The domain industry has seen a massive expansion since its inception in 1983. But when it comes to Generic top-level domains arena in particular, it has been pretty much a slow burn affair.
.COM has been a de facto choice of organizations moving online , and any new gTLD launches in the past have failed to marginalize its dominant position. A bubble that never burst, .COM has enjoyed a monopolistic presence with as much as 109,134,165 out of a total of 145,498,970 domains registered under it at the time of writing this.
The picture might change with 1500 soon-to-be-launched new gTLDs gaining traction among registrars, registries and resellers alike. While the impact these gTLDs will have on the domain industry remains to be seen over the coming years, there is another relatively lesser discussed aspect of the market changes that will follow: How will resellers manage such a large number of extensions across multiple registries effectively?
This is where Key-Systems’ world-wide reseller network like RRPproxy comes into the picture. A fully automated and real-time system for the registration and management of domain names along with various other services like SSL certificates, web hosting, vServers etc, RRPproxy lets resellers manage multiple domain portfolios with various extensions through a single interface.
We recently had an opportunity for a quick Q & A with Mr. Jochen Kieler, Chief Business Development Officer, Key-Systems and CEO, KS Internet Solutions at WHD.India 2013 and he had a lot to say on RRPproxy, its Meta Registry Application Layer, new gTLDs and other ventures of Key-systems. Read away!
RRPproxy offers a white-labelled, hierarchical sub reseller system and guarantees full API support for all operations. Furthermore, we offer a user-optimized web interface in English, German, Spanish, French and Chinese. The domain registration services are surrounded by additional resalable services such as hosting, SSL certificates, vServers and WHOIS privacy.
– Mr. Jochen Kieler, CEO, KS Internet Solutions.
Q: Let’s begin with a brief introduction of yours and a broad overview of services RRPproxy provides.
A: I was born and raised in Mexico and am fluent in Spanish, English, German and Italian. I have worked for top registrars worldwide and have had experience and expertise of more than thirteen years in the domain and Internet industry. I joined Key-Systems GmbH in Germany in 2010 and am currently Chief Business Development Officer of Key-Systems and CEO at KS Internet Solutions, a fully-owned subsidiary of Key-Systems based in Mexico.
RRPproxy is Key-Systems’ reseller portal for Internet Service Providers, registrars and domainers. As a Metaregistry, RRPproxy enables the unified management of domain portfolios with various extensions through one portal.
We offer fully-automated registration of more than 300 existing gTLD and ccTLD extensions, other TLDs which do not offer automation, and non-binding and free pre-orders for over 700 new gTLDs. Customers may use their own registry accreditations (Registry Account Management) or those of RRPproxy.
RRPproxy guarantees full API support for all operations. Furthermore, we offer a user-optimized web interface in English, German, Spanish, French and Chinese. The domain registration services are surrounded by additional resalable services such as hosting, SSL certificates, vServers and WHOIS privacy.
For the optimized reseller business, RRPproxy offers a white-labelled, hierarchical sub reseller system. In addition, we are constantly adding external plugins such as Parallels, WHMCS and others.
Q: Can you please explain the modus-operandi of RRPproxy’s software kernel Meta Registry Application Layer and how it acts as a one-stop shop for registration and management of domain names for such a wide range of registries?
A: Metaregistry Application Layer is the software kernel responsible for all registry/registrar/reseller transactions. It also performs dispatching to the different registry handlers and unifies all commands to a single set in order to handle all services.
The RRPproxy system is fully compliant to real-time specifications and offers the registration and management of domain names in real-time wherever the respective registry allows. Further, we offer a wide range of standard interfaces like EPP, SOAP, etc.
Q: How can resellers leverage the advantage of Meta Registry Application Layer fully?
A: Metaregistry allows our resellers to offer domain registrations under numerous extensions and many domain-related services with a minimum of financial, technical and operational investment. Even if they want to keep their own registry accreditation, e.g. for reputational reasons, they may rely on the RRPproxy technology by using our Registry Account Management.
RRPproxy Metaregistry offers one API for all TLDs – this also includes, that we will offer registrations under all new gTLDs in all launch phases. The API also supports all operations concerning the other resalable services, such as hosting, SSL certificates, vServers and WHOIS privacy.
The whole technical implementation is handled by Key-Systems domain experts. Furthermore, we have our own data center, which guarantees maximum security and stability of our services.
Q: There is a great buzz in the market right now in the wake of the new gTLDs to be launched soon; which will supposedly change how the domain industry operates forever. New gTLD launches of the past like Biz, Info, Travel, Mobi, etc. failed to marginalize .COM’s dominant position. In your personal opinion, how’re things different this time?
