PHP-Friends merges with Avoro into dataforest GmbH

Got this e-mail from PHP-Friends recently; English version is pasted below. It's really a newsletter with a bunch of stuff, but most of it is about the merger.

Gotta say, this is the first time in a long time that I've seen a provider merger that didn't fill me with dread These guys should honestly be an example for the entire industry to follow, in how to communicate transparently about business changes.

The name change is probably a good thing; it was always a bit weird for a VPS provider to be called "PHP-Friends"!

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Dear customers,

Another year is drawing to a close and some of you will remember that we announced some short-term news via our social media channels in mid-October. Shortly thereafter, we reported on the extensive expansion of our capacities at the maincubes data center site. Today, we are happy to announce that that was not all. :-)

The topics of this news:

1. Opening of another POP
2. Own connection to Deutsche Telekom
3. PHP-Friends GmbH becomes the dataforest GmbH
4. Changes in the management
5. Support between holidays
6. Update of our website / release of colocation offers
7. Winter Special

Opening of another POP

At the end of November, we put our first equipment into operation at the Interxion site. The goal of the new POP (Point of Presence) is to connect to more networks, as the choice at our main location is limited in the long run - compared to the big "carrier hotels". Therefore, we have decided to invest in another site where part of our edge routing will be operated in the long run. The two sites are connected via our own dark fiber over a length of around 10 km, which we successfully tested and put into operation at the beginning of December.

In the medium term, we plan to outsource our backup servers, on which vServers with a booked backup feature as well as managed servers are backed up, to this location, so that they will then be offsite backups by default. This request was made to us in particular after the fire at the OVH data center SBG2, in which all servers burned down irrevocably. Although the risk in our data center is considerably lower due to fire protection zones, redundant gas extinguishing systems and the absence of batteries in the UPS (which presumably triggered the OVH fire), we are happy to comply with this understandable request.

Own connection to Deutsche Telekom AG (DTAG)

Of course, we already had a specific purpose in mind when ordering the Dark Fiber and obtaining the Interxion. Already in the summer we started negotiations with Deutsche Telekom, since a direct connection to them was repeatedly mentioned by customers as a wish, but unfortunately DTAG does not peer at DE-CIX (to which we have been connected since March). Since 03.12.2021 our direct connection to DTAG is now active and ensures even better latencies and stability. And not only to DTAG itself: We also actively route some selected networks such as T-Mobile Austria via DTAG. As a matter of principle, we always make our routing decisions based on the best route and not on cost, since our goal is always the best possible traffic mix. As a rule, the best way to reach direct customers and partners of Deutsche Telekom is via Telekom itself, which is why we prefer this route in such cases. By connecting to Deutsche Telekom, we are further improving our network quality and meeting a popular cust omer request.

PHP-Friends GmbH becomes dataforest GmbH

Ten months after the start of planning, we can finally announce what has been burning on our lips for months: PHP-Friends GmbH is merging (merging) with Harmony Solutions GmbH and will appear together on the market as dataforest GmbH in the future. The corresponding contracts were signed and notarized a week ago. In this context we expect some comprehensible questions and are happy to answer them already now (and are of course available for further questions).

Who is Harmony Solutions GmbH?

"Harmony" operates the hosting label Avoro and was able to make a name for itself in recent years, especially in the prepaid sector. However, this alone is not the reason for the merger. It is rather the case that we are connected by years of cooperation, to be exact since the foundation of Avoro in 2017 - already the very first server was housed at PHP-Friends and over the years Avoro developed into the largest customer of PHP-Friends, which not only followed a similar "spirit", but also offered many products more or less identically. At some point, a joint appearance on the market was the only logical step, from which we expect less "overhead", since, for example, software no longer has to be developed twice, technical infrastructures can be operated jointly and internal processes become leaner. We therefore sealed this step in February 2021 and have been actively working on the merger ever since.

What will change with the merger?

Nothing will change for you apart from a new company address. This is due in particular to the close cooperation described above in the past: employees of PHP-Friends GmbH were already working for Avoro and vice versa. There will be no changes in personnel (with the exception of the management) and contractually. However, our customers will benefit from a broader product portfolio and faster introduction of new products, while the PHP-Friends and Avoro brands will remain in place for the foreseeable future, so there are no plans to discontinue either presence. Rather, they will be further expanded with their respective strengths. In a few weeks there will be a new common hotline number, which we will communicate in time.

What is dataforest?

The dataforest brand was already developed in 2018 and was intended as a cornerstone for new cloud products, which, however, could not be introduced at PHP-Friends, mainly due to time constraints. With the merger, we have significantly more manpower and capital at our disposal, so we are confident that we will be able to take off with the envisaged products in the middle to end of next year. Preparations are already underway, and we have already had "dataforest" protected throughout the EU as a registered word and picture trademark in the summer. In this context we are looking for new employees in the area of system administration, an official announcement will follow soon.

Are external capital providers / investors involved in the company?

No. dataforest GmbH remains a completely owner-managed company without "external influences". In particular, we would like to emphasize that neither company has been sold to the other or to third parties.

Changes in the management

In the future, the management of dataforest GmbH will be taken over by all participating shareholders: Marcel Geis (former managing director of "Harmony"), Tim Schneider (former managing director of PHP-Friends GmbH and shareholder of "Harmony") and Tim Hochmann. Tim Hochmann might be known to some of you, he joined us already at the beginning of 2011, has experienced and especially helped to shape all phases from the then freehosting to the foundation of Strauch & Schneider IT GbR in 2013, the introduction of our vServer products in 2014 as well as the transformation into PHP-Friends GmbH in 2015 and its existence until today. Without this intensive cooperation, we would not be where we are today. The appointment as managing director was insofar in the end a formality to meet the reality.

Our new address in the future will be

dataforest GmbH
At the Holzweg 26
65830 Kriftel

Our new office is located in the immediate vicinity of our data centers. Since this is where most of our employees will be working in the future, it made sense to relocate from Oberhausen to the Frankfurt area.

Since we do not know exactly when the entry will be made in the commercial register and we have no influence on this, we will continue to operate as before until the entry is made. We expect the registration at the beginning of January, but we inform you already now to avoid irritations due to a sudden change of the company name.

Support between the holidays

On public holidays - as usual - our free emergency telephone support is available around the clock. Between the holidays, our support is also regularly staffed, so there are no restrictions.

Update of our website / Release of our colocation offers

As announced in the last newsletter, our website has been updated. Not all changes have been implemented yet, but we think the first update is worth seeing. Not only is all information about us, the data center and our DDoS protection finally up to date again, but also the product section Housing / Colocation is now online and various pages have been visually revised. We are looking forward to your visit!

Winter Special

Of course we keep the popular tradition of our vServer Winter Special this year, which is available now. As usual, the special offer is valid until 31.12.2021 (23:59 German time) at the most, but judging by the increasing demand every year, a much earlier sell-out is quite possible. We hope to be able to provide some joy in the second Corona year with this exclusive special offer and wish all readers happy holidays and a happy new year.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best Regards

PHP-Friends GmbH . Duisburger Straße 375 . 46049 Oberhausen
Hotline: 0201 857 938 01

Amtsgericht Duisburg, HRB 28335 \
Geschäftsführer: Tim Schneider