Case Study
1st Easy Maximise the Benefits
of the IFL Partner Scheme
Background to 1st Easy
1st Easy Limited provide a comprehensive range of Internet solutions for businesses. Since its inception in 1999, the company has accumulated a wealth of experience in the provision of commercial-level colocation and Linux dedicated server solutions, which are firmly established as the primary focus of their business strategy.
The Need for a Data Centre Partner
1st Easy required a flexible, non-competing data centre partner, which could accommodate and facilitate their impressive existing and forecasted rates of growth. Key factors in their selection of a partner would therefore include guaranteed margins to assist with competitiveness, business minded operators with whom strong relationships could be fostered, and room for long term expansion.
Of equal importance to 1st Easy was the demonstrable ability of a datacentre and operator to match their own very high service benchmarks, as Stephen Bell, their Managing Director explains:
"The solutions that we host are undeniably mission-critical, both in terms of the activities of our colocation customers, and of our own wider hosting services. As such, the quality of the datacentre and the competency of its operators to maintain and provide a highly professional service are clearly of fundamental importance to our success. We had to ensure that we found a long term partner in whom we could be absolutely confident."
The IFL Partner Program
The IFL Partner program launched in November 2007 and was made available to service providers, hosting companies and resellers to provide award-winning dedicated co-location to their customers. Designed specifically to benefit business ISPs looking for a neutral, non-competing data centre platform from which to deliver their core business internet services, the program allows partners to differentiate themselves from IFL and offer colocation as an additional product in their portfolio, with guaranteed supply and increasing margins on IFL list prices.
Partnership Success
Since becoming one of the first ISPs to sign up for the IFL Partner Program, 1st Easy have grown their rack footprint by over 250%. Utilising IFL's stepped growth plans 1st Easy have been able to secure substantial space for future client acquisition with staged payment plans to fall in line with future sales expectations.
Stephen Bell, comments:
"After several years of using a number of regional data centres, negotiating space deals and price points for each new client requirement, the IFL Partner Program has made acquiring business and setting price points much simpler and taken the strain out of continuous supplier negotiation - a real obstacle in our sales process in the past. With the IFL Partner Program we have been given a true product, with guaranteed margins and no unexpected cost surprises! This, coupled with the real quality of service IFL provides, has led to us vacating other data centres in order to maximise the benefits the IFL Partner Program affords us."
Stephen Bell continues:
"The success that we have enjoyed through our partnership with IFL has enabled us to continue our policy of ongoing investment into developing our own services. As an example of this, we recently formalised our 24 hour call centre which, in conjunction with the responsive onsite IFL support staff, has undoubtedly enhanced the standard of service for our existing customers, and will better position our ability to continue our expansion into IFL data centres over the coming years."
IFL have also reaped the rewards of the Partner Program. Matthew Edgley, IFL Sales Manager states:
"The partner program has helped us build more profitable relationships with our own customers. Having partners such as 1st Easy firmly on board drives us to ensure a continuous supply of data centre space is available for their growth and customer acquisition. The effect the growth of our Partners has had on our own success since we launched the program cannot be over stated, and in no small part aids the business case for us to invest in new facilities. We look forward to the future with 1st Easy, with over 150 customers in our data centres they are one of our top 5 growth customers during the last 12 months, which can only be a reflection on the standard of their products and services."