ICorp

Why use ICorp?

Aren't all hosting companies the same? Absolutely not!

1. We are experts - We've been involved since the beginning

At ICorp, we are not some Johnny-come-latelys that discovered the Internet while we were in college or high school, or learned html using Front Page. We've been pioneers in the Internet since the very beginning, and before that, we ran BBSes. The CEO, Mike Perry is an information systems specialist and has designed online information systems for the Department of Defense, United Nations, Childrens' Hospital and was a pioneer in developing the first online yellow pages prototype system for Bell Atlantic -- all before the Internet was conceived or accessible to the public.

In short, there are few in this industry that have been around longer. We know how things work because we've been involved in it since the beginning. Mike Perry is a contributor to the Apache web server project -- his code is running on more than half the web servers in the world. Mike designed an online hotel reservation system that was later sold to HOTELS.COM. He received "Editor's Choice" in PC Magazine for software he wrote in 1991. Mike Perry also co-authored a best-selling book, "HTML & CGI unleashed" published by SAMs/MacMillian press. There's a lot of tech experience in ICorp and its available to our clients.

2. Security

Other companies talk about security, but they don't really have any security -- their idea of "secure" is a graphic on their web page that says "hacker safe" - what a joke. At ICorp, security is priority #1. We do not allow shell access to our servers; we run a lot of proprietary software that nobody can reverse-engineer. There are NO wireless access points on any of our networks, and none on any of our employee LANs. Telnet and other systems are not open -- we don't need to lock our windows and doors because we have removed the windows and doors entirely in most cases. Our network operation center is locked and monitored and under 24hr guarded surveillance. Our systems have never been compromised. Our clients' data is rock solid. We have the best track record in the industry. We handle over US$2M in online credit card transactions a month and have been for more than a decade without any data loss.

3. Privacy

Our policies regarding e-mail privacy are the best in the industry. Nobody reads your e-mail but you. Nobody on staff ever is allowed to access the contents of customers' mail. We respect your privacy. We do not make copies of any e-mail. No personal information of this nature on our clients is archived EVER. If we were subpoenaed to provide e-mail correspondence relative to a client, the most we could ever provide would be any mail that's currently in their mailbox.

It's VERY IMPORTANT to note that for all we know, we may be the only ISP in the nation that does not archive and store our clients' private communiques. All the big ISPs do. Google, Yahoo, Hotmail... they all keep copies of every e-mail you've ever sent/received. Maybe you're comfortable with that, but at ICorp, we feel you should have the choice as to whether or not you want your personal information stored and controlled by a third party. You don't get choices like that with AT&T or GoDaddy or Dreamhost.

4. The best mail service

We take great pride in offering the fastest and best mail service around. There is no delay in mail moving through our system. If you use Bellsouth or AOL, sent messages seem to go into some huge queue that can take hours (if ever) to arrive at their destination. During this time it's likely that those ISPs are also copying your correspondence or allowing third party government agencies to screen data. This doesn't happen at ICorp. The mail system is *instantaneous*.

5. Innovative and productive spam filtering

At ICorp, we use a very advanced spam filtering system that respects your privacy. We filter spam based on the source, not the content of the message. This serves two significant purposes: a) It saves bandwidth and sends a message to spammers that their efforts are not working - it costs spammers money and time -- it's the only technique of stopping spam that really hurts spammers b) It respects your privacy and makes the mail service ultra-fast -- we do not examine the contents of a message to determine if it's spam. Whatever is in your e-mail is for your eyes only. Most other ISPs look at their customers' mail and use that to learn what is and isn't spam and they end up bouncing legitimate mail into "spam folders" or deleting it without ever letting the parties know their mail was undelivered. This never happens with ICorp. If we reject a message as spam, the sender immediately knows and is sent a link to fix the problem immediately. There is no better system in place in terms of performance, discouraging spammers and respecting your privacy. As a result, our system has fewer false positives and we never make mail "disappear" under any circumstance.

6. No middle-men

ICorp's network is on the Internet backbone, co-located with our sister company who is a CLEC (telephone company) - we are not renting bandwidth from someone else. We own the servers; we have direct access to routers and backbone systems. So if you're with us and your server is under attack, we can actually do something about it. You can't get that kind of protection with GoDaddy, Rackspace or any other large ISP. And the smaller ones have no clue how to stop these kinds of attacks because they have no control.

At ICorp, we control our own servers; we maintain our own RAID arrays and backup systems, DNS servers, mail servers and everything. We aren't using WYSIWIG software that breaks and has security flaws. We know how to compile server software from source code and do whatever is necessary at any level to provide you with the best performance and security possible. And if something goes wrong, even if it's not our fault (and usually it isn't) we'll find out what's wrong and fix it. Call GoDaddy or AT&T when you're having a problem with your web site -- they'll tell you to reboot your computer and leave them alone. You're talking to an ex-pizza delivery guy in a phone center reading off of a script. They can't help you like we can.

