We exchanged a few phone calls, and I learned that he spoke with Rich Miller at Data Center Knowledge for a CNN Tech article about “The Cloud.” As they discussed the mechanics of the cloud in terms of data centers and servers, Rich pointed out the juxtaposition of this hyped demand of virtualized products with an old-school desire to have the data in a visible, tangible location. Enter The Planet’s #showmemyserver project.

John was very interested in our take on the social media experiment’s success, so it was great to share a little of what we heard from our customers … and we were even able put him in touch with Nate Tallman at HealthTeacher.com to give him a direct customer perspective. Thanks for your help, Nate!

Long story short: John posts A trip into the secret, online ‘cloud’ to quite a bit of fanfare … which isn’t surprising, given its great introductory video:

From the heart of that article, he links to a “Behind the Scenes” blog about The world of ’server huggers’ and investigates his subconscious desire to find the “real” location of his digital data. As any customer who visits one of our data centers can attest, he’s not alone.

If you’re interested in “hugging” your server, stay tuned to The Planet Blog over the next few weeks, and keep your keyboard at the ready. We’ll offer another opportunity just in time for the holidays.

-Kevin

I caught up with Rob in the expo hall to have him weigh in on each of the questions for our loyal blog readers (you!):

I love the analogy he uses to explain why “the cloud” is such a difficult concept to explain. It seems to be a paradigm shift unlike any we’ve seen in recent memory, so the transition from hype and confusion to understanding and adoption should prove to be an interesting adventure over the next few years.

One of the most interesting questions asked of the panel was whether or not we’d be talking about cloud computing in 10 years. The unanimous answer: No. Why? The resounding sentiment is that shift toward “the cloud” will be so pervasive that a given platform’s “cloudiness” will be implied. This opinion is shared by a group of experts at a “cloud computing conference,” so there may be a little bias here … What do you think? Will the cloud take over and become the de facto standard or will demand for traditional IT remain in the midst of the cloud’s surge?

-Kevin

We will post our costumed competitors on The Planet Flickr for all to see, and you can post a comment here to vote for your favorites. Click the picture of “Todd” below to go directly to the Boo Bash 2009 album.

To let you share in today’s costuming, we’ve got a present for you. As a part of our fundraising efforts to support the American Heart Association, we printed shirts for employees who donate. The shirt design has been so popular internally that I made it into a few wallpapers that you can use:

Versions Available:
Dual-Monitor Setup (2560 x 1024)
Single Monitor – Server Only (1280 x 1024)
Single Monitor – “You Got Served” Only (1280 x 1024)

After you get your desktop suited up in its new costume, remember to vote for your favorite Boo Bash 2009 entrant in the comment section below.

Trick or Treat!

-Kevin

As you may have heard, I led a session about “Disruptive Technologies: The Road from Disruptive to Sustaining.” Instead of copying the bullet points from my presentation into this blog post, we recorded the whole session on a Flip MinoHD. If you’ve got a little time and you’re interested to hear my take on the effects of the Cloud and Virtualization on hosting, go grab a bag of popcorn, turn up your computer speakers, sit back and enjoy:

[See post to watch the Flash video]

I opened the floor for Q&A in the session and for additional follow-up after the session after we ran out of time, so I want to do the same for you: When you watch the video, if you’ve got any questions, please post them in a comment below and I’ll be happy to respond.

-Todd

On September 2, 2008, we announced the results of our lights-out energy efficiency initiative. A few days ago, I was sorting through a batch of data center pictures, and I came across a few great examples of what this news looks like in practice:

This is Phase Two of our H1 data center. With all the posts you see from H2 and D6, you might be curious about what our other data centers look like, so hopefully the picture above doesn’t surprise you. We have extremely high standards for our data centers, and you should expect the same enterprise-level quality across the board.

If you took a guided tour through H1, you’d see it all lit up as it is above. If you walked in during a normal DC shift, you’d probably find it a little different:

When the data center is unoccupied, the lights are switched off to save energy. How much energy? Well, across the board, we estimate the program saves more than 1.4 million kilowatt hours in a given year – or about $140,000 in power bills. It’s no small change.

As you’ve seen in our other posts about data center innovation and operational efficiency, we take a common-sense approach to energy conservation. It’s incredible to see the significant impact such simple changes can make.

It’s also pretty cool to see servers glowing in the dark:

-Kevin

This new program is designed to offer a combination of three distinct partner models, each designed to meet the needs of business that partner with The Planet in different ways. We’ve fine-tuned our Affiliate and Reseller programs for the Partner Plus launch, and in that process, we’ve spoken with many potential partners looking for a different type of relationship. Enter the new Referral Partner program.

