Equator

Glasgow-based full service e-business and online marketing agency, Equator, is at the top of a list of internet development agencies in the UK. Web hosting is a key element of their success and they demand 100% uptime and 100% dedication from their support team - which is why they chose Rackspace to manage and maintain their web and database servers.

Around the world in eighty ways
In the complex sphere of internet e-commerce, intranet and extranet development, a company which circumnavigates the long list of applications and skills necessary to bring it all together is appropriately named Equator

Full Service e-business
This Glasgow-based full service e-business and online marketing agency is at the top of a list of internet development agencies in the UK and serves a multitude of clients in diverse business sectors, from the ‘Vorsprung Dürch Technik’ of Audi vehicle dealers, leisure success stories from Haven holidays, Butlins and Travel Inn to e-commerce and online marketing for telecoms giant ntl as well as the latest in ladies fashion from Pretty Polly.

Web development is no longer sufficient to describe the huge range of activities offered by Equator.

The company offers Strategic development, customer relations, total supply chain management, e-commerce, e-business, online marketing and all the requisite site development and up to the minute content management that keeps a website fully up-to -date and relevant to its users. This is far nearer the descriptive mark, but not quite as snappy as a two word title, so we’ll stick to calling ourselves a full service e-business and online marketing agency.

Tailored Solutions
John McLeish is the Managing Director at Equator; he revealed the importance of the huge range of online marketing and e-business options now available to web clients throughout the world. “Our approach to every client is essentially individual. We listen very carefully to what they say, assess their needs and provide a tailored solution that covers every aspect of their requirements and more importantly helps them achieve the objectives they have set with measurable results. Everything we do on behalf of our clients must have a business case.”

John added, “To be able to provide such a complex end to end service requires us to be very confident in our ability to deliver the goods. We manage complex sites for over 20 clients, ranging from simple front end marketing through to fully integrated ecommerce offerings that change by the second.”

We demand 100% uptime
John went on to say, “As you can imagine we are very reliant on web hosting as a key element of our success. We demand 100% uptime and 100% dedication from our support team, which is why I chose Rackspace® to manage and maintain our web and database servers.”

Service, Reliability and Technical capability
When asked how this decision arose, he replied, “We looked at the managed hosting market over three years ago and at the time we short listed 20 potential suppliers to become a long-term partner in our rapidly growing enterprise. Our criteria for selection were very specific; service, reliability, and technical capability. Surprisingly, for a Scotsman, the issue of cost was not a key factor in the final decision!”

Extraordinary claims
John explained, “We chose Rackspace because of its unique Fanatical Support® and the claimed 100% network uptime, though I must confess that at the time I was a bit sceptical of the marketing hype. Today, I readily admit that they have not only measured up to their extraordinary claims, but have often surpassed them in their genuine wish to ensure that our business maintains its 100% record of uptime. Now I can comfortably visit a prospect or a client and explain that the foundation and security of our websites is totally managed and served by Rackspace. I have found this to be a real benefit when closing business, as I can be totally confident that our hosted sites will always be up and available for immediate access, which for ecommerce sites is absolutely critical to business, as downtime equates to lost orders.”

41 fully managed domains
“Rackspace host a number of Windows servers on our behalf at their secure data centre near London Heathrow. They have supplied all the necessary hardware and relevant software along with load balancing and firewalls plus the fully managed backup of every site on every server. We now manage 41 domains on behalf of a wide range of clients and offer bandwidth of 700Gb /month, though with the Rackspace hosting contract this can be exceeded without interruption of service should the need arise.”

Business relationship
John concluded “I am absolutely delighted with the exemplary service and support we have received from Rackspace. It is so reassuring to have a business partner you can trust to deliver a 100% service, 100% of the time, as it reflects incredibly well on us. I am very happy to acknowledge that their claims of Fanatical Support and 100% uptime are completely and utterly true and I see our business relationship growing and developing for a very long time, as I do not believe another company could match their levels of customer care.”

For information on how Equator can help solve your e-business problems call John McLeish on 0141 229 1800 or email HJohn.McLeish@eqtr.comH. You can also visit the website at Hwww.eqtr.comH.

For advanced hosting call Rackspace on 0800 988 0100 or visit the website at www.rackspace.co.uk