A: The fact, that this time there will be a great amount of new gTLDs launching at the same time, will have a significant impact on the market. We don’t expect that any of the new gTLDs will achieve such a dominant position as .COM, but the wide range of possible domain names & TLD combinations will definitely stimulate the competition and boost domain sales.
We also think, that the markets are saturated with .COM which is why many customers already pass over to other generic TLDs and ccTLDs. The new gTLDs will offer them a much greater variety & more specialized TLDs will gain market share.
Q: How is RRPproxy, as an accredited Trademark Clearinghouse agent, helping businesses and individuals protect their trademark rights during the launch processes of new gTLDs?
A: RRPproxy customers can transmit trademarks for TMCH validation comfortably via API or by using the web interface. RRPproxy’s TMCH service offerings include:
- The trademark registration with the TMCH.
- The definition and generation of “labels” (possible domain names without TLD for protection and use in Sunrises.)
- The management of trademark information stored at TMCH (e.g. switch on/off Sunrise service.)
- The participation in new gTLD Sunrise phases.
- Receiving Trademark Claims Notifications via API and email.
- Defensive registrations (receiving only Trademark Claims Notifications, no use of Sunrise service.)
- The technical pre-validation (check if labels are correct or not.)
Q: RRPproxy is also offering non-binding and free pre-applications for domain names for about 700 new gTLDs. How has the response been so far? Also, what are some potential advantages, both from an operational and technical perspective, RRPproxy new-gTLD Registrars and Resellers will have when compared to many others in the market out there?
A: The response has been quite satisfying so far, we’ve received pre-orders for new gTLDs in a six-digit range.
There are several advantages, from the operational as well as from the technical perspective.
Operational advantages:
- Pre-orders stand for a high interest in gaining the respective domains, so they give a good hint to define the business potential of new TLDs for us and for our resellers.
- By offering pre-orders you show your customers that you are a pioneer in this new business area.
- On the other hand, pre-orders give all customers the security to avoid missing out the respective new TLD launches, because they will be informed in time and asked to change their non-binding pre-order into a binding pre-application.
- Furthermore, we, and of course also our resellers, gain an overview of the most popular new TLDs by analyzing the development of the pre-orders, which is helpful to define our future marketing and sales focus in this area.
Technical advantage:
- For all new gTLDs, customers only need to implement one interface for all launch phases (Sunrise, Landrush, Go Live)
Q: Can you please throw some light on HOMER, RRPproxy’s resalable web hosting product?
A: RRPproxy offers immediate access to favourable and easy to book hosting packages with the resalable web hosting HOMER. The name HOMER stands for Hosting Management Environment Repository.
The operation of a hosting platform requires high investment in infrastructure, maintenance and development of the relevant systems. HOMER reduces these costs to a minimum. It provides a highly scalable, flexible and approved system and enables you to order and manage static and interactive web space in real-time. It can also be easily integrated into your existing system by using our APIs. Some other features are:
- Master FTP access / master log-in.
- Reliable servers in a redundant environment
- Multiple secure locations
- Individual solutions possible: dedicated hosting on demand.
- Use of web space for all domains regardless of the registrar.
- Apache server standards including mod_rewrite + full PHP support.
- Access to statistics and real-time server log files (Common Logfile Format) including traffic report.
- Traffic flat: 100% traffic included (assuming fair use), no hidden costs.
- Qualified support via phone and email.
Q: Are there any other divisions of Key-systems that are of great value and resellers should know about?
SKYWAY
The SKYWAY DataCenter, a fully-owned subsidiary of Key-Systems, offers professional colocation, vCloud hosting, root/managed server and hosting services. The TIER III data center is located near the Key-Systems headquarters in St. Ingbert, Germany. The data center also offers backup solutions, which can be interesting for our resellers, too.- KSregistry
With the new gTLD program many registrars also entered the registry business. Our KSregistry subsidiary provides backend services for the successful operation of a registry. Furthermore, KSregistry recently became the .gd registry provider and will be engaged to further develop the TLD in the future.
Q: A little crystal ball gazing 🙂 How do you see the future of domain industry? And which new gTLD, in your personal opinion, has the most potential?
A: With regards to the number of pre-orders from our customer base, we can see that .web, .shop, .berlin, .hamburg, .koeln, .site, .hotel, .store, etc. will have a very good chance to be under the top new gTLDs.
We also believe that geographical & community TLDs in general have a good potential for becoming successful because most of them have a well-defined target group with a high interest in domain registrations.
Q: To wrap up, what’s in the bag for Q3 & Q4 of 2013?
A: To mention a few, the launch and marketing of the first new gTLDs will be a central topic for RRPproxy. We’re also relaunching RRPproxy website and introducing further external plugins as well.
There’ll be an extension of the ccTLD offerings and of course, Key-Systems’ 15th Anniversary 🙂
