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Concentric and Insight Join Forces to Provide Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses With Leading-Edge E-Business Solutions Insight to Feature Concentric's Premiere Web Hosting and E-Commerce Solutions, Allowing Businesses to Efficiently Establish a Full Scale, Customized Web Store in Hours
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Concentric Network Corp. (Nasdaq: CNCX - news), a leading provider of e-business solutions for small- to medium-sized companies, is teaming with computer direct marketer Insight, a subsidiary of Insight Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: NSIT - news), to deliver Web hosting and e-commerce solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB). Endorsing the ConcentricHost(TM) line of Web hosting and e-commerce solutions marks the first such offering for Insight, further augmenting Insight's extensive product selection of over 100,001 brand name computer, hardware and software offerings. This extensive channel will provide Concentric with exposure to hundreds of thousands of members of Insight's subscription service. Additionally, Concentric will provide Insight's discount pricing to its vast customer base, demonstrating Concentric's continued commitment to facilitating the success of the SMB segment.
''We are extremely pleased that Insight has chosen to offer our hosting and e-commerce solutions to their extensive customer base,'' said Henry R. Nothhaft, chairman, president and CEO of Concentric Network. ''Insight is known in the marketplace as a leader in e-commerce innovation, so their selection of our suite of Web hosting solutions speaks volumes. Now Insight can add innovative e-business services to their growing list of top brand name hardware and software offerings. Additionally, our customer base will be able to purchase discounted hardware and software packages from Insight.com, at aggressively low prices.''
Web Hosting and E-Commerce Services
The ConcentricHost platform includes an intuitive, browser-based site builder tool that comes complete with a roster of professionally designed vertical market content packages, designed to simplify the task of creating a Web site. The e-commerce suite enables businesses to create a simple catalog site or a more advanced online storefront with real-time credit card transactions. CyberCash technology has been integrated into the service to absolve the need to work with multiple sources to establish real-time credit card processing capability. Moreover, users can effortlessly scale their Web site to align with the growth of their business, adding more advanced e-commerce enabled features without having to alter their existing Web site design.
Comprised of fault tolerant, load sharing clusters of UNIX machines designed to pool the resources of the entire cluster, the ConcentricHost platform delivers the best possible performance for all customers, even under conditions of very large traffic spikes or hardware failure of individual machines.
''With Concentric's solutions, Insight's customers now have a simple and cost-effective way to establish a full-scale, customized Web store in a matter of hours,'' said Michael Gumbert, president of Insight. ''We believe our customers will be excited about Concentric's easy-to-use Internet business solutions and that Concentric's customers will be thrilled with Insight's value, extensive selection of brand name products and industry-leading customer service. This is an extension of our continuing efforts to give Insight customers the widest and deepest selection of products and services, while remaining focused on our virtual inventory model.''
About Insight
Insight is a leading global direct marketer of brand name computers, hardware and software, offering a broad line of more than 100,001 brand name products primarily to small- and medium-sized businesses in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Germany. Products are sold via the Internet at www.insight.com and by a staff of customer-dedicated account executives through a combination of proactive outbound telephone-based sales, electronic commerce, and electronic marketing. Insight Enterprises, Inc.'s net sales for the 12 months ended September 30, 1999 were $1.39 billion. For additional company information, call 800-INSIGHT or visit www.insight.com.
About Concentric Network Corporation
Concentric Network Corporation provides complete, easy-to-use Internet business solutions for small- to medium-sized companies and customized Virtual Private Network and data center services for larger organizations. Concentric's portfolio of services for small- to medium-sized companies includes high-speed DSL access, Web hosting and e-commerce. For larger enterprises, the company offers dedicated Web hosting and data center services. Concentric is the first application infrastructure provider, offering a suite of infrastructure services that enable application service providers to deliver applications and Web-based services over the Internet or a VPN. Concentric's VPN solutions enable an organization to securely and reliably communicate with its offices, mobile sales force, business partners, vendors and customers. Concentric's services rely on a high-performance, ATM-based network that covers North America, and through various partnerships, reaches internationally. Concentric also operates state-of-the-art hosting centers at strategic locations across the U.S. All Concentric services are backed by 24 hour/7 days a week customer support, and many are backed by strong service level agreements.
The company has received Most Innovative ISP two-years in a row from Inter@ctive Week, and recently received two Well-Connected Awards from Network Computing for Most Innovative Service Provider of the Year and for Best Enterprise Internet Service Provider for ConcentricHost(TM). Deloitte & Touche recently ranked Concentric the 6th fastest growing technology company in Silicon Valley, as part of their Fast 50 Program.
The company consistently receives top ratings by Inverse Network Technology, an independent research firm that grades the performance of network service providers each month. Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol ''CNCX,'' Concentric Network is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with operations offices in Southern California, Chicago, Il., St. Louis, Mo., and Saginaw, Mich., along with sales and channel support across the U.S. For more information, access the company's Web site at concentric.net or contact Public Relations at publicrelations@concentric.com.
Concentric has reached an agreement to acquire Internet Technology Group plc (AIM: ITH.L), a leading provider of Internet access and hosting for businesses in the UK. The acquisition is subject to Internet Technology Group shareholder, court and regulatory approvals and is currently expected to close in the fourth quarter of 1999.
This press release contains forward looking statements regarding Concentric's proposed acquisition of Internet Technology Group plc (ITG), and the potential benefits to be realized by the combined groups, including but not limited to expansion of Internet services into Europe, that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including the requirement for Internet Technology Group stockholder, court and regulatory approval, and the ability of the combined groups to successfully integrate and expand their service offerings.
NOTE: Concentric Network Corporation, the Concentric logo and ConcentricHost are registered trademarks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Concentric Network Corp. |
