Architelos

Type:	Private
Industry:	Consulting
Founded:	March, 2011
Founder(s):	Alexa Raad
Headquarters:	Leesburg, VA & Los Angeles, CA
Country:	USA
Products:	NameSentry, Business Case Builder
Website:	Architelos.com
Facebook:	Architelos Facebook
LinkedIn:	Architelos LinkedIn
Twitter:	@architelos
Key People
Alexa Raad, Founder and CEO John Matson, COO Michael Young, CTO Norbert Grey, CFO

Architelos provides strategic consulting and managed services for clients in the Domain Name System (DNS) industry to bolster their competitive edge in a de-regulating market. The Architelos team of executives has over 30 years of experience, and a track record in building, launching and managing multi-million name gTLDs. Clients include new as well as existing generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) and Country Code (ccTLD) registries. Consulting services comprise competitive strategy, financial management, ICANN policy, as well as a suite of services designed to shepherd new gTLD applicants through the various phases of ICANN's new gTLD Program. Software services include the patent-pending Namesentry™, a SaaS based domain abuse detection and mitigation service, and Business Case Builder, a registry financial management application. Architelos has locations in Leesburg, VA, Los Angeles (LA), Toronto and Dublin, as well as data centers in Toronto and LA.

The philosophy behind Architelos is that the Internet will soon be changing, with the introduction of the new gTLD program. It predicts that the deregulation of the domain name market will require current businesses to re-assess and likely re-position their focus as the differentiation between registries and registrars diminishes and the DNS expands with the addition of many new TLDs. Alexa Raad, the Founder and CEO, has experience launching new gTLDs, .mobi, and leading an established registry, PIR of .org.

In February, 2012, Architelos announced that it had earned more than $1 million in consulting and software services fees in its first year of operation. The software fees are associated with its Top-Level Domain Management Service (TMS®) and Business Case Builder programs, which help companies prepare and work with their new gTLD applications. Customers of its consulting services include Verisign, Canadian Internet Registry Authority, EURid, Nominet, AFNIC, and new gTLD applicants such as the .music applicant Far Further. It doubled these figures in 2012, as it announced in January, 2013. Its second year in business brought it $2 million.

Services

• Strategy Consulting and Competitive Analysis
• Feasibility Analysis, which involves the analysis the potential successes and failures of a Registry's business plan.
• New gTLD Application Support,
• Policy Advisory,
• Outsourced Abuse Desk,
• Outsourced gTLD Launch Registry Management,

Software

• NameSentry, A Domain Name Abuse Detection and Mitigation Application,
• The Business Case Builder (BCB), a SaaS based application that helped prospective TLD applicants develop the full financials and comprehensive business case required for application. The BCB also allows applicants to modify and track their financials to evaluate scenarios and track against plan.
• NumberSense, A standalone cloud-based service that performs complex deferred revenue calculations in accordance with industry best practice revenue recognition principles.
• TLD Verify, Provides an independent 3rd party verification that the gTLD's chosen Back-end Registry Provider is meeting the minimum SLAs required by ICANN.

In August 2012, the company launched a new SaaS product for registries called NameSentry. It allows the registry to see how many names under their TLD are flagged as abusive, whether spamming, phishing, hosting malware, etc. It also comes with a built-in Whois service, which allows the registry to see which registrar is responsible for the the abusive registrations. The product was initially targeted towards ccTLDs, but Architelos also planned to sell the product to new gTLDs as they are launched. It is now available for both.

In July 2013, the company published the first of the NameSentry Quality Report. The thrice yearly report rates and ranks the top TLDs by safety measured by prevalence of abuse.

Customers

In October, 2012, the largest new gTLD applicant, Donuts, announced that they would use Architelos' NameSentry software-as-a-service to detect and mitigate domain name abuse. The patent-pending NameSentry application protects new gTLDs from phishing, malware, spam, botnets and other types of abuse. It is the first independent, third-party resource of its kind for the domain name industry.

Just a day after the Donuts announcement, on October 11, 2012, it was announced that another large portfolio applicant, Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., parent company of Minds + Machines, would also be using the NameSentry system.

In March 2014 at the Singapore meeting, ICANN announced that it has contracted with Architelos to provide NameSentry Abuse Market Intelligence Reporting to monitor the health of the new gTLD program.