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And The Award Goes To…

January 25th, 2012 by Kevin Swan in Announcements, Just for the Fun of It, Poindexter in the Press, Social Media | No Comments

It is officially awards season! First it was the Golden Globes and next will be the Oscars. But fortunately for us, between the two star-studded events we have been able to pick up some hardware ourselves (and we didn’t even have to rent tuxes).

I’m thrilled to announce that SingleHop won the award for Best Dedicated Server provider in the 6th Annual Web Hosting Awards by HostReview.com. Obviously anytime that you are recognized for being the best in class it feels good, but this honor is really very special for every SingleHopper. Dedicated servers have always been at the core of our business and even though we now offer a diverse product line, this shows that we’ve never lost our focus.

According to hostreview.com “Each winner has demonstrated a unique approach and exceptional dedication in addressing the rapidly changing technologies and business challenges of their customers. Over the past year, the honored hosting providers brought incredible value and delivered innovative solutions to the companies and individual clients they serve and the marketplace as a whole.”

As we continue to add products and services, like the recent addition of our public cloud, our goal is to keep collecting trophies along the way.

SingleHop and the EFF Team Up!

January 24th, 2012 by Igor in Announcements, General, Industry Insights, Social Media | No Comments

If you saw our website on Internet Blackout Day or read Sam Bowling’s excellent blog post on SOPA/PIPA, you know that Singlehop is not afraid to take a public stance to protect the Internet. We love what we do, we’d like to continue doing it, and this is impossible without an Internet where we can all find each other — something SOPA/PIPA would compromise.

Actually, we frequently do stuff to make the world a better place. We donate to local charities and support awesome organizations. But we love it most of all when what we do and what the world needs from us overlap.

Recently, we loaned some of our awesome hardware to the EFF to help with their SSL Observatory project. This was a perfect match for us, because we could support a great cause which is important to us, and do that by doing what we’re best at — providing blazing fast servers and an excellent network. Running on Singlehop hardware, the observatory will scan the entire Internet and gather data on every website that’s protected by SSL security, looking for vulnerabilities or fake certificates. The EFF will be publishing all of the data gathered and, if there are any problems, will alert website operators and certificate vendors to get those problems fixed.

SSL is a vital technology which secures everything from your e-mail to your credit card numbers — without it, our business, and the businesses of many of our customers, would not be possible. We are happy to help keep the technology secure. We think that the results of this scan will be important news — don’t be surprised if you hear about Singlehop on your favorite tech news site in the next few months.

Crowdsourcing for Web Hosting Solutions

January 5th, 2012 by Kevin Swan in Industry Insights, Social Media, Solutions | No Comments

The term “crowdsourcing” has been a huge buzzword for the past few years and I think it will continue to be one as we move through 2012 (Google returned 10.7 million results for the term). I also think it’s a safe bet that crowdsourcing is far more common in small and medium-sized businesses than in their larger competitors.

When a large organization has a complex project that requires a great deal of resources, it will probably necessitate the involvement of multiple departments to get the project completed. The marketing department works with the product development department who works with the accounting department…I think you get the idea. Now take a smaller organization, 10 to 20 employees, they don’t have the luxury (or is it the curse) of specialized departments to complete a similar project.

Having worked for both a global media company as well as a company that consisted of two employees (counting myself) I am very familiar with the advantages as well as the disadvantages of crowdsourcing.

Advantages:

Cost-effective
Specialization should equal high quality products and services
Collaboration can lead to greater creativity
Can be a great recruiting tool

Disadvantages:

Easier to lose sight of the long-term objective
A lack of continuity
No ownership or teamwork
Fixing mistakes can be costly

It is because of both experiences, both good and bad, that I was thrilled with the concept and completion of our Crowdsourced Marketplace. It is literally a marketplace for all parties. If you are a small business owner who knows that you need IT infrastructure, but don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, our Crowdsourced Marketplace is perfect for you. Or maybe you’re a systems administrator who is extremely well versed in the web hosting industry, you have the opportunity to show off your skills and get paid within the Crowdsourced Marketplace.

Each solution (or product) within the Crowdsourced Marketplace comes with detailed instructions as well as the credentials of the architect (image below). This ensures great transparency between both builders and buyers. I know I may be a bit biased, but I truly think this is a one-of-a-kind opportunity within the infrastructure-as-a-service community.

-Kevin

The Holiday Miracle of IaaS

December 19th, 2011 by Kevin Swan in Industry Insights, Social Media, Solutions | Comments(1)

Working in an industry where just about everyone you meet could be or is a potential client, can get a bit tricky at times. It’s funny how many holiday party conversations I have found myself apart of over the past few weeks that have included, “So Kevin, what do you do?” (Which I think is pretty normal). However, unless the inquirer works in the tech business, “Oh, I work for dedicated and cloud web hosting company” is usually met with a confused look or a “ohhh, ok, that sounds like fun.” At which point I start raddling off the Cliffs Notes version of the web hosting industry between sips of eggnog.

I understand though, the average user clicks and clicks his/her way through their day and things just work. Apps just load, emails are just sent, and reports just run, like magic, right? Not quite. So for all of you IT techs, system admins, developers, and programmers alike, I salute you and think of you every time I hear these comments!

At SingleHop we provide an extensive list of products and services for companies of all sizes. We are a full Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider with nearly 10,000 servers in two different Chicago-land data centers. We are a leader in dedicated and cloud hosting which is exactly what I told a small business owner I recently met who had no idea our industry, let alone our company existed! He exclaimed “wait a minute, I could get rid all of the constant stress about our network going down or losing valuable data because I don’t know what I’m doing?” Yes sir, yes sir you can! He looked like he had just seen a holiday miracle right before his very eyes!

