Message received 2003-06-03 from 'Jim McAtee':
> I just completed the survey and I'm a little baffled. Does Tucows really
> not understand the concept of DNS to the degree exemplified in the survey?
This struck me as well. I assumed that calling these "DNS services" was
done because they needed a convenient catch-all for what must otherwise
be called "non-hosting domain services". I wouldn't be the least
surprised if an announcement came out down the road that Tucows was
purchasing Hostopia. (And wouldn't THAT be ironic....)
On Tue, Jun 03, 2003 at 06:32:09PM -0700, Tim Woodcock wrote:
>
> I had a nice conversation with one of the sales reps, and now suddenly
> they are deciding to directly compete with us. Perhaps this is just
> coincidence.
No, you're wrong on both counts. There is no coincidence because Tucows
is doing precisely what they said they'd do, and Tucows is not competing
with you as long as your business is to sell domain-related services to
end users.
Like any company, Tucows' goal is to sell services. And being wise and
knowledgeable about the Internet, they've realized that they can
eliminate much of the cost of doing business by positioning themselves
such that they don't have to deal with users. To that end, they get
Resellers to maintain the relationship with customers, while they focus
on developing and refining the basic services that are provided.
It's a laudable ambition, and they've done an excellent job developing
their business to support it.
Not all of us fall into the category that comprises Tucows' largest RSP
demographic. Bear in mind that they *do* have to generate profit, which
means that they have to provide products and services. Nobody's forcing
you to use them.
There are three problems here.
The first problem is that every time a new product is offered, Tucows
changes the way many of us will do business. Heck, we have a hard
enough time keeping afloat as it is -- now we have to readjust our
prices and service offering every time Tucows smooths out our latest
"edge" over the competition.
The second problem is that by offering roughly generic white-label
service, Tucows increases the base level of service expected by the
average customer. We *have* to offer whatever Tucows offers (whether or
not we do it through Tucows) because if we don't, we'll be seen as
failing to provide what 90% of the competition does.
The third problem is that Tucows' product offering competes directly
with services we offer. If the pricing-related questions in the survey
are anything to go by and Tucows really does offer web and email
forwarding for a few bucks a year or less, there's no way we can
continue selling it at $25 per year, because a large portion of the
competition will sell it for a dollar more than whatever OpenSRS
charges.
The Internet's been commercial for over a decade, and despite Tucows'
best efforts customers *still* accept substandard customer service in
order to save a buck.
So ... do I object? You betcha. Do I have a leg to stand on? Not
really. Will Tucows listen to objections made by a minority of RSPs for
whom this product offering is a Bad Thing? Sure, they'll listen. But a
squeaky wheel won't stop the cart, if you'll pardon a mangled metaphor.
> >
> > Domain redirection, domain parking ("under construction") and email
> > forwarding are in no, way, shape or form DNS services. These are web
> > hosting and email hosting services. Yes, these services are provided by
> > other registrars, so I suppose I understand where the idea came from. But
> > it's a pretty bad fit given what I understand to be OpenSRS' current
> > customer base. You're bound to cheese off folks who already offer these
> > services, and who may have a strategic advantage over other OpenSRS
> > resellers by offering them ("value added" or some other such buzzword). Not
> > to mention the time and money they may have already invested in developing
> > these systems in-house.
> >
> > I'm almost tempted to say that if you're going to go there, then just sell
> > the whole package of resalable web hosting services as well as domain name
> > registration and quit screwing around with bits and pieces that require a
> > lot of real work for the reseller to integrate. Sure, you'll join the ranks
> > of thousands of web hosting providers that provide reseller accounts, but
> > maybe you can bank on your name and reputation as a registrar. There's very
> > little doubt, though, that you'd enrage a large percentage of your
> > resellers.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Abel Wisman" <abel@able-towers.com>
> > To: <discuss-list@opensrs.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 2:15 PM
> > Subject: Tucows survey
> >
> >
> > > When mail was added as a "wanted" service several of us protested and
> > > predicted that more and more "hosting" services would follow.
> > >
> > > Here is the next one in the making.
> > >
> > > At one time, when openSRA started the promise was made never to move
> > > into the territory of those who were then selling or even going to sell
> > > the domains. Slowly but surely that has changed and Tucows will use its
> > > enormous base brought to it by those in those days that believed in the
> > > principles to conquer an even more prominent place on the internet. From
> > > largest domain registrar to largest whole-sale supplier of hosting add
> > > ons.
> > >
> > > I am more then dissapointed.
> >
>
-- Paul Chvostek <paul@it.ca> Operations / Abuse / Whatever it.canada, hosting and development http://www.it.ca/
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