We based WEDOS on services that suit most people, as much automation as possible and the ability to set up everything you need. Thanks to this model, we recently broke the 100,000 active NoLimit web hosts mark. We used to say that we are such a big web hosting factory. We have always claimed that our services can suit 98% of all potential customers. But I’m somewhere different now than I was five years ago, and we’re considering offering B2B/VIP services. Our customers are evolving and growing and we need to respond.
Why now?
And why are we seriously considering it? First of all, you’re asking us to do this. Every day we face enquiries from our existing and prospective clients. You want an individual solution. You want individual attention. You want a meeting or a phone call with a salesperson. So far we have refused.
At the same time, our range of services has expanded. We no longer have just shared web hosting, VPS, WEDOS disk and a few dedicated servers.
The new VPS ON service is basically 1 virtual server on the cloud. WEDOS Cloud is already finished and is currently undergoing alpha testing. If everything goes according to plan, public beta tests of WEDOS Cloud will start soon. With this service we would be able to offer a very specific but also expensive solution.
Dedicated servers are no longer just an additional sale. A year ago we bought 254 dedicated servers HPE ProLiant DL320 Gen8 v2 still under warranty and we offer them for 1000 CZK/month. This summer we added them to our offer and currently 113 of these servers are leased. Due to the interest in them, we are considering another advantageous purchase of a large number of servers.
We have 3 different routes in Hluboká Nad Vltavou and each of them is 100 Gbps. The routes are via 2 different operators (CTD and CETIN), they lead via 3 different physical routes (Písek, Tábor, Jihlava) to 2 different locations in Prague (THP, CeCOLO). This allows us to offer not only 1 Gbps connectivity to virtually all services (maybe even 10 Gbps :)) but more importantly to guarantee that it will work even in the event of an outage.
Then, of course, there is the new datacentre that we are completing. It will also be connected to 3 different 100 Gbps routes and different operators. Externally, however, it will look like one building together with the current datacentre. In addition, we are building the new datacentre so that it can be granted TIER IV certification in the future, which we have already officially applied for. When we finish the certification, we can be 13. datacenter in the world with this prestigious certification. Once it is up and running, there is no barrier to high-availability services.
Last but not least, our team has grown considerably. Most customer support colleagues are training to be technicians, networkers, CMS experts, even programmers, but a few are interested in working in the sales department. It would be a shame not to take advantage of their enthusiasm 🙂
The number of our staff is approaching 40. We are an international team. In addition to Czech workers, we have colleagues from Poland, Ukraine and 4 from Russia. Each of us speaks at least one other language. By the way, we launched the Polish site this week and surprisingly the first orders didn’t wait long 🙂 In the next few days we will also launch the Russian and Ukrainian versions.
So what exactly do we want to offer
We plan to offer services under the internal designation WEDOS VIP (WEDOS Very Individual Products). It’s just a service designation. You are VIPs for all of us 😉
Through dedicated staff in the sales department, we would like to offer what we have, just bundled and/or with pushed limits. The standard connectivity required for VPS ON is 1 Gbps with 1:10 aggregation (100 Mbps guaranteed). Upon agreement, it would be possible to provide 1 Gbps guaranteed, plus perhaps a dedicated razor blade for your VPS ON.
The dealer could also put together a package of, for example, two dedicated servers (each in a different rack) and one WEDOS disk with a size much larger than we offer so far (3 TB). Again, ensure dedicated connectivity is needed.
Of course, this is just the beginning. Everything is targeted at high availability services. This means a guaranteed contract (SLA) with a possible financial penalty on our side. All individual, all with an individual approach, all with an individual and dedicated worker (who will arrange the first and the last for you :))…
Since our salesperson will deal with you individually and make you a personalised offer, the services will be slightly more expensive. In the case of SLAs with guaranteed availability and a contractual penalty, a little more expensive for us, but we’ll put our hand up for them.
Our VIP salesman, who will always be an experienced colleague with knowledge of the issues not only commercially but also technically, will discuss everything with you. He will invite you to a meeting with us, to visit both datacenters, so that you can see that we really do not cheat anything and it is exactly as we declare.
You will then discuss all the details at a lunch together. He’ll call you once in a while to find out what’s going on. They will ask you what is bothering you, if you are connected to everything, what you need help with and possibly offer some news.
