 02:17 AM

HOUSTON – The Planet, the world’s largest privately held dedicated hosting company, announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2007. The Planet issues quarterly updates to provide its customers, business partners and prospects with information relative to new initiatives and its progress.

“The Planet produced another record revenue quarter, continuing its inception-to-date string of sequential record quarters,” said Chief Financial Officer Kevin Klausmeyer.  “We also realized an increase in the quarterly revenue growth rate for the first time since the merger of the predecessor companies.”  Klausmeyer also noted that

“Gross margins once again reached a new quarterly high due to continued synergies and leverage.”

“With solid revenue growth, the addition of numerous new customers and extensions to our existing customer base, we continue to make progress integrating and maturing our company into a single operating business,” said Chairman and CEO Douglas J. Erwin.  “Investments in our data centers, operations and management team will provide customers with world-class products, solutions and support for managing their businesses.  Customer experience remains our first and most important priority as we mark our first anniversary.”

Second Quarter Highlights

Record Transactions:  More than 1,000 new customers leased servers in the company’s world-class data centers. 

Executive Appointments:  The Planet added two executives in key leadership roles.  Johnny K. Vincent joined the company as Chief Accounting Officer, and Steve Reichert was appointed vice president of information technology and operations.

Microsoft Business Unit:  The company announced the formation of its Microsoft business unit led by Microsoft veteran Cody Menard.  Plans call for The Planet to announce new products and services during the third quarter. 

New Products:  Extending its product portfolio, the company added enterprise-class NetApp FAS systems storage to its private rack solution.  On the hardware line-up, customers gained access to the Dell™  PowerEdge™  840 servers that feature Intel’s Xeon 3040 Conroe dual-core processors.  The company also added Cogent unmetered bandwidth as a product available for purchase.

Data Center Investments:  The Planet announced plans for a $3 million investment in two new high-performance Cummins generators to provide increased backup capacity and redundancy for its data center infrastructure.

Blog Launch:  The company launched its corporate blog, providing customers, prospects, partners and potential new employees with a look into The Planet and its operating culture.

Data Center Video Tour:   Providing a view into its operations, the company launched an online video that delivers a look into the inner workings and sophistication of its world-class data centers.  The video showcases redundant N+1 power supplies, premium Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, and redundant network operations centers in both Houston and Dallas.

Two New White Papers:   The company introduced two white papers by leading industry researchers that validate the strategic business benefits provided by The Planet.  The first – titled ‘The Small Business Transition to Hosted Technology:  Costs vs. Benefits’ – notes that small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) using hosted IT achieve stronger results from their technology investments and are typically more satisfied than those who take a do-it-yourself approach.  A second report – titled ‘How SMBs Can Increase eCommerce Revenue and Decrease IT Costs’ by Frost & Sullivan’s Stratecast Partners – highlights the emerging requirements for SMBs to succeed at increasing eCommerce revenues while reducing IT costs.  The paper points to The Planet’s affordable, next-generation functionality, and increased security and performance, which enable SMBs to compete against their larger, better-funded rivals.

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.