July 15, 2011 at 13:12The work of the hosting company from the inside
We already tried on Habré to open a curtain of mystery for a hosting company. In our first post of our corporate blog, we held a "Virtual Open Day" and clearly demonstrated to readers the everyday life of data center workers. Judging by the number of views on the post and the fact that the link to the tour is still on the corresponding Wikipedia page , readers liked the idea. But the work of the hosting company is not limited to only one data center (if only because we do not have one). We will try to tell you as much as possible about how organizational processes as a whole work. Of course, it is worth noting that each hoster has its own specifics. There are hosting companies consisting of one person, and there are several dozen.
Our additional feature is that TEL Hosting ( hosting.tel.ru ) is a division of the telecommunications company TEL ( tel.ru) and some specialists work simultaneously in several parallel areas. We think that the subject will be of interest to many, and even useful to some. Recently, for example, we often encounter customer complaints regarding the company's work schedule. On our website, it is stated that technical support works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but customers swear very much when requests sent to the sales department on Saturday are processed only on Monday. Naturally, they are not from anger, but from ignorance - we are not offended! They just decided that next time it would be easier to give a link to this article than to explain each time - what and why.
Let's start in order. As we have already mentioned, we have two data centers in Moscow. On the Baltic, mainly located servers for our own needs of our company (IP-telephony, Internet, etc.), most of the client projects are located at Elektrozavodskaya. In each of the data centers, two engineers and a technical support service work in shifts. The company’s office is located in the same building as the data center on the Baltic (but on different floors). In addition to support, they take part in the hosting, one way or another:
-the information service department (lovely girls with whom you talk when you call us)
-the internet hosting department (which is logical)
-the PR marketing department (hello Habr!)
-The sales department
Network Operations
Division IP Networks Division
How much has been screwed up here - readers will say! What to do, our specifics have already been mentioned ... Let's imagine better on the diagram how it all works.
Reception
Choosing the necessary service on the site, the client calls our company and gets to the reception. Girls redirect the call to the web hosting department. Often, customers use several of our company’s services at once, therefore they cannot immediately find out which telephone you can contact directly with the right specialist. Naturally, active hosting users contact the sales department through an extension number.
Web hosting department
Department Managers:
Technical support
After installing the server, customers should contact support with any technical questions. Technical support staff really work 24/7/365 and are ready to help you with all current problems. In the event of complex non-standard situations, the client is redirected to the Internet hosting department again, and from there to the IP network specialists in transit.
Other departments
Clients do not directly contact the operations and IP networks departments, except in very rare cases. You can talk with the marketing and PR department, for example, here on Habré.
...
It happened somehow. Hope not too scared. For customers, everything looks much simpler to us, although small overlays still happen. But he is not mistaken, only he who does nothing.
Our additional feature is that TEL Hosting ( hosting.tel.ru ) is a division of the telecommunications company TEL ( tel.ru) and some specialists work simultaneously in several parallel areas. We think that the subject will be of interest to many, and even useful to some. Recently, for example, we often encounter customer complaints regarding the company's work schedule. On our website, it is stated that technical support works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but customers swear very much when requests sent to the sales department on Saturday are processed only on Monday. Naturally, they are not from anger, but from ignorance - we are not offended! They just decided that next time it would be easier to give a link to this article than to explain each time - what and why.
Let's start in order. As we have already mentioned, we have two data centers in Moscow. On the Baltic, mainly located servers for our own needs of our company (IP-telephony, Internet, etc.), most of the client projects are located at Elektrozavodskaya. In each of the data centers, two engineers and a technical support service work in shifts. The company’s office is located in the same building as the data center on the Baltic (but on different floors). In addition to support, they take part in the hosting, one way or another:
-the information service department (lovely girls with whom you talk when you call us)
-the internet hosting department (which is logical)
-the PR marketing department (hello Habr!)
-The sales department
Network Operations
Division IP Networks Division
How much has been screwed up here - readers will say! What to do, our specifics have already been mentioned ... Let's imagine better on the diagram how it all works.
Reception
Choosing the necessary service on the site, the client calls our company and gets to the reception. Girls redirect the call to the web hosting department. Often, customers use several of our company’s services at once, therefore they cannot immediately find out which telephone you can contact directly with the right specialist. Naturally, active hosting users contact the sales department through an extension number.
Web hosting department
Department Managers:
- Advise potential clients on the provision of services
- Conclude service agreements
- Give discounts to good customers
- Transfer dedicated and collocation clients to data center employees
- Coordinate the process of interaction between departments
- Engaged in reporting (but this is not interesting)
Technical support
After installing the server, customers should contact support with any technical questions. Technical support staff really work 24/7/365 and are ready to help you with all current problems. In the event of complex non-standard situations, the client is redirected to the Internet hosting department again, and from there to the IP network specialists in transit.
Other departments
Clients do not directly contact the operations and IP networks departments, except in very rare cases. You can talk with the marketing and PR department, for example, here on Habré.
...
It happened somehow. Hope not too scared. For customers, everything looks much simpler to us, although small overlays still happen. But he is not mistaken, only he who does nothing.