comarch.rocks – thanks to the new gTLDs
The eco Names & Numbers Forum was guest at the ecoTrialog #17 in Dresden with a discussion panel. Comarch AG, provider of CRM/ERP systems and operator of several data centers, played host in their new home in Dresden, and offered a glimpse into their new data center.
More namespace for more creativity
The topic for the eco event “Looking beyond the horizon…” was not only the current status of storage solutions for data centers and video conferencing via UMTS, but of course also the new Top-Level Domains. Thomas Rickert, Director of the Names & Numbers Competence Group at eco, brought the participants up-to-date on the topic. “With ICANN‘s new gTLD-Program, the biggest revolution that the Domain Name System (DNS) has ever seen is in full swing – and it wouldn’t surprise me if not everyone here in this room is aware of it.” So he gave some clarification: Which new gTLDs are interesting for data center operators and their suppliers? How can web hosters and online service providers supplement their portfolios with domain offers? How would it be if in future your company could be reached under such addresses as “heineken.beer” or “your_company.services”? And for those who look beyond the horizon, Rickert suggested domains like “emergency-power.guru” or “comarch.rocks”.
Rent a car and donate – with one click
Best-practice examples from the field for the use of the new gTLDs were presented by Carolin Silbernagl from .hiv and Ronald Schwärzler from .wien. The best schnitzel in Vienna is soon to be found at schnitzel.wien and the current public transport timetables are already available at remise.wien, while accessing the site for the car rental company sixt via its .hiv domain automatically triggers a donation through the Registry for the battle against AIDS. “The donations for .hiv are of course free of charge for the visitors to the website,” Silbernagl explained. The new gTLDs have arrived in the online world and offer new possibilities for communication and marketing.
Regional marketing with the new gTLDs
But the new gTLDs are not only expanding the space for Domain names that have long been exhausted with the established TLDs like .com, .fr or .ca. They also bring new business models to the market and possibilities for special target groups and communities. “What regional company would not be interested in being reachable under the new TLD for their own city?” asked Roland Schwärzler. There are already other cities and regions along with .wien online, such as .nyc, .quebuc, .moscow, and .tokyo.
Domains can supplement almost any online business
The N&N finale was given by Thomas Lenz, from the newly founded domains consultancy DNTRUST GmbH in Cologne. The consultant and domain expert commented that “domains still do not have the status in many companies that is necessary today. The digital address in the Internet is just as important today as the postal address”. Ultimately, he continued, it is worth having your own domain portfolio updated and administered professionally, and in addition keeping an eye out among the new domain endings for appropriate keywords for your business. Echoing the words of Thomas Rickert, Thomas Lenz also suggested that, for providers of online services and hosting services, “it is easy, using appropriate white-label solutions from the large domain registrars, to expand your own portfolio of online services to include the product category Domains, and so to offer your customers added value.”
Networking in style
For one of the major characteristics of the ecoTrialog – the networking – the sponsors M+W Group and Cofely invited all participants respectively to a “Glühwein” at the famous Dresden Christmas Market and to the evening meal at a traditional “Brauhaus”. The following morning Globalfoundries – a manufacturer of micro-chips – offered the chance for participants to see their Dresden data center and one of their labs.
