AusRegistry Pty Ltd.

Corporate

• The AusRegistry Group
• Role of the Registry
• Technical Achievements
• History of the .au Name space
• The AusRegistry Marketing Approach
• Our Business Locations
• Key Factors that have Lead to our Success
• ISO 9001:2000 Accreditation

The AusRegistry Group

AusRegistry Group was started when the current executives found it difficult to register Domain Names in a cheap, efficient customer-centric manner. Out of this was born the vision to provide Internet users with improved levels of service and competitive pricing in Domain Name Registrations and the web hosting market. Conscious of the ".com bubble" bursting, a decision was made in the early development of the company not to be reliant on any one single income stream and utilise the knowledge and skills obtained throughout its development to leverage these revenue streams and thus ensure stable and steady growth through varying market conditions.

The AusRegistry Group quickly gained skills in developing software and products designed for specific identified target markets. Careful research into what the customers wanted, and what added value to them, coupled with a strong commitment to customer service, has set AusRegistry Group apart from its competition. AusRegistry Group has set about proving that online entities needn.t be an investment based on risk or popularity, but can achieve solid profitability when focused on sound ideas, products, principles and the desire to achieve.

The original company RegistrarsAsia Pty Ltd (now AusRegistry Group Pty Ltd) commenced operations in January 2000 as a Domain Name Registration company. Operating out of Australia, AusRegistry Group (or RegistrarsAsia) established the original products providing Domain Name registration and related Internet services at prices that were competitive on the global market yet still offered a high level of customer service. RegistrarsAsia continues to successfully operate today as an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) accredited Registrar and web hosting company.

In December 2001, AusRegistry Group established a new division; AusRegistry Pty Ltd. AusRegistry Pty Ltd was originally established when it was awarded the license to build and operate the new Registry System in Australia. AusRegistry Pty Ltd effectively manages all current .open. 2LD Domain Names; .com.au, .net.au, .id.au, .asn.au and .org.au along with the government (.gov.au) and education Domain Names (.edu.au). The company has since begun expanding its Registry services and now includes management of several other smaller nations. As part of this role AusRegistry is responsible for providing the associated IT infrastructure for primary name and WhoIs servers within the .au namespace, and thus stable operation of the internet in Australia.

In July 2003 AusRegistry Group was awarded the MYOB/Telstra Small Business Award making it Victoria.s most outstanding small business. The award was recognition for excellence, innovation and dedication.

Return to List

Role of the Registry

While the role of the Registry is predominantly a technical one in managing and maintaining the integrity of the database, AusRegistry has an obligation to ensure the namespace is developed and matured. The Registry works with the official auDA Accredited Registrars (retailers) to market and promote the Second Level Domains it is responsible for. (See Marketing below)

Return to List

Technical Achievements

AusRegistry was the first Registry system in the world to "go live" with a full implementation of the EPP protocol.

By doing so, AusRegistry pioneered the way by providing dynamically updated zone files that allow "real time" domain registration and delegations services, domain names that are ready to be used within seconds of being registered and re-delegations that are effective immediately. By the end of 2005 AusRegistry will have implemented the new RFC-compliant EPP system, v1.0.

AusRegistry have enhanced the security of the .au Registry database, through techniques such as WhoIs blacklisting, intrusion detection and firewalling. It is now harder then ever to obtain the database of Registrant details.

AusRegistry have designed the Registry system in such a way that it is, theoretically, infinitely scaleable. Oracle 10g powers the Registry database which means customers have access to industry leading performance and reliability.

Load-balanced application servers, combined with fully redundant networking technologies, provide for the highest quality reliable platform on which world-class Registry software has been developed to give service levels previously unavailable in the Australian namespace.

Return to List

History of the .au Name Space

Before AusRegistry became the first commercial Registry in Australia the .au namespace suffered from a fragmented and ad-hoc development. The 'open' 2LD domains were each managed separately and were not given equal consideration. As a result there was an obvious trend in Domain Name registrations. The flagship for the .au namespace, since its inception, has been .com.au. Its popularity has seen it rank among the highest number of domains registered per capita worldwide. AusRegistry undertook the enormous task of marketing the .au name space in a way that has never been attempted previously. Its aim is to raise the profiles of the remaining namespaces and to attempt to increase their popularity through deliberate segmentation.

Return to List

The AusRegistry Marketing Approach

AusRegistry's Marketing approach involves two major areas of focus: education and value.

AusRegistry is dedicated to educating the general public on the value of owning a webname and the intrinsic value it can bring to their company, association, organisation or to the individual themselves.

