Digex: Working Faster For ASPs

"We had one insistent client who demanded we get an immediate proposal together on Web hosting," says Ciapka, managing director of the Livingston, N.J.-based Web development firm. "With about a two-hour leeway, Digex was able to get me its proposal, which I incorporated into my own e-mail and sent off to the client. You won't find that response in a larger company."

Unlike larger backbone networks such as AT&T, which base their businesses on having lots of access customers and increased bandwidth, Digex is finding a niche in Web and application hosting and personal attention.

"Development and deployment of applications over the Internet is an extremely fast-growing segment of the market," says Rebecca Ward, president of marketing, product development and engineering at Digex.

The 3-year-old company, which provides services for mission-critical business solutions, already has a number of high-profile customers, including Nike, Martha Stewart, J. Crew and Ford Motor Co. And it wants to stretch its reach even further via the reseller channel.

"We have about 550 top-tier clients that include a number of brick-and-mortar companies and also a lot of the dot coms," says Laura Heinrich, Digex vice president of marketing. "These are companies that can't afford to be down, so they come to us for the expertise."

While many of Digex's clients started out with traditional business models, currently some 80 percent of them have moved to in-depth Internet applications, including e-commerce, online publishing, and business intranet and extranet activities. That's why Digex focuses most of its activity on hosting and managing Internet applications.

"The customers who come here are all looking for dedicated support," says Ellen Lynn, director of business development. "We don't have shared server offerings or cookie-cutter sites."

In an effort to boost its applications management capabilities, the company earlier this year unveiled its Smart-Services Version 3.0 Web and application hosting services, offering clients increased security, daily system and content backup, reporting, monitoring and administration features. A partnership alliance with Pandesic also allows Digex to offer users an outsourced e-business solution enabling business processes such as order entry, order processing, fulfillment, shipping and inventory management functions.

"We do more than simply give floor space and a connection to the Internet," says Heinrich. "We build the systems from the ground up, giving them everything from hardware and software to network security and reporting tools."

Digex also has strategic partnerships with technology providers such as Cisco Systems Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. Unlike many other specialized companies, Digex owns and manages its own backbone network, making it easier for the ISP to adapt its services according to clients' needs.

In the reseller channel, Heinrich estimates Digex has roughly 120 integrators and eight ASPs in its e-Link and brand-new AppLink partner programs.

"That program is rapidly expanding, because the ASP market is just exploding right now," she says.

When partnering with an integrator or ASP, Heinrich says Digex cooperates with its partner on all levels of the integration process and provides a dedicated support program for partners and a number of incentive programs.

"Digex, with its deep experience in providing managed hosting for Enterprise and dot com companies, has

created a comprehensive program for ASPs called AppLink," says Ward. "Our goal is to strengthen the offering that our ASP partners can provide to their clients by providing the most secure and reliable platforms, full operational hardware and software support, monitoring, backup and a host of other services."