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MelbourneIT

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Revision as of 20:04, 3 November 2010 by Nowheregirl (talk | contribs)
Type: Public
Industry: Registrar, Hosting
Founded: Australia (1996)
Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia
Employees: 690+
Revenue: $200.1 million (AUD) (2009)
Website: http://www.melbourneit.com.au/
Key People
Theo Hnarakis, CEO & MD

Bruce Tonkin, CSO
Daniel Bennett , EVP
Gideon Culican, GM


MelbourneITis a web hosting and internet domain register company which also provides related online business solutions products and services. This Australain company was founded in 1996 by The University of Melbourne to work with the private sector on IT projects. [1]. MelbourneIT listed on Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) from December 1999.[2].

As a domain registrar, MelbourneIT had a de facto monopoly on '.au' domain for several years and it was the source of half of its profit. It was one of the first five testbed Registrars for the competitive Shared Registry System announced by ICANN in 1999 and started register domain names under .com, .net and .org .[3]

Head quartered in Sydney, Australia, MelbourneIT has 18 offices in 10 countries and over 690 employees worldwide. [4]. As of October 25, 2010, MelbourneIT has about 4,291,483 domain names registered under its management. [5].

History[edit | edit source]

was founded in 1996 by The University of Melbourne to work with the private sector on IT projects.Professor Peter Gerrand was appointed as the CEO of the company.[6].

The company enjoyed a monoploy on 'au' domain registration for several years. After they were selected for competitive Shared Registry System announced by ICANN in 1999, started register domain names under .com, .net and .org.

From December 1999, MelbourneIT have been listed on Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with a ticker symbol of MLB. [7]. The company formed an alliance with American telecommunications group NeuStar about that time.

In October, 2000, CEO Gerrand quited MelbourneIT and was replaced by chief operating officer Adrian Kloeden.

In 2003, MelbourneIT acquires New Zealand's domain name registrar, Domainz, for NZ$2 million. [8]. By that time, Domainz had more than 2.3 million domain names under management.

MelbourneIT acquires European digital brand protection company, Cogent IPC for $4.5 million in 2004.[9].

In 2006, MelbourneIT acquires the Webcentral Group for about $61.2 million.[10]. It also acquires adigital recording services for justice and public safety venues providing comapny called For The Record in the same year.

Melbourne IT acquires UK based domain management company, IDR Management Services in 2007. [11] The acquisition has been speculated to be worth of about $2 million.

In May, 2008, MelbourneIT announced the acquisition of Internet VeriSign's global Digital Brand Management Services business for US$50 million.[12]

In May 2010, MelbourneIT acquires search-engine marketing business Advantate. [13] Previously, Melbourne IT had 50% of Advantate's shares.

Businesses[edit | edit source]

Currently, MelbourneIT has the following brands:[14]

  • Domainz - New Zealand's domain name registrars which also provides Internet services to small businesses to help them succeed online.
  • For The Record (FTR) - global provider of digital recording and content management solutions for judicial and civic venues.
  • WebCentral - provides web hosting and Internet services for enterprise and small business customers.

Awards[edit | edit source]

MelbourneIT won "VMware Virtual Champion of the Year 2009" award on October, 2009. [15]. The company also won "Microsoft Australia Hosting Services Partner of the Year award" for 2008; "Microsoft Asia Pacific Hosting Partner of the Year award" for 2007,2005 and 2003; Name Intelligence Users Choice award for 2006 and 2005; Microsoft Global Hosting Partner of the Year award for 2005 and 2004; different AHRI and Deloitte Technology awards. [16].


MelbourneIT to enter domain registration[edit | edit source]

The name MelbourneIT came from "Melbourne Information Technology International Pty Ltd" which was a commertial subsidary of The University of Melbourne. The initial objective of the company was not merely to registrater domain but to demonstrate the University’s strategic leadership in working with industry and government in selected areas of IT. Robert Elz, senior system administrator in the University of Melbourne’s Computer Science Department was in charge of the registration process of .au domain back then.

An article published in "Australian Financial Review" by Charles Wright made the authority interested about the commercial values of domain name registration. Eventaully the condition demanded that the process of .au domain registration to be tranfared to a capable commercial instution. Thus the administration of com.au names to the University’s subsidiary Melbourne IT by a non-exclusive licence, to be reviewed after five years. [17].In 1996, Government of Victoria awarded a grant of $100,000 in return for registering the backlog of over 2,000 com.au applications free to the applicants. This money was used to build its first domain name registration software platform.

MelbourneIT started charging for domain name registrations in November 1996, at $100 wholesale and $125 retail. They also introduced different pricing plans and different critaria for domain registration process during that period. 

MelbourneIT had a on '.au' domain for several years. In April 1999 ICANN selected MelbourneIT to be one for the first five registrars to compete with Network Solutions to register .com, .net and .org names.[18].

MelbourneIT signed a licence agreement with .au Domain Administration (auDA) 12 July, 2001. It was reported that Melbourne IT Chief Executive, Professor Peter Gerrand claimed that the deal 'extended Melbourne IT's guarantee of exclusivity'. Later, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston announced that the cliam was incorrect and the MelbourneIT's monopoly on .au domains will not be extended.[19].


References[edit | edit source]


External links[edit | edit source]

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