# Ionity Transfers KC Customers to Batts



## ocitysolutions (Jan 29, 2014)

Just received this email for a few rented servers we had with Ionity in Kansas City. We had never heard of Batts Communications Services before this.



> As a customer of Ionity you probably know that they have servers in data centers in multiple cities. We have also been a customer of Ionity here at the Kansas City data center and after much discussion with Ionity, it was a natural fit for Batts to take over the ownership and management of the servers hosted here at the Kansas City location.  This transition started January 1, 2014.
> 
> All Equipment will stay where it is, pricing remains the same and all IP addresses will remain the same.  This change will be transparent from a functionality standpoint.
> 
> ...


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## drmike (Jan 29, 2014)

That's some hard a$$ reading getting started...

So Ionity had a customer named Batts... Then January 1, 2014, the customer (Batts) started the takeover of their vendor (Ionity)....

Meh, people really should let the pros write their public facing documents.   I'll write your copy, you focus on keeping the servers running.


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## concerto49 (Jan 29, 2014)

Looks like they want to focus on Dallas.


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## SPINIKR-RO (Jan 29, 2014)

It is a definitely a bit hard to read.

The site's security certificate is not trusted!

https://datacenter.battskc.com/whmcs/


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## drmike (Jan 29, 2014)

SPINIKR-RO said:


> It is a definitely a bit hard to read.
> 
> The site's security certificate is not trusted!
> 
> https://datacenter.battskc.com/whmcs/


Dude, it's safe, see those guys? They were carrying bats...  You are protected, trust them... Resident miscreant checking their WHMCS install in 5...4...3...


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## SPINIKR-RO (Jan 29, 2014)

Theres something about a subdomain with a subdirectory that makes me act as if someone is dragging nails on a chalk board... then again I guess our system kinda does that too, its possibly the long char count. ..w/e

I guess it makes sense, perhaps Ion wanted to leave, who better to absorb local (perhaps mostly local) customers than a local general service provider.

I like local so I hope it works out. Of course if your not local im sure the changes suck, specially having someone take over with a bad, and broken website. Though using a retina mbp all web assets look like crap now.

Whole thing seems weird.


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## DomainBop (Jan 29, 2014)

> it was a natural fit for Batts to take over the ownership and management of the servers hosted here at the Kansas City location



Their primary business is business telephone systems and security cameras but they do have a small cloud hosting division.


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## NodePacket (Jan 29, 2014)

Edit: I like Kansas City.


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## SPINIKR-RO (Jan 29, 2014)

NodePacket said:


> Edit: I like Kansas City.


Nice edit.


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## ChrisM (Jan 29, 2014)

@Alec


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## KuJoe (Jan 29, 2014)

Ewww, IIS. 

https://datacenter.battskc.com/



> *Permissions Error*
> 
> The templates compiling directory 'C:\inetpub\wwwroot\whmcs/templates_c/' must be writeable (CHMOD 777) before you can continue.
> If the path shown is incorrect, you can update it in the configuration.php file.


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## FLDataTeK (Jan 29, 2014)

datacenter.battskc.com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because it is self-signed. The certificate is only valid for the following names: HostedXchange , HostedXchange.battskc.local (Error code: sec_error_ca_cert_invalid)

Looks like its a self signed cert for their exchange server.  I hope they are not running it off their exchange server.

But at least their WHMCS license is legit.


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## kaniini (Jan 29, 2014)

KuJoe said:


> Ewww, IIS.
> 
> https://datacenter.battskc.com/


To play devil's advocate, what is wrong with a properly-secured IIS setup?  IIS is pretty speedy, really.


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## Wintereise (Jan 29, 2014)

@Alec's been trying to get rid of KC for a long time in order to focus on the DFW side of things for a long time, so this doesn't really come as a surprise.

Best of luck 

Edit: Anyone notice that his User ID is 666? lol.


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## KuJoe (Jan 29, 2014)

kaniini said:


> To play devil's advocate, what is wrong with a properly-secured IIS setup?  IIS is pretty speedy, really.


I've just never liked anything about IIS. I'm unfortunate to work at a company where 99% of our webservers are IIS and being the weekend nightshift Windows Admin means I usually only see things when they're broke or need maintenance so I try to avoid an unnecessary contact with Windows when I can avoid it.  :lol:

I can't really speak in terms of performance because for each website we host there's a whole farm of servers 10x more powerful than they need to be so my comparison won't be apples to apples.


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## tchen (Jan 29, 2014)

IIS isn't that bad.  It's the plethora of crap that inevitably comes with SBS installations, or sites that rely on poorly written third-party .NET libs that give it a bad vibe.  LAMP stacks only avoid that issue because of the way the ecosystem is structured slightly different.  If you get too niche though, and deviate too much from the mainlines, it gets pretty dicey too.  Heck, what am I saying, WHMCS isn't even that niche


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## Alec (Jan 29, 2014)

drmike said:


> So Ionity had a customer named Batts... Then January 1, 2014, the customer (Batts) started the takeover of their vendor (Ionity)....


I don't believe 'takeover' is the correct word here.  

I have been trying to focus on growing the Dallas market (and possibly a coastal market soon).  Have seen a lot of companies sell their clients and then buyer raises prices, gives poor service, etc. meant that I needed to find the right buyer.  Customer service has always been paramount for me.  I asked all of the Kansas City customers if they would be interested in moving to Dallas a couple of times.  Several did.  (Several actually stated they just wanted to be with Ionity.  A few stated they didn't really care who the vendor was, they just wanted to stay in Kansas City).

There was no rush to sell Kansas City.  Ionity has focused on growing Dallas while Batts (A local company with local customers) has been focused on their Kansas City market.  Batts recently acquired a Managed IT services company and has been growing their IT and hosting side.  I saw it as an opportunity and approached them.




drmike said:


> Meh, people really should let the pros write their public facing documents.   I'll write your copy, you focus on keeping the servers running.



I've been looking for someone who can write copy.  (I did not write this letter...) If you'd like some work, send me your contact info / resume / rates / examples of work.  Ionity has a new website coming soon to focus on the features and benefits of Dallas, and possibly a new location(s).



concerto49 said:


> Looks like they want to focus on Dallas.


This is absolutely correct.  Dallas (and as stated above) probably a costal market this year.  Kansas City has been great for local customers (where Batts shines), and Dallas is better for the National / International market.



Wintereise said:


> @Alec's been trying to get rid of KC for a long time in order to focus on the DFW side of things for a long time, so this doesn't really come as a surprise.
> 
> Best of luck
> 
> Edit: Anyone notice that his User ID is 666? lol.


I wouldn't say 'get rid' of is the right term.  I went through several options in my head.  Forcing people to move?  Simply closing?  Trying to find whoever would buy it for a quick sale.  Ultimately ended up with Batts who agreed to keep things the same.

I keep my fingers crossed that everything will go great.  For any you that are still customers, please do follow the new directions for contacting Batts as requested in their email.  If you do have any issues, problems, concerns, questions, or can't get in touch with them for some reason please do contact me directly and I will do my best to provide as much assistance as I can.

I will keep an eye on this thread and try to answer any questions that do come up.  

Thanks much!


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## Wintereise (Jan 29, 2014)

@Alec Apologies, get rid of is indeed the incorrect term.


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## concerto49 (Jan 29, 2014)

Wintereise said:


> @Alec Apologies, get rid of is indeed the incorrect term.


He won't hire you for copywriting anymore


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