SoftLayer and The Planet Merge

In 2005, 10 of The Planet’s management staff departed to form SoftLayer. Five years later, SoftLayer and The Planet are looking at a potential merger. In a move that Doug Erwin, CEO of The Planet, jokingly referred to as, “what goes around comes around; life is an endless circle,” The Planet and SoftLayer’s proposed merger would definitely be a fitting close of the loop. The merger would create one of the largest dedicated hosting companies in the world with more than 25,000 customers and some 78,000+ servers.

Although the merger is not yet a done deal between the two companies, both Lance Crosby, CEO of SoftLayer, and Doug Erwin believe the end is almost in sight. During a phone conversation on Friday, Lance and Doug gave their thoughts on the merger deal brewing between the two companies.

“Is this 100% done deal? Well we can’t say we are 100%, but we are really close to that. And Doug and I are really close to putting these two companies together in the next 90 days,” says Lance.

Doug adds, “Let me put it another way. It’s not over till the fat lady sings.. and she is warming up on the side. There is a lot of work that needs to be done between our two staffs and I think we are going about it the right way, in that we hired an outside consultant… Bain Consultant to come in and work with us.”

As both sides continue to look at the merger, one of the number one concerns has been to ensure the current customers are treated well. Regarding the customers Erwin says, “I think the biggest concern Lance and I have is for a seamless integration that does not affect the customer.” To this end, Bain & Company consulting has been brought in to ensure that the possible merger avoids the many pitfalls that can occur.|

“About 6 months ago G.I. Partners approached SoftLayer about doing an investment in the company,” Lance explains. “They have done a lot of investment in this space overall including Digital Realty, Savvis, Telx, The Planet and most recently ViaWest. After they approached us and we started going through due diligence, we began to find there was a lot of common DNA with The Planet and so as we began to close the process over the last 30 days or so, we started exploring the possibility of putting these two companies together.”

That common DNA doesn’t just extend to the family history between the two companies. It also includes many mutual customers. They both also target the dedicated and cloud hosting space. However, if both companies were purely similar, merging them would simply create a larger company, which is technically not a bad thing…, but it would be somewhat boring.

In addition to the similar fields of interest, SoftLayer brings their infrastructure know how. The plans for the merger include moving customers to SoftLayer’s automation layer. This translates to the new company able to take on more customers, keeping staff low, and yet maintaining their high-grade support.

The Planet offers an enterprise level suite of services. Namely, The Planet will bring colocation and managed hosting to the party. Along with these hosting addons, The Planet also brings in enterprise level hosting features and the expertise in handling those services.

SoftLayer, up until recently, has avoided the colocation and managed hosting spaces. They have instead focused on their target niche and have not deviated from that path. And yet, if they do merge with The Planet, adding those services is part and parcel of the new company. So why now? Why would SoftLayer, who have been disciplined in avoiding the watering down of their brand, want to increase their services and in fact, consider adding those services as a definite strength?|

“It’s been on the drawing board for a long time and we are going to bring a SoftLayer approach to those two types of services that are not yet seen in the industry. As we talk about it internally we are going to pull out a big stick and poke a lot of our competitors in the eye when they see what we are going to do to colocation and managed services,” says Lance.

On the possibilities of an IPO, Lance says, “I think that [an IPO] is the most logical step for the combined companies, putting them together they are going to be about 300 million in revenues and growing rapidly and you get to a point where the number of potential suitors out their drops dramatically simply because of the size of the company so an IPO becomes the natural choice.

“So if you want to sum it up, you could say we are strapping on the gloves, ” says Doug. However, you sum it up, the potential merger between The Planet and SoftLayer could be a hosting juggernaut rivaled by very few especially in the dedicated server market.

