The Planet Blog

Last week, Ryan posted about his first month at The Planet, and as a new employee on the training team, I can’t help but echo his excitement and enthusiasm. 2009 was certainly a year of difficulties and change for me. With the downward spiral of the economy came an unexpected turn in my career.

After more than 13 years with the same company, I received the proverbial pink slip last summer. At 40, I lost a large part of my identity with the click of a mouse. How could this happen? What do I do now? I was fortunate enough to have a severance cushion for my abrupt nudge out of the nest, so I took some time and enjoyed the summer with my kids.

With the daily silence of the phone and the vast wasteland of my inbox came a foreboding sense of doom. What if I never get a job? I felt the first trickle of panic around the time my kids went back to school. They had returned to their normal routine. Where was my chance?

Then one day I opened my email expecting the same “inbox empty” message that had mocked me for months. This day was different: there was a response. The Planet wanted to talk to me! I was even more excited and promptly contacted the office to schedule an interview.

The phone interview fueled my excitement, followed shortly by an in-person meeting. I walked into the office and was immediately impressed. This was not your normal corporate land of cubicles — this had style. I felt an energy I knew I wanted to be a part of. After I had what I hoped would be the best interview of my life, I waited patiently for next steps. It came a few days later when I had the opportunity to meet with the director and further explain why I felt this company simply could not live without me. I walked out, sure this would be my new corporate digs. I was so confident that I immediately started planning my first-day outfit.

Given the holiday season, the actual “welcome” took a little longer than expected, so I was anxious to hear if I had finally made it back into the productive work force. As I was waiting, I got a call from my old employer out of the blue with the possibility of going back to work in a different department. Not my dream job by any means, but it was a job. And I felt vindicated. They had made a mistake in letting me go.

And then I received an offer letter from The Planet. I was at a crossroads. Two paths awaited my decision that would forever change my destiny. One was well traveled and familiar; the other bright and shiny and shrouded in mystery. I had some serious contemplating to do. I talked with my family and weighed the pros and cons of both. Enlightenment often comes from the most unexpected places. My son, with all his ten-year-old wisdom chimed in: “Mom, your last company betrayed you and that is not good. The Planet needs you!” Now, how was I going to argue with that?

I immediately accepted the offer with The Planet, and the day I started knew it was the best decision I had ever made.

In my short tenure I’ve learned that one of our core values is about passion for the business and for our customers, and those “aha” moments come every day. The team here at The Planet offers an immediate feeling that I belong , and they are glad I finally made it.

I may have traded my thirteen years for 42 days, but the rewards are already priceless. I am proud to be part of this company and look forward to work every day.

I still think this is one of the coolest offices around. I gaze onto downtown Houston with a smile on my face. It is so much more than just a job — it’s a true sense of belonging. When I attend meetings and get to hear about the great things that we are working on, I am thrilled to be a part of it. It is a new horizon that seems endless in opportunities. I am still in awe of the massive amount of knowledge that sits behind these glass and steel walls.

Just like Columbus explored his new world, I am navigating my very own Planet. Although I doubt seriously he had to worry about throughput and bandwidth on his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

-Tracy

Smack dab in the middle of downtown Houston’s theater district sits the somewhat ambiguous – and intriguing – structure we call The Planet HQ. Just walking into the place is an awe-inspiring undertaking. It’s an old conference center that has been completely renovated with offices, conference rooms and catwalks. At this very moment, if I look to the right I see a neon blue-lit Ferris wheel spinning at the Aquarium restaurant complex across the road, and I can’t help but feel a little intimidated by the environment.

I recently joined The Planet as a Sr. Technical Support Specialist, so part of the intimidation might be the “new job” aspect. The place looks nice and the people seem great, so there has to be a catch. I’ve been around the block in the IT industry’s call centers and their ilk, and my honest expectation was to be hurled into the important, but somewhat soul-sucking, role of being a nameless cog in a corporate machine. That isn’t the case at all here.

I’m amazed by the depth of effort each of The Planet’s departments puts into interconnectivity. Yes, I answer phones, take care of customer concerns and work on servers, but what makes the real difference is the fact that everyone – and I mean everyone – has the opportunity to participate in the inner workings of The Planet as a whole.