Instead of just rattling off details, let’s put the Referral Partner model in context with the Reseller and Affiliate programs. That way, we can better explain which type of partnership will best benefit your business. The programs differ based on the discounts/commissions applied and how much a partner company is involved with the transaction. Here’s a high level look:

Affiliate Program

• Partner Involvement: Affiliates use specially coded hyperlinks to direct potential customer traffic to The Planet. Our system tracks users sent by those affiliate links, and every new customer order qualifies the affiliate for a commission payment.
• Commission/Discount: 100% of the first month’s contract value.

Reseller Program

• Partner Involvement: Resellers often build their business around marketing and selling Web hosting solutions. Whether those solutions are managed, shared, VPS or dedicated, the reseller is responsible for the day-to-day operations of their servers and their customers’ hosting-related support. We never interact directly with resellers’ end-customers because they provide all service, support and billing.
• Commission/Discount: Based on the volume of business they do with The Planet, a reseller partner will get monthly discounts on every server they order and maintain.

Referral Program

• Partner Involvement: Referral Partners function in an advisory role for their customers, and they want us to perform the service, support and billing. Some Referral Partners may completely manage their customers’ environment and choose to outsource the day-to-day server maintenance responsibilities to a trusted partner. Others may simply generate and compare quotes for their customers’ infrastructure solutions. These partners work with our sales team to determine the right solution for their customer and help the customers transition to The Planet as a provider.
• Commission/Discount: Based on the volume of business with The Planet, a Referral Partner receives a percentage of a referred account’s monthly recurring revenue.

Which Is Right For You?

Each of the programs offers you a unique opportunity build your businesses, and they aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. If you provide a mix of hosting and consulting services, it may make sense to for you to sign up for both the Reseller and Referral Partner programs. If you do a majority of your business as a Referral Partner while operating a tech blog for small business owners and entrepreneurs, you may want to include an affiliate link in your blog’s sidebar so you can earn commission on new servers ordered by your visitors … without having to lift a finger.

Our goal with the Planet Partner Plus program is to provide you with a financial model that matches your business requirements, backed up by marketing materials to help you grow. Check out the programs on our partner page at www.theplanet.com/partner-program, and use the online forms to apply or send us any questions. We want to help make you successful because that’s how we define being better than just a partner; we want to be your Partner Plus.

-Lewis

P.S. If you’re attending the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Miami this week, stop by our booth and say hello!

Here’s your chance.

If you complete ALL THREE tasks included below within one hour (by 3:30 p.m. CDT today), we will head out to one of our DCs with a camera to give your server a well-deserved close-up. While getting a picture is not the same as meeting your server face-to-faceplate, it’ll at least tide you over until you can make it to Houston or Dallas for an “in real life” data center tour.

Your Mission (you should choose to accept it):

1. Post a Tweet saying “I’m Powered by @ThePlanet. #showmemyserver”
2. Post a comment on this blog that includes “My website is _________, and I’m Powered by The Planet.”
3. Send an email to twitter @ theplanet.com with the name you want included in the picture (or we’ll default to your Twitter name), your The Planet account number* and the IP address** of the server you want pictured.

*This is to help verify your account.
**This information will not be shared or included in the picture. It is simply being used to target your server.

Because this is our inaugural #ShowMeMyServer event, we’re limiting each qualifier to a single server – in case we get slammed with a request from each of our 25,000+ customers in the next hour. If you have a private rack, we can make an exception and snap a couple pictures of the servers on your rack if you’d prefer.

Once we close the window for submissions, we’ll start the photography process. The turnaround will depend on the volume of requests, but we’re aiming to get pictures back to you (replying to the e-mail you sent twitter@theplanet) by Thursday afternoon at the latest. While we employ a lot of talented folks, the people taking your picture might not be professional photographers, but we’ll get the best picture we can … and if a reshoot is necessary, just let us know.

Are you ready?

Go!

-Kevin

EDIT: Comments are Closed as of 3:31pm CDT. Scroll through the comments section and check out some of the awesome sites our customers host with us!

He asked me what I did, and after the standard follow-up questions about what in the world a Web Hosting Evangelist does, he started telling me about his business. He owns a growing sunscreen company that does a good amount of business online. He wasn’t a technical guy, but he had a high-level understanding of how his business was using technology.

To begin, he asked me what kinds of facilities we operate. Then he rattled off a lot of other questions like how we ensure that servers stay online; what we do in the event of a site going down; how much servers cost; how we could scale his infrastructure; and how he could be sure support is available when he needs it. After a few minutes of evangelizing, he seemed pretty impressed with how well we were prepared to accommodate the needs of small business owners, but he didn’t say much.

