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Strategies & Market Trends : LastShadow's Position Trading -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ynot who wrote (23330)	10/13/1999 1:45:00 AM
From: AlienTech	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 43080

Just your type of WOMAN, She wears the PANTS in the family! October 11, 1999 The Editor Barron's Magazine 200 Liberty St. New York, NY 10281 Fax: (212) 416-2829 To the Editor: "Parting the Waters" (Barron's 10/11/99) shows a lack of understanding of the complex Internet hosting market, as well as Exodus Communications' business. Reporter Cheryl Strauss Einhorn has based her story on the faulty premise that the hosting business - and Exodus' business model - is based on stringing together "warehouses" of customers' servers, and therefore the advantage lies with providers that own their networks. Unfortunately, this premise oversimplifies a very sophisticated business. The article reflects a number of factual inaccuracies as well. In the end, Ms. Einhorn fails to justify her claims in the face of Exodus' success, and does Barron's readers a disservice by misrepresenting the category, Exodus Communications and its customers. Exodus Communications, which pioneered the complex Internet hosting category four years ago, offers state-of-the-art Internet Data Center (IDC) facilities with the latest hardware, network, power systems and physical security technology (from biometric sensors to impenetrable vaults). Measures we take to ensure physical security of the premises include a single entrance manned at all times by security guards, and minimal external signage, so that we do not advertise the critical business housed in our IDCs. Unfortunately, Ms. Einhorn quotes an analyst who did not understand this and in turn, reported it out of context. Customer support is another crucial component of our IDC network that we have further enhanced. Contrary to Ms. Einhorn's report, in addition to the professionals staffing every data center around the clock, Exodus now offers all customers the support of a response center manned by 70 Internet experts. The response center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we certainly are not reducing or substituting for local IDC staff. Exodus also operates a uniquely robust network based on peering relationships with multiple vendors - more than 154 public and 48 private companies. Our Internet network capacity is well in excess of customers' requirements. And our IDCs are connected worldwide by the Exodus backbone network, comprised by lines from MCI WorldCom, Qwest, and soon Global Crossing. We lease lines from these carriers, but the information that flows through lines is controlled solely by Exodus. These lines give us the flexibility to route traffic around problems that any one carrier may have. Our real distinction, which Ms. Einhorn nearly overlooks altogether, is our portfolio of world-class services designed to help customers with vital Internet business operations maintain optimal performance. We enhance industry-leading technologies with proprietary code and the support of our professional staff, comprised of experts in site architecture, security and integration. Recent introductions include the Security Services Pack and the ReadyCache Content Distribution Service. We also launched the Rapid Deployment Initiative with Sun and Compaq to help companies get their Internet operations up and running as quickly as possible. Finally, it is unfortunate that the story contains factual inaccuracies, from misrepresentation of eBay's expanded relationship with Exodus, to misquoting me. I am very proud of Exodus' accomplishments, including growth in excess of 40 percent for 11 straight quarters, an increase in customers last quarter of more than 33% percent, and extraordinary gains in our proprietary services for customers of all sizes. Our business model is designed to give our customers the best possible support for the best possible performance, and to leverage, rather than to rely solely on, advances in networking technology. "Parting the Waters" does not explain the reasons for Exodus' achievements, cited in the first part of the article, despite the "flaws" that Ms. Einhorn claims to exist in our business model. I hope that Barron's readers will look to our achievements and to the majority of financial analysts for the facts, rather than to a sadly misleading article. Sincerely, Ellen M. Hancock President and CEO Exodus Communications 2831 Mission College Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95054