My primary focus is helping our customers get the results they want, and at the same time, I have the opportunity to research, develop and contribute to every aspect of The Planet’s business. If I think something could be done better and have an idea on how to fix it, I won’t be dropping a card into a bottomless suggestion box … I’ll be contacting the person in charge – even up to the CEO – and presenting it myself. From what I’ve witnessed, those recommendations are taken seriously. Employees are empowered to make their jobs better and make customers happier. That’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

I’m still pretty new here, and the natural intimidation I felt when I first walked into this building hasn’t completely worn off. But as I start to feel a little more comfortable, I can’t help but be proud that I have the opportunity to work with a company that treats its employees the way The Planet does. Not only does the environment give me the enthusiasm to do what needs to be done, but I honestly believe this approach will take the company to the top. If you ask me, that’s the kind of company I want to be a part of.

This may all sound like a PR spiel, but I can’t think of any other way to be more honest about my impressions as a first-month employee entering the fray. In the coming months, I hope to elaborate more on some of the actual operations happening here and talk about some of the services we’re building and providing. There’s definitely some exciting stuff in the works, and I’m looking forward to diving in head-first and giving you all a sneak peek.

-Ryan

What defines “value” in hosting for you? Is it all about price? The quality of the server? The quality of the network? Is it an intangible peace of mind? Where do great service and support fit in?

In 2010, The Planet is raising the bar. We are on a quest to bring our customers the best hosting value, and we’ve started making some big changes. We’ve lowered many of our regular server prices and added new server lines to our product catalog, including a low-end model with Intel’s newest Pentium G6950 processor.

You shouldn’t need a special deal to get a great server at the best price, and our new approach to pricing guarantees that for you.

While lowering prices is a good first step in becoming a leading provider of value hosting, it’s just that — the first step. We know that you want to run and maintain your server with as little interference as possible, so we just launched a value bundle program to empower you with the tools you need: With every new server you purchase from The Planet, we’re going to provide a free control panel, 10 GB of free cloud storage and free Symantec antivirus software. That’s not for a limited time — it’s a permanent value-add.

Thus far, we’ve only talked about a few of the server-side changes we’ve made, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Value hosting is not defined by bottom lines and add-ons. The most valuable hosting offering is the one that provides the best data centers, network and support for a given budget, so we’re investing in those areas of our business.

Since value is perceived on a customer-by-customer basis, your experience is our focus. In the coming weeks and months, you’ll hear about some of the huge investments we’re making to increase your satisfaction. The Planet has always been known for the quality of our service, and we’re not resting on our laurels. We want your experience to be even better.

If you’re interested in learning more about our new offerings and Twitter-exclusive deals, be sure to follow @ThePlanetSales.

2010 is already an exciting year at The Planet!

-Kevin

On January 12, Haiti was rocked by a series of devastating earthquakes. In the past week, people from around the world have come together to provide supplies and support to the Haitian people and their ravaged nation. More than $24 million has been pledged via text message to the American Red Cross International Response Fund , and groups like Doctors Without Borders, Shelterbox, AmeriCares and International Medical Corps have been working around-the-clock to provide as much help as possible.

With all of the ongoing relief efforts, it has been difficult to decide how we could be involved and make the biggest difference without making our involvement seem like it’s about us. It turns out we’re not alone in that sentiment. Over the past week, The Planet has been working with other hosting companies including Rackspace, PEER 1, GoGrid and ServInt to create an industry-wide campaign to provide relief:

We know the power we have as a group exceeds the sum of the contributions we could make on our own, so we’re putting aside our fierce competitiveness for the greater social good. If you’re able to help, you can be sure you’re making a difference.

Visit HostingForHaiti.com to learn more about how you can help by donating to the American Red Cross and spreading the word about this effort.

If you’re a Web host and you’d like to join this industry-wide effort by posting a blog and spreading the word to your social network, e-mail info@hostingforhaiti.com to be included.

Follow the progress of the effort on Twitter by following @hostingforhaiti or searching for the #hostingforhaiti hash-tag.

We hope to make a difference through our unified efforts by providing immediate assistance to the tens of thousands of Haitians in need. Please join us to expand our reach.

Sir Isaac Newton saw an apple drop from a tree, and started contemplating gravity. Albert Einstein was riding in a street car, and Bern’s clock tower inspired the key to special relativity. Larry Page woke up in the middle of the night to scribble down a plan to download the Web, and Google was born. These “Eureka!” moments get the most fanfare, but Thomas Edison reminds us that “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

The same can be said about new businesses and software applications: Even the best ideas require time, diligence, resources and a whole lot of work to succeed. If you’re a small business owner, you probably won’t make it very far by spending an hour a week executing your business plan. If you’re a developer, you won’t be able to code and test “the next Google” on an old Pentium II desktop in your closet.

While we can’t provide the inspiration, diligence or “whole lot of work” pieces of the puzzle, our new Sand Castle program can give you the resources and time you need to jumpstart your vision:

• A Dual Xeon server
• An Enterprise-class data center
• An Industry-leading network
• FREE for 12 Months.