To successfully achieve these aims AusRegistry has two websites, www.mywebname.com.au and www.ausregistry.com.au.

www.mywebname.com.au is fundamentally a portal into the world of .au webnames.

The website includes easy to follow educational tutorials including "What is a webname?", "How do I register a webname?" and "The benefits of owning more than one webname". It also points potential and existing Registrants to where they can register their webnames via a list of accredited Registrars (retailers).

To complement this website and to facilitate various marketing activities, characters, both male and female versions, have been created to represent the individual namespaces. (.com.au and .net.au have the same male and female character because they operate under the same eligibility criteria).

Bringing "life" and "a face". to the namespace has not been attempted before in any global market. AusRegistry believes that by doing so it will help demystify an industry that has, up until now, only been understood by those with a technology background. It is hoped that by placing webnames into the public arena will help ensure they become as much a commodity as any value add product.

www.ausregistry.com.au is AusRegistry's corporate website which concentrates primarily on the business side of AusRegistry and includes technical updates, outage notices and technical accreditation information.

AusRegistry continue to look for new ways to deliver the ".au message." Through various sponsorships AusRegistry reaches diverse groups of people whilst increasing .au brand awareness.

AusRegistry, in conjunction with auDA, (.au Domain Administration) and the accredited Registrars (retailers) strive to ensure that the market place receives clear and consistent messaging when it comes to webname purchases.

Finally it is hoped that all Australians will secure an Australian online identity and use the .au symbol to leverage credibility, locality and a sense of national pride.

Return to List

Our Business Locations

The company is primarily Australian based with its headquarters at Melbourne, Victoria.

In order to facilitate growth into the international markets, beginning with the Asia Pacific region, a Hong Kong company was formed in May 2001.

Return to List

Key Factors That Have Led to Our Success

1. Understanding Technology and How to Apply it to Our Business
   AusRegistry Group realises that our business model is one that is based around Technology. Mindful of this, employing the right experience, not being afraid to try something new, pioneering new technology and maintaining an in-depth resource of up-to-date equipment and experienced/trained/qualified staff are all components of understanding technology. It is no good operating the latest hardware if your staff are unable to use it to its potential. It is equally counter-productive to have an elite level of experienced staff using outdated, slow and unreliable equipment. Maintaining a balance between these two is the key that must be achieved without breaking the budget. Company-wide understanding of technology as it relates to the core business is also an important point. With these key principles in mind, AusRegistry Group has:

   1. Developed strategic partnerships with industry leading technology providers such as Oracle, Cisco and HP. We use the best hardware and software vendors and work with them collaboratively to get the best out of the products and early exposure to new developments.
   2. Maintained a resource of experienced Staff, most of whom have had exposure to the Domain Name industry before as well as all having an understanding of the technologies involved in our business.
   3. Made use of the latest technological enhancements in areas such as XML, Java, SSL, EPP (an industry standard provisioning protocol) and networking technology.
   4. Maintained high levels of quality control, including conforming to standards and standard software development principles.
   5. Educated Staff as to how what they do will fit into the overall strategy of the company. This enables staff to work more confidently and gives them a sense of ownership of their work. Maintaining high levels of internal communication also enables operational and marketing staff to better understand the technology they are selling and realise its full potential.
   6. Been innovative in our designs, and not afraid to push the limits of technology.

2. Fully Understanding Our Market
   Having the most advanced product is of no use if the consumer doesn't know about your product or doesn't understand its benefits. Consumer education is a critical factor in our success, particularly in the Domain Name industry. Before AusRegistry was launched, it could take as long as 24 hours to register a name in the au namespace. AusRegistry have advanced the industry by offering .Real Time. domain registration and updates. Communicating this message to the market has been an important point. This is just one example of the many changes we have brought to the industry.

   Understanding the target consumer, their level of expertise, technical understanding and their expectations is also important. We realise that, to the bulk of our potential consumers, their Domain Name is just something they have to deal with every two years when it is time to be renewed. AusRegistry has put in place the following marketing initiatives:

   1. Domain Name market research - AusRegistry has recently completed an extensive three month market research project into our current and potential markets. This was done in order to broaden our understanding of why people currently buy a Domain Name and how we can break into the potential markets.
   2. Co-operative marketing programs - AusRegistry runs a multitude of co-operative marketing initiatives with our retail partners.
   3. Competitor Research - AusRegistry measures and reviews its position within the market and what the competitors are doing, ensuring that our product maintains customer focus and adds value to our customers.
   4. Education campaigns - It is important that the public is aware of our product and how it benefits them.

Return to List

ISO 9001:2000 Accreditation