How Network Solutions Began

It is perhaps always a good idea to understand the history of a host provider and Network Solutions is a really good example and they are just one of many because longevity may not always be relevant to the outcome you are looking for. Keep in mind that you always want your host provider to provide hosting as its core area of business not as an ancillary product or service no matter how long the company has been in business.

Network Solutions, Inc started long before the Internet as an application development consultancy. In 1991 the US Defense Department began the first steps in the privatization of its ARPANet, the predecessor to our public Internet today. It moved the (DDN-NIC) domain name administration and management from the Stanford Research Institute and awarded the administration and management of its domain name service to Network Solutions, Inc.

In 1993 the US Defense Department relinquished ownership of DDN-NIC and moved it under the U.S. National Science Foundation that proceeded to create the non-profit Internet Network Information Center, or InterNIC. The administration and management of InterNIC was principally provided by AT&T with Network Solutions, Inc. successfully retaining the domain registration service contract.

Acquired in 1995 by Science Applications International Corporation, Network Solutions, Inc virtually monopolized the domain name registration market as it began charging for domain name registration. However in 1998 along with AT&T discontinuing InterNIC services, reorganization of InterNIC and the formation of ICANN domain name assignment was no longer synonymous or solely with Network Solutions, Inc.

Network Solutions was doomed from the outset of ICANN because the market for domain registration was now open to other players and would be shrinking. Lean and mean startups like goDaddy ate their lunch, today having more than 3 times the domain registrations as Network Solutions.

In 2000 Network Solutions was acquired by VeriSign, Inc. for $21 billion only to be sold 3 years later for $100 million to a private equity group.

Since then, Network Solutions has traded hands from one capital investment firm to another. The latest owner is General Atlantic, a private equity company who acquired them in February 2007 for a rumored price of $800m. This may be one of the primary reasons for their outsourcing and acquisition of other service technologies to boost revenue, and yet in spite of this Network Solutions might still not be making it.

In 2003 90% of Network Solutions revenue was from domain name registration and since 2005 they have added more than 69 products and services in order to replace declining revenues in domain registration.

Adding insult to injury in August 2009, Network Solutions notified its customers that its “secure” servers had been breached that exposed over 570,000 names, addresses and credit card number information of clients who purchased services from Network Solutions, Inc.

<< prev | next>>

• web design 
• |
•  logo design 
• |
•  video 
• |
•  packaging 
• |
•  collateral 
• |
•  advertising

• home 
• |
•  about pop 
• |
•  services 
• |
•  clients 
• |
•  contact 
• |
•  privacy 
• |
•  site map 
• |
•  articles