The costs of rolling out new business plans and testing software can be prohibitive, especially in uncertain economic times. So think of Sand Castle as an economic stimulus for entrepreneurs and developers. We’re providing an online environment to help launch the next big Internet success.

The initial Sand Castle deployment includes up to 500 servers, and The Planet’s Chairman and CEO Doug Erwin looks at it like this: “With eight data centers, we’re in a position to offer a single server to 500 individuals who want to start their own businesses. These 500 servers could create 500 jobs, and then we’ll have taken one small step to pay it forward and be part of the solution.”

FREE Server Configurations

We consulted with many developers, and with their feedback, we set minimum server specs for this program:

• Dual Xeon 2.4, 2.8 or 3.2
• 1GB RAM
• 146 GB of HDD space
• 10Mbps Unmetered Bandwidth
• Operating System: CentOS 5

Eligibility

Are you a developer? Do you have a vision for a new application or service? Do you need help turning that vision into reality? If so, you’re perfect for the Sand Castle program.

Fill out the one-page signup form with your contact information and vision for a Sand Castle server. We expect demand to exceed our initial supply, so quantities may be limited, and not every application will be accepted. Take time to detail your plans and provide any applicable examples to give yourself the best chance.

If you’ve got the inspiration, it’s time for some perspiration. Visit the Sand Castle page to learn more and apply!

-Kevin

P.S. If you know of any friends who may be interested in the program, be sure to Tweet this, Digg it, email it or smoke-signal it.

At the end of my Learning from a Blender post, I alluded to a project George Wright’s presentation inspired. Armed with a video camera and a bit of inspiration, I headed to our H2 data center to capture our own “obvious” video for our customers. Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” series features their Total Blender in a way few had ever seen a blender before. Blenders are designed to dice and slice, so they recorded themselves dicing and slicing … albiet a few unconventional objects.

We help our customers build their businesses on servers in our data centers, so why not disassemble a server and rebuild it on camera for you? While the server-building process isn’t nearly as noisy or destructive as blending marbles, it gives our customers an opportunity to see their server – or in this case, one like it – from a different perspective: inside-out.

When I asked the data center managers about recording a server build on video, they jumped at the opportunity. Transparency is one of The Planet’s goals, and by showing you how your server’s components fit together, we’re giving you that “insider” perspective.

Follow Scott Stanley, an H2 data center supervisor, as he builds a Xeon 3060 – SAS server:

Key Components:

• 2.4 GHz Intel Xeon “Conroe” 3060 processor
• 4GB DD2 667 ECC RAM
• 146GB 10K RPM SAS HDD
• SAS drive card
• Dell PowerEdge 840 tower chassis

If you’ve never seen how all of the components are laid out inside a server, consider this your crash course. Do you have any questions about the server construction process? Is there anything “behind the scenes” like this that you want to see for yourself? Leave a comment below and let us know!

-Kevin

P.S. The background music is courtesy of Brandon Holbrook at Royalty Free Music X. Thanks Brandon!

Will it blend? That is the question.

If those words evoke mental images of diced golf balls, shredded iPhones or powdered marbles, you’re one of the tens of millions of people who have watched Blendtec’s virally successful “Will It Blend?” video series.

At a conference I recently attended, Blendtec Vice President of Marketing & Sales George Wright explained the inspirational genesis of the “Will It Blend?” phenomenon: While walking through the company’s factory, he came across a pile of wood shavings on the floor. Since wood isn’t used in the production of most commercial-grade blenders, the sight was unexpected and borderline worrisome. When a few assembly line workers saw his confusion – and concern – they explained that company founder Tom Dickson was testing a new blade design on a two-by-four and that everything would be cleaned up quickly … No big deal.

This kind of “testing” didn’t cause much of a commotion in the factory, but George saw potential. Armed with a $50 starting budget, “Will it Blend?” was born. As the series approaches its 100th YouTube upload and 100,000,000th video view, it’s fairly safe to say that the $50 was well spent.

What made the video a success? What was the secret sauce? George’s first bullet-point: Obviousness.

Of course people want to see a blender face off against a Chuck Norris action figure. Of course they’ll tune in to see you destroy the impossible-to-get-at-the-time iPhone. Of course people want to see why your blender is better at blending than any other blender on the face of the planet. Is that the case? I can’t say I’ve seen any other blender destroy a rake handle:

Taking Blendtec’s “obviousness” cue, I headed up to our H2 data center with a video camera and came back with a video. Do you want to see it?

-Kevin

P.S. Yes, I jumped when the rake hit the blade the first time.