It’s a great big cyberworld out there, and it’s growing bigger every day. “Non-techies” may feel overwhelmed not only by the sheer volume of information on and about the Web but also by the amazing speed at which technology changes. Businesses and organization know they need the Web, but they also know they need help when it comes to navigating the ins and outs. Liquid Web and ACD.net are ready, willing and more than able to lend a hand.

ACD.net

September was a big month for ACD.net. They and their consortium partners were awarded $69.6 million in federal stimulus funding to own and operate 1,200 miles of fiber throughout northern Michigan. The previous January, the consortium had been awarded funding to build 1,000 miles of fiber through other areas of the state on a $41 million project. The grant was submitted by Merit Network, Inc. on behalf of ACD.net and other participants; Merit is owned by the public universities of Michigan, including Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.

ACD.net, mid-Michigan’s largest independent phone and Internet provider, was founded in 1986 by Kevin Schoen who is today the CEO; his brother Steve is the president. They started by selling and servicing computers but began to focus on the Internet in the mid-‘90s. ACD.net became a licensed telephone company in 1999.

According to Kevin Schoen, “We’re principally on the infrastructure side of the Internet business. We build fiber optics to companies that want very high capacity Internet. We also offer services like DSL and phone services, so we both operate phone systems and provide phone lines to businesses and residences. We also work with schools, government agencies, software companies and other communication providers. We wholesale services to those providers who don’t have networks within these areas. We also help companies manage their networks and websites including hosting a number of sites, particularly high-volume sites.

“We are similar to Comcast in that we provide similar services. But there are a couple of reasons customers would come to us instead. First, we’re building our core infrastructure in markets that they aren’t focused on. In addition, instead of solely using older infrastructure, we’re putting in fiber optic infrastructure which is newer, faster and more reliable.  We’re on the leading edge of infrastructure as opposed to the trailing edge.”

He adds, “We are also constantly monitoring our customers and fixing problems before they even know about them. Because we have redundant pathways, if there is a problem with one, another is instantly available.”

Currently, there are 50 full-time employees including support staff available 24/7. With over 20,000 customers, they are growing at a steady pace. Their Lansing headquarters is 40,000 square feet, and they have 25 other sites in Michigan where equipment is housed.

Schoen says, “There are a lot of companies in this business who are in debt and overleveraged. Our model has been to build in-house, grow a steady business and be fiscally responsible so that we can continue to make significant capital investments even in bad times. So we have been able to make serious investments in new technologies. We focus on deep engineering, design and programming as well as simplifying things for our customers. And the last three years have been our most successful.

“Our focus on quality control, simplicity and giving our customers a good experience continues to serve us well.”

Liquid Web

Liquid Web is a young organization, established in 1997, and a leading provider of premium Web hosting products and data center infrastructure. Liquid Web has, within the last year, opened its third, and largest, data center, a 90,000-square-foot facility with capacity for 25,000 servers. The center can accommodate 600 workers; currently, Liquid Web employs over 200, but they are adding employees at the rate of about five a month.

Liquid Web serves well over 20,000 customers nationally and internationally. And that service is in place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Says Director of Marketing Travis Stoliker, “We maintain ‘heroic support’ by answering the phone on two or three rings and responding to an e-mail within 10 minutes. In fact, more often than not, through constant monitoring of our over one million websites, we identify a problem and fix it before the customer is even aware there is a problem.

“We’re continuing with our core business and are as dedicated as ever to delivering the best products, service and support. We’re also launching a new venture—a cloud computing application called Storm on Demand, proprietary software that we have developed and own. We’ve recently opened a facility in Scottsdale, Arizona to work on this software.”

Cloud computing is a form of Internet-based computing in which shared resources, software and information are offered to computers on demand, somewhat like an electricity grid. Stoliker says, “Basically, cloud computing just means don’t worry about it; it’s all taken care of on the Internet. Instead of having everything on your own machine, it’s all up in the cloud.”

Stoliker continues, “Storm on Demand as a wholly owned subsidiary of Liquid Web. It’s a cloud computer and server hosting infrastructure developed by our engineers. This system offers instant server setup, utility style hourly billing and other features. With Storm on Demand, the customer can scale capacity up or down as needed and only pay for what they actually use. It’s a way of managing a website or any Web application—anything that is online such as e-mail, billing, records and so on. It’s very innovative. You can buy a system similar to ours on Amazon, but Storm on Demand is 50 percent less costly and twice as powerful. Plus, they don’t have the kind of heroic support that we do! We’ve been rated as number one in cloud computing by several independent analysts.”

Stoliker says, “Matthew Hill, the founder of Liquid Web, sees cloud computing as the future of hosting, and we are right here on the leading edge. As the Internet grows, we grow with it.” And neither the Internet nor Liquid Web shows any signs of slowing down!