Category: Business

Melbourne IT NetRegistry Acquisition

I found out yesterday that Melbourne IT is to acquire NetRegistry, and in my view it’s buying it for a steal ($50.4m). Deja vu – Melbourne IT bought WebCentral in 2006, and all it’s done in the meantime is bleed it dry. The irony is that Melbourne IT claims the “WebCentral plan” bled it dry. With no investment in skills and technology renewal, who in the industry is surprised? WebCentral lost some of the most skilled people in the hosting industry in the aftermath of the takeover, and Melbourne IT did nothing at all to either retain them or to invest in skilled replacements.

I became a WebCentral partner a decade ago, and in that time saw the flourishing company turn into a basket case, and the moment that happened was when the Melbourne IT accountants took over. It was a sad day when I made the decision to transfer my clients to other providers, but it had to be done for the sake of my clients. Unfortunately, one of the gaining providers was a brilliant company called TPP Wholesale – who subsequently became part of the NetRegistry family – and so I find myself back in the Melbourne IT fold.

Melbourne IT is a woeful, myopic and chaotic company to work with. Now that NetRegistry CEO Larry Bloch now sits on the board of Melbourne IT, I can only hope he will help them clean up their act.

In the meantime, I’m looking for yet another new provider…

February 28, 2014
Host hostage

Negotiating on behalf of a client today, hard-ass credit department guy on the other end of the phone says:

“Mate, what’s your hourly rate? Why don’t you whip out your wallet and we can fix this right away. Cheaper than the time you have wasted talking to me.”

I had to humour him.

“I like to believe that — like you — I’m good at my job. And that involves getting the right outcome for my client, end of story.”

“I can hear your wallet slipping out of your pocket” he says, with a cavalier smugness.

“Nice try”

“Well I will when you call me again tomorrow”

This guy is used to getting his way. The curious thing is that I was negotiating on behalf of a client whose bill is fully paid up. Their account has consistently been in good order for more than a decade. What our credit department friend was doing here was holding my customer to ransom, in order to recoup funds owed by a different account owner who is merely acquainted with my client. “Clearing this account”, he assured me, “will get your customer’s stuff working again right away.”

Naming and shaming

Now this is not a small, high-risk, fly-by-night company I’m talking about, this is Melbourne IT. To think that the credit department at Melbourne IT would allow such unconscionable conduct is not only surprising, I’m not even sure it’s legal. I have complained to the highest level I can get to in the company, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough.

Melbourne IT has been a sick company for a while, and WebCentral (the web hosting arm I deal with) has for the longest time been the bleeding rag that it stuffs into its wounds. WebCentral was a great company before it was sold off by its original owners. Having clung on for so long, I think it’s time to cut this one adrift. If you are considering hosting your website or email services with WebCentral, or any Melbourne IT company, do your research first.

November 5, 2012
Out of a Jobs

News just in: Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple Inc. His resignation letter doesn’t say why, but I don’t think there are any surprises as to the reason.

Jobs has had a major influence on the destiny of Apple, with his recent decisions positioning Apple very strongly in the short term. It’s said that Apple today has more cash reserves than the US Treasury. Whether this position can be maintained by his successor Tim Cook remains to be seen, but it’ll be a tough job.

All the best to Jobs – a man who has arguably changed the world.

August 25, 2011
Time to face the fax

I have decided to bite the bullet and get rid of the fax line. There was a time when it had a purpose, but now the vast bulk of what I receive via fax is spam, or material that could have just as easily been sent as an email (and that includes the spam). Furthermore, when government departments stop faxing you and move onto email you know it’s time to move on.

So thank you fax line, it’s been nice having you.

August 24, 2011
Scamtastic!

This scam has been going around for a while – someone from an alleged PC security company (sometimes even “Telstra” or “Microsoft”) calls up and talks you through getting to your computer’s event log. The event log is a technical record of the things done by your computer and always has a lot of stuff in it, including errors and warnings. That’s perfectly normal. However these scammers create a sense of fear in you by telling you that this is “junk and malicious stuff”, and it is “infesting the hard drive of your computer”.

They will then ask you to navigate to a website called www.ammyy.com where they will then get you to download a program that gives them remote control of your computer. At some point in this exercise they will get hold of your credit card details, at which point you can consider yourself well and truly scammed. In case you ever wanted to hear what typically transpires, have a listen here:

These clowns have called me three times today, and twice I have played along. On the last go, I decided to record the conversation. During this call I clearly got busted… “You know we’re a scam, right?”… great stuff. In case you ever encounter such a phone call, a couple of phone numbers they may call from are 03-90149568 and 03-90149868.

Now, it’s important for me to explain that my PABX only records conversations on demand (if you listen carefully you may hear me keying in the command during the course of the conversation), and that this recording was made and is published pursuant to Part 4, Section 45 of the Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (QLD), namely the public interest clause. Besides, express permission was given by them during the course of the phone call. Do I have my bases covered?

August 19, 2011