I could tell that he was thinking about something, and after a few minutes, he revealed, “As you were explaining all the safeguards you have in place and the precautions you take, the whole thing seems too good to be true. I was just thinking that I am completely owed good answers to all of these questions – that you need to convince me why I should trust you with my data. Then it struck me … Why should I trust me with my data?”

It’s reassuring for business owners to have complete control over every aspect of their operations, but that control might come at the expense of not getting the efficiencies, expertise and pricing third-parties can provide. He explained that if I asked him the same questions he asked me, he wouldn’t have a single response. But the fact that he could see his hardware and touch his server was the subconscious reminder that he was in control.

His site is hosted on a shared server with a company in the U.S., and his offices in both countries operate from a centralized accounting platform. The server hosting the platform … an administrative assistant’s workstation in one of the offices. This setup worked very well as long as 1) the admin didn’t need to use the workstation while the accounting system was being accessed; and 2) the office’s power and network connections kept the server online 24×7. While he wasn’t setting any records for uptime and speed, his system worked the way he needed it to, and he didn’t have access to any other ways of doing it.

That’s how a lot of small businesses operate: a sort of “just get it working” mentality. The fact that you are reading this blog would suggest I might be preaching to the choir here, but if you’re holding back on a decision to make a change in the way you manage your IT until you get all of your questions answered, make sure you’re concurrently asking yourself the question, “Why do I trust me with my data?”

To make sure this mid-air observation wasn’t a fluke, I posed a question on Twitter this morning: “What do you think is the most important aspect of a business relationship?”

The first response: “We don’t think there is one lone aspect that can be singled out. There are many important aspects. Trust would be considered one.”

Many thanks to @hightekhosting, @complexgeek, @pratt, @pacoblue, @bill1282, @fborrero, @undefined and @buxombbws for the responses and ReTweets!

-Kevin

P.S. I’m including the picture from Sydney so that I can try to expense the flight.

With recommendations touching on everything from design and layout changes to functionality and feature requests, the portal’s social web “2.0″ suffix is well deserved. Comparing the portal release from 30 days ago with the current release is like night and day … or maybe more like dawn and noon. With the hard work of our development team, we’ve been squashing bugs and tweaking the system to be the extremely fast and easily usable resource our customers expect it to be.

That being said, we still want your feedback as we head down the home stretch of this transition. On August 17, we’ll be closing our legacy Orbit 1 and ServerCommand portals, and we want to make sure every one of our customers is comfortable with Orbit 2.0 before we get there.

If you’re a customer and you haven’t had an opportunity to visit https://orbit2.theplanet.com, take a few minutes and click around to get familiar with the new system. Imagine you’ve got to create a new ticket on one of your hardware objects … Is it clear to you how to get to the screen below?

What about if you need to change your credit card? How do you add a new user to your account? Can you check the bandwidth usage on one of your servers?

By clicking through the portal to execute these common tasks, you’re bringing a new set of eyes and a different perspective … and you’ll have great feedback that we want to hear. Are the sections logically laid out? Are additional descriptions or explanations required to make the portal more usable? Do our legacy portals offer better handling of a given task?

If you’ve got any ideas for improvements or you note any inconsistent performance, don’t be bashful in using the “Report Portal Issue” link at the top-right of the header. We want to hear from you so we can make Orbit 2.0 feel like home for you.

-Nadja

Guy cites the Dilbert Mission Statement Generator as one of the best resources in creating a meaningless, buzzword-filled mission statement to rival those created by teams of consultants. The tool (now offline) allowed you to enter a few key phrases and select your favorite fancy words to create a mission statement like one he included in his “The Art of the Start” session at the Houston Technology Center:

We exist to professionally build long-term high-impact sources so that we may endeavor to synergistically leverage existing effective deliverables to stay competitive in tomorrow’s world.

The mission statement medium almost begs for $10 words when you really need to express a simple thought.

Take a look at The Planet’s Mission Statement … Notice anything interesting about it? Take a look at the heading:

Our Mission: Be the Best Host for You.

You don’t have to read beyond the first line of the page to know what we’re about. The sentiment might not be revolutionary, but what it loses in originality, it makes up for in sincerity:

To be the best host for you, we need to keep your business online and your Web sites fast. To be the best host for you, if you ever need to get in touch with us, we need to be available, friendly, honest, open and helpful. To be the best host for you, we need to have affordable prices and flexible solutions to fit your business.

The cynics in the audience are probably waiting for someone to break out a guitar to lead a sing-along at this point, but that’s not where we’re headed.

This post is a challenge to everyone reading it: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to reach out to us any time that mantra does not permeate your experience as a customer of The Planet.

Will you take us up on the challenge?

-Kevin