7. Maximum bandwidth; friendly pricing; our clients are treated like friends, not potential legal opponents.

At ICorp, unlike 99.9999% of all other ISPs, your bandwidth is not throttled. Each web client has as much bandwidth as they need because we understand the one time your company gets mentioned on TV is not the one time where you want your web site to crash and burn because you only paid for "The Economy Plan" and right in the middle of the most important publicity you've ever gotten, your site goes "poof". We have many clients who make most of their money on particular days of the year, like flower shops.. because they know when the chips are down, ICorp is there for them. We will bend over backwards to make sure your business is successful. We don't force clients into contracts - we have very common sense terms: we charge a flat rate and do whatever we can and if what you need requires a lot more resources, then and only then would we entertain the idea of additional charges and it's always up front. There are no hidden fees. Our clients tend to stay with us for 10+ years at a time and we really appreciate them. While cheaper companies have come and gone, we've basically maintained a modest set of prices that allow us to maintain a certain quality control that we think goes above and beyond the ordinary. We don't compete with WAL-MART-style ISPs like GoDaddy - our service is a higher, more personal level, and our ethics are way beyond. However, you may find we can offer competitive, even better prices than the cheaper ISPs, so contact us and find out!

8. Proactive, not reactive

Other ISPs basically only fix things when they break, and usually by that time there are serious consequences and problems for clients. We fix things before they break at ICorp. We monitor software systems and upgrade them before there are breaches; we constantly monitor our network and not ignore attacks like most other ISPs do, we routinely report attempted breakins to various authorities. We are ever-vigilant in monitoring other compromised machines that are trying to hack into YOUR ftp and e-mail accounts. We spot these things going on and we report them. Most other ISPs don't care. Why wait until you've been the victim of identity theft to realize someone guessed your e-mail password and has been intercepting your mail? We don't. We watch for what are called "brute force attacks", port scans and system probes. We contact administrators of these networks and report their compromised machines so one less attack point is shut down. Yes, it is time consuming, but it makes a difference. Big companies don't care because they charge their clients based on bandwidth and they like that 80% of most web and e-mail traffic is crap that you don't want, nor did you invite. We work to make the Internet safer. The 10 cents a day more our services might charge over a "cheap ISP" are more than made up the first time you avoid going down in flames when other companies who thought they were saving money crash and burn and have their customers' data stolen.

9. Wisdom

Want to know whether you should use flash or html? What's the best way to get a high listing in a search engine? How should you advertise your new web site? What's the best way to interface your in-house accounting system with your online store? We can help. We know these issues inside and out. Unlike all the scams out there selling you yellow-page listings and search engine placement, we will tell you how to do these things yourself. We have many clients who clearly admit our technology consulting played a pivotal role in the incredible success of their ventures. We know what works and what doesn't and since we want our clients to be around long term, we offer whatever insight and advice you desire as part of being our client.

10. Special services

If you need your site re-designed or a special custom system developed, we can help. We can either do for you, or refer you to someone who can, or even give you a group of people who will compete to get this aspect of your business. We've designed all sorts of customized internet applications, from surveys to restaurant guides to elaborate content management systems. We aren't copying some open-source software and charging you for something we know nothing about. In most cases, we are the principal architects of many of these systems so we know how they work and can customize them however you need. Of course, we also support many industry-standard open source systems such as php, mysql, Joomla, Zen Cart, OSCommerce, phpBB, DruPal and any others. We can install whatever you want and take care of the tech drudgery. But more importantly, if you want to run a popular piece of software, we will make sure its securely installed -- the big ISPs don't care. If your site gets compromised, they can charge you more to clean it up. We'd prefer that never happens in the first place.

ICorp is a leading provider of solutions for businesses, governments, and individuals across the world.

From custom e-commerce solutions to server co-location, high speed access and telecommunications, to business and technology consulting.

Are you looking to take full advantage of technlogy? Contact us and we'll show you how!

Web Hosting * Technology Consulting * Broadband DSL * T1/T3+ Connectivity * Business & Residential Telephone Service
E-Commerce * Custom Database Applications * Web Design * Social Networking Custom Applications * SEO * Mission Critical Applications
Online Cameras & Surveillance * Live Audio/Video & Event Broadcasting * Community Site Development * Traffic Mangement & Reporting
Server Co-Location * Database Conversions/Legacy Systems * Secure E-Mail Solutions * Cryptography Services * Forensic Data Analysis & Mining