Posted by Admin on August 15th, 2010 | No Comments
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The Planet Joins Forces with Tumblr, Kickstarter, SoundCloud for SXSW Meet-Up

The Planet has formally announced it’s plan to  join up with three social media powerhouses in sponsoring a Saturday night meet-up during Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference. The March 13 event will be at Emo’s Austin, one of the city’s premier music venues, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

“SXSW offers us the opportunity to meet up with our customers, and to showcase new products and capabilities,” said Tom Blair, vice president of Global Sales with The Planet. “We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Tumblr, one of our largest customers, and to work side-by-side with Kickstarter and SoundCloud, who embody precisely what SXSW is all about – innovation, entrepreneurship and emerging social media technologies.”

“With so many Tumblr users in Austin for SXSW, this group event is a great opportunity to get together to hear feedback and bounce around new ideas,” said Tumblr President John Maloney (www.tumblr.com). “We’re coming off a milestone month with more than 1 billion pageviews, so it’s a terrific opportunity to celebrate with our users and The Planet, which provides the infrastructure for our service.”

SXSW participants will find The Planet team at the Interactive show in booth 303.
For more information and to RSVP, visit www.theplanet.com/events.

About the Participating Companies

Tumblr – Tumblr provides users with a foundation for effortlessly sharing anything, from posting text, photos, quotes, links, music and videos via browser, phone, desktop, email and from virtually any location.

Kickstarter – As a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors and explorers, Kickstarter offers a creative outlet that inspires people to open their wallets by offering products, benefits and fun experiences.

SoundCloud – The SoundCloud platform lets users move music fast and easy. It takes the daily hassle out of receiving, sending and distributing music for artists, record labels and other music professionals.

Posted by Admin on March 13th, 2010 | No Comments
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The Planet Extends High-Performance SAN to Dedicated Hosting Customers

The Planet, a global leader in IT hosting, today announced the availability of the Dell PowerVault MD3000i, a high-performance storage area network (SAN) disk array. Ideal for multi-server environments such as virtual and private racks, the MD3000i offers a cost-effective and scalable storage solution.

The MD3000i uses iSCSI Ethernet technology to enable shared storage across multiple servers, eliminating the need to build out a costly fiber channel infrastructure. Up to 16 servers can share the MD3000i, which has 15 internal drive slots for a total storage capacity up to 15 terabytes (TB). In the event more capacity is required, companies can add up to two MD1000 storage arrays to the MD3000i for an additional 45TB.
“One of the most critical business challenges customers face today is data storage, and all too often it’s also one of the most costly,” said Rob Walters, director of product management for The Planet. “The MD3000i lowers the barrier to entry for high-performance, consolidated storage, and also provides a clear path for expansion for companies that expect to see their storage requirements grow.”

About the Dell PowerVault MD3000i
The iSCSI SAN array provides a scalable and low-cost storage solution, which continually protects daily operations and enables an easy path for expansion:
Cost-effective: The MD3000i, The Planet’s lowest-priced SAN, can be shared by as many as 16 servers, which eliminates the high cost of buying individual storage devices for each server.

Scalable: In addition to its 15 internal drive slots, customers can add up to two 15-drive MD1000 disk arrays to the MD3000i, for up to 45TB of storage.

Capable: With its large capacity and high availability, the MD3000i is ideal for businesses running performance-intensive applications, databases, and file or archive storage.

The Planet, a global leader in IT hosting, today announced the availability of the Dell PowerVault MD3000i, a high-performance storage area network (SAN) disk array. Ideal for multi-server environments such as virtual and private racks, the MD3000i offers a cost-effective and scalable storage solution.

The MD3000i uses iSCSI Ethernet technology to enable shared storage across multiple servers, eliminating the need to build out a costly fiber channel infrastructure. Up to 16 servers can share the MD3000i, which has 15 internal drive slots for a total storage capacity up to 15 terabytes (TB). In the event more capacity is required, companies can add up to two MD1000 storage arrays to the MD3000i for an additional 45TB.
“One of the most critical business challenges customers face today is data storage, and all too often it’s also one of the most costly,” said Rob Walters, director of product management for The Planet. “The MD3000i lowers the barrier to entry for high-performance, consolidated storage, and also provides a clear path for expansion for companies that expect to see their storage requirements grow.”