Of course, all of this will be much more expensive than a fully automatic system, especially if it is an SLA. We therefore plan to set some financial limit on the minimum monthly performance so that we can offer similar individual services. We work with the amount of 10,000 crowns per month. If you are willing to spend such high amounts with us, you will be a suitable customer for our WEDOS VIP service merchants.
Is there room in the market?
We have a lot of faith in each other. We are not worried that we have nothing to offer and that you won’t have a choice.
I mean, just write down a few facts.
- The response time for WEDOS VIP will be short because we are 24/7 in the datacenter. Because of TIER IV, there will have to be at least two of our staff in DC2 around the clock.
- We have a full stock of spare parts and servers. In addition, contracts with business partners who have to keep some of the hardware we need in stock.
- We use only unified server series (we have hundreds of identical servers from one model and we don’t change anything, but thanks to that we can service everything quickly). We don’t have different servers (each different), which then cannot be serviced well.
It doesn’t stop with hardware and services
We do not normally do administration and maintenance, but we are now considering offering services for WEDOS VIP, where it would be agreed and even included in the price. For example, we can offer detailed monitoring and logging of network traffic, DDoS protection, IPS/IDS protection, filtering by country and even direct contact to a designated responsible person. Your IT department would be significantly less busy and could focus on more important things.
Why are we so confident in WEDOS VIP?
We are the largest hosting in the Czech Republic (according to CZ.NIC statistics). We have our own datacenter and are finishing a second one. We operate about 18% of all Czech websites and their emails. And for entities of all sizes. From individuals, through small companies to entities with a turnover in the tens of billions of crowns.
Our datacentres are located in Hluboká nad Vltavou and are about 600 metres apart. They are safely separated by a giant rock with a state castle that has stood on it for over 500 years. Each datacentre is on a different access road to Hluboká, at a different altitude and with access to different utilities. Different connectivity, different source of high voltage in the network.
Our physical security is top-notch, as the current datacenter is a former civil defense shelter built for World War III, partially underground and made of the best available during the Cold War. By the way, this building was still subject to secrecy when we bought it in 2010.
The new datacentre is partially underground (on a slope) and is built of 30 to 110 cm thick reinforced concrete structures. It’s not some panels, but a proper monolith. It can withstand a bullet, a truck crash, a small plane crash or even flooding.
In addition, we raised and reinforced the entire building with reinforced concrete foundations.
Datacentrum WEDOS 2 – Concreting the bottom slab of the server room. (January 2016)
We have everything without outsourcing and everything is handled by our own staff on site. Which is another big plus in terms of safety.
By the way, the importance of our datacenters has been confirmed by the National Cyber Security Authority. Both WEDOS and our datacentres will probably fall under the critical infrastructure of the state. We will see what the authorities’ decision will be in the end. But we are not concerned about the state security audit we will have to go through. We didn’t cheat anything. On the contrary. It’s like a fortress. Plus, we’ll have priority access to diesel, and if something goes wrong we’ll have armored personnel carriers “parked in front of the datacenters” 🙂
All datacenter elements are at least dual and each element is fire separated from the others. The current datacenter is built for 30 minutes of fire resistance, the new one for 90 minutes. The infrastructure is completely separated, so that it does not cross anywhere, it does not overlap with any other part and everything is made of flameproof, flame-retardant and non-flammable cabling (simply the best and most expensive thing to do)…
We are also proud that the current datacentre is one of the most economical, perhaps the most economical, in the country and the new one will probably be the most economical in the world because it will have special oil cooling and the waste heat will be used to heat the local swimming pool. The energy consumed for cooling will thus be used efficiently. You’re doing your part in polluting the planet by giving us your services. And let’s not forget that our second datacenter will be powered by hydroelectric power.
Conclusion
So what will we offer?
- we will sell you a tailor-made service package
- you will have a dedicated contact person, a dedicated contact department
- individual approach, individual information
- special and individual SLA conditions can be agreed
- to check anything with us at any time
- relatively expensive (understand expensive services) for the most demanding clients
- modern facilities in one of the most secure datacenters with exceptionally environmentally friendly operation at the largest provider of hosting services
What won’t we offer?
- we will not offer something we do not know (we will not offer something we do not understand)
Your opinion?
We have some more ideas in mind, but we would be interested in your opinion. How do you like our WEDOS VIP service? Would you use it? Are you missing something?