The NY Times recently ran a story about a Chicago-based business that nearly went under water, literally, but never feared losing data because they outsourced their servers. The lesson here is to get rid of those servers sitting in a dusty closet and let the professionals care for and run your IT operations!

Infrastructure by Democracy

December 6th, 2011 by Kevin Swan in Announcements, Cloud Computing, Events, Industry Insights, Social Media | No Comments

If two heads are better than one and three heads are better the two…Well this could go on forever, but I think you get the idea. It is this type of logic that was the driving force behind the creation of our Crowdsourced Marketplace. We have an enormous variety in clients, which translates to an even wider range of knowledge levels. (It happens to be one of my favorite things about SingleHop) The Crowdsourced Marketplace caters to both ends of the knowledge spectrum.

If a prospective client is shopping around for infrastructure solutions, but is really not sure what he/she is looking for because they do not have an extensive technology background, the Crowdsourced Marketplace allows them to see what others have built. Maybe this prospective client owns a rapidly growing ecommerce-based site and finds a solution built by a ecommerce pro, that sure does help the shopping process. But how does he or she know these solutions are accurate or even possible? Our team of engineers quality checks each solution before it is published, to ensure what you see is what you get. That takes care of one end of the knowledge spectrum, what about the other?

Perhaps the next visitor to the Crowdsourced Marketplace has been in the IT business for 20 years or maybe recently graduated from MIT at age 16, he or she will really love this business model. After all, who doesn’t love making money! These users are able to come into the Crowdsourced Marketplace and really flex their intellectual muscles using SingleHop’s tools. The system architects and senior IT engineers of the world are able to design solutions and each time a client deploys a solution they created, the designer gets paid!

“Infrastructure by Democracy” is so much more than a tagline, it’s a new way of doing business.

We recently asked attendees of Cloud Expo, what they thought about the future (and present) of crowdsourcing. Take a look at what they had to say: Click Here

The 6th Annual Web Host Awards!

November 30th, 2011 by Kevin Swan in Announcements, Events, Social Media | No Comments

To all of our loyal readers and clients alike we need your help securing a nomination for the 2011 Readers Choice Award! 2011 has yet again been a monstrous year for SingleHop, as we have continued our rapid growth with than expected $24 million in revenue while increasing our workforce by nearly 30% over the past year. We know this could not be possible without our amazing clients. After all, without our clients we would have nothing but a ton of lonely servers.

The details for the nomination process are listed below. Please take a moment to help Poindexter handle a different kind of hardware for a change.

Details:

This is a chance for web hosting companies to receive acclaim as an innovators, be recognized by industry peers and customers and stand out from the crowd.

Take part in one of the most exciting competitions in the industry today by nominating the most influential and state-of-the-art hosting provider, and be eligible to win the big prize - Black iPod Touch 8GB!

Click Here to submit your nomination!

Oh, you can vote once a day until December 14th, 2011. So, please do!

Infrastructure as a Service for All Sizes

November 29th, 2011 by Kevin Swan in Cloud Computing, General, Social Media, Solutions | No Comments

As many of you know we recently launched the latest version of our LEAP platform, LEAP³ at Cloud Expo in Santa Clara, CA. I am pleased to say that the launch as well as the feedback thus far has been extremely positive. The web-based platform is a complete rewrite of its earlier predecessors and far more robust!

One of the biggest changes within LEAP³ is that it allows users who are not yet clients to explore the portal. This was a big shift in mindset within SingleHop, but one we are thrilled to have made. After all, if the demonstration of a product is greatly impactful, it doesn’t really need to be sold, it sells itself.

The principle elements of LEAP³ were created to allow clients to Design, Deploy, and Manage entire hybrid solutions from anywhere, and from a variety of access methods.

We have a huge variety of clients at SingleHop, from small businesses to international enterprise companies that have all taken advantage of LEAP3 and it’s all possible because of its flexibility and on-demand functionality. “Many things to many people” as I like to say!

As Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider, we understand there is no one-size-fits-all solution and because of that we again, invite you to take a chance to test drive LEAP³. You can customize your own solution or even browse those created by others in our Crowdsourced Marketplace.

LEAP3 TEST DRIVE HE RE

Cyber Monday Sale!

November 27th, 2011 by Kevin Swan in Announcements, Events, Sales, Social Media | No Comments

Gone is the leftover turkey. Gone are the bruises from Black Friday shopping. Gone are the countless football games, one after another. Ah, the Thanksgiving holiday…Have no fear though, you have one more day to take advantage of amazing deals. It’s Cyber Monday!

For one day only, we are offering 50% off any SingleHop infrastructure product for the 1st month. We know this is just the start of the holiday season and your business is going to continue to grow and hope that you’re able to take advantage of this one day offer.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found Cyber Monday to be much more enjoyable than the insanity of Black Friday.

Why Cyber Monday Beats Black Friday Every Year

Cheers to a wonderful start to the holiday season!

Black Friday Sale @ SingleHop.com

November 25th, 2011 by Kevin Swan in Announcements, Sales, Social Media | No Comments

What’s one more Black Friday sale, right? You’ve seen ads for weeks promoting “doors open at 3AM” or “40% off selected items,” well now it’s our turn!!!! Not wanting to be left out in the cold, Poindexter has decided to join the Black Friday madness!

The Black Friday offer is for 50% off 1st month of service on any SingleHop Infrastructure product, plus a free SingleHop T-Shirt to everyone who buys a server using the coupon.

Huge savings, free SWAG, and you can do it from the comfort of your own computer!!!

It is only for one day, so you do have to act fast!!!

Adrienne Wicklund

Account Consultant

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