About the Dell PowerVault MD3000i
The iSCSI SAN array provides a scalable and low-cost storage solution, which continually protects daily operations and enables an easy path for expansion:
Cost-effective: The MD3000i, The Planet’s lowest-priced SAN, can be shared by as many as 16 servers, which eliminates the high cost of buying individual storage devices for each server.

Scalable: In addition to its 15 internal drive slots, customers can add up to two 15-drive MD1000 disk arrays to the MD3000i, for up to 45TB of storage.

Capable: With its large capacity and high availability, the MD3000i is ideal for businesses running performance-intensive applications, databases, and file or archive storage.

Posted by Admin on December 1st, 2009 | No Comments
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Windows Server 2008 R2 -The Planet Adds Microsoft’s Newest Operating System to Portfolio

The Planet, the global leader in IT hosting, today expanded its portfolio of products and services with the addition of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.  Windows Server 2008 R2 helps organizations reduce operating costs, and increase efficiencies.  The new operating system is available to all dedicated hosting customers across the company’s eight SAS 70 Type II-audited data centers.

Windows Server 2008 R2 enables dynamic provisioning and management of virtual workloads with the much-anticipated update to Microsoft’s Hyper-V™. With its Live Migration-enabling technology, moves between physical hosts now happen in milliseconds. As the first Windows Server operating system with a true 64-bit architecture, R2 also offers powerful hardware and scaling features.
“Our customers around the world are always looking for ways to do more with less, and Windows Server 2008 R2 is optimized to meet those demands,” said Todd Mitchell, general manager for dedicated hosting and global services at The Planet. “As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, we stay in lockstep with new technologies from Microsoft to give our customers more ways to reduce operating costs and increase efficiencies.”

About Windows Server 2008 R2
The latest operating system from Microsoft includes a number of updates that enhance server performance and management control:

  • Powerful hardware and scaling features; R2 is the first Windows Server operating system to move solely to a 64-bit architecture, and CPU-specific enhancements enable customers to run up to 256 logical processors.
  • Updated Hyper-V augments virtual workload management; Hyper-V enables Live Migration, a new feature for R2 that moves virtual machines in a matter of milliseconds.
  • Ubiquitous remote access; DirectAccess allows remote users to seamlessly access corporate resources without a VPN connection or client software.
  • Strongest Windows application platform to date; R2 includes the new Internet Information Services 7 (IIS 7.0), which helps applications run faster while using fewer system resources.
Posted by Admin on November 1st, 2009 | No Comments
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The Planet Engages CAPSTAR Commercial for Data Center

The Planet, the global leader in IT hosting, today announced the appointment of CAPSTAR Commercial Real Estate Services to lease its fifth data center in the Dallas Metroplex. The first of four 12,000-square-foot pods has been completed, providing environmentally friendly white-floor space that is complete and ready for leasing. CAPSTAR principals Trey Smith and Chris Taylor will manage leasing for the facility, which is located on Plano Parkway in the 190 Business Center.

The new data center – the company’s eighth – uses the latest modular cooling technology from Turbine Air Systems (TAS), with high-efficiency, water-cooled chillers that eliminate the possibility of an interior water leak. Colocation, private racks and managed hosting services will be offered in the new facility. Space is also available for a business continuity center, which provides office space for customers requiring a disaster recovery base of operations during an outage.

“We’ve received significant interest from North Texas companies looking to expand or outsource their data center facilities,” said The Planet’s Vice President of Global Sales Tom Blair.  “Customers select The Planet based on the quality of our data centers and network, and this new space enables us to accommodate the rapid colocation market growth we’ve seen in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

“There is a shortage of large footprint colocation space in North Texas that offers robust power,” said CAPSTAR principal Trey Smith. “The facility provides colocation and IT infrastructure solutions for both local and national companies that are seeking to expand their core infrastructure or supplement their existing operations. The state-of-the-art facility and its central U.S. location will be attractive to many companies looking for colocation and turnkey data center solutions.”

Posted by Admin on September 21st, 2009 | No Comments
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ThePlanet, is Now in Europe!

Dedicated web and IT hosting provider, The Planet, has officially opened its first international data center in London, offering geographic redundancy, enhanced performance and Gigabit connectivity.

The new facility is the company’s eighth data center, and joins its seven domestically located data centers in Houston and Dallas. The Planet’s popular Virtual Racks, the fastest-growing solution in its product portfolio, are the exclusive offering for the new European operation. The Virtual Rack solution – the optimal platform hosting choice for powering customer applications – provides flexible scalability and rapid provisioning as IT requirements grow. Customers with multi-server environments leverage increased performance with a private backend network to ensure all servers are properly linked and communicate securely. Load balancing options ensure web traffic is optimally managed by the available servers. In a limited-time promotion, the company waives all set-up fees for customers in the new data center.

Bryce Edwards, general manager for The Planet’s Complex Infrastructure line of business remarked, ”For multi-server environments, the Virtual Rack has been a highly effective solution for our customers, since it offers flexible scalability. Customers often start with just one or two servers, and appreciate the ease of adding new boxes. They can choose from a portfolio of dedicated firewalls and load balancers, and all European servers come with Gigabit uplinks. In particular, this platform is ideal for multi-tier web applications.”

The London data center features up to 20kW of power per rack, backed by N+1 redundancy on generators, transformers and UPS systems. Customers gain access to a 10GB private fiber interconnect to The Planet’s core network through its Ashburn, Va., data center, as well as local connectivity to Tier-1 providers and the major European peering exchanges.

London-headquartered TelecityGroup, which operates 20 network-independent data centers across seven European countries, provides the facilities for The Planet’s new data center. Procedures in the new facility comply with ISO 9001:2000, which benchmarks quality processes for data center operations and management.

TelecityGroup is highly regarded for both its premium data centers and operational expertise. A member of the Green Grid, it is also taking the lead in driving energy efficiency in Europe as the first data center operator to sign up for the new EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres.

Customers can expect the same high-quality Virtual Rack solutions in the European data center that they experience in The Planet’s domestically located operations:

All the Benefits of a Virtual Rack : Virtual Racks offer an innovative and flexible infrastructure, with unlimited server-to-server transfer and bandwidth pooling, as well as access to advanced firewalls and load balancing.

Globally Redundant Hosting Options: Customers are able to host servers across two continents, which provides higher fault tolerance and improved site performance for end-users.

Lower Latency for End Users: The Planet’s network architecture and routing topology ensure the most reliable and fastest route to end users, wherever they are located. By hosting servers closer to end users, customers can expect better performance with fewer hops from user to site.

Connectivity to The Planet Core Network: The new data center is connected to the London Internet Exchange (LINX), which provides world-class connectivity throughout Europe. A dedicated 10 Gbps private link, connected directly to The Planet’s core North America network, provides fast and reliable connectivity to servers hosted in the company’s domestic data centers.

Same Outstanding SLA: The London data center and network are backed by The Planet’s 100 percent Network and Power Service Level Agreement, which provides customers with assurances of uptime and connectivity for their businesses.

Ultimately, The Planet endeavors to provide:

  • High levels of network capacity and speed to deliver peak performance
  • Instant scalability to handle even the largest spikes in network traffic
  • Parallel, redundant, multi-tiered network routing and switching architecture to assure reliability and stability
  • Multiple layer network security that prevents Delayed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks from harming businesses
  • Knowledgeable experts with a passion for excellence and a commitment to operate the best networks in the business

The Planet is the leading provider of On Demand IT Infrastructure solutions, hosting more than 20,000 small- and medium-size businesses and 16.9 million Web sites worldwide. Customers have the power to choose from the broadest range of hosting solutions in the industry, from dedicated servers, Managed Dedicated Servers, Northstar Managed Hosting and data center colocation, all backed by 24×7x365 support. With the best choice of servers, software tools and world-class service, backed by state-of-the-art data centers and an enterprise-class network, The Planet turns IT into a powerful competitive advantage that enables customers to grow their businesses.

Posted by Admin on May 11th, 2009 | 2 Comments
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