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Q9 To Manage IT Infrastructure For The Running Room In Comprehensive Outsourcing Deal
Critical systems move from Edmonton head office to Calgary data centre
Calgary, AB and Toronto, ON - July 8, 2003 - Q9 Networks Inc., the leading Canadian provider of outsourced Internet infrastructure and related managed IT services, is pleased to announce it has been awarded a comprehensive outsourcing contract by the Running Room (www.runningroom.com), the largest specialty running retailer in Canada.
Under the contract, Q9 will manage Running Room systems supporting critical email, accounting, POS and inventory management applications. The Running Room's Web site and online store will also be hosted at Q9. Managed services provided by Q9 include: physical space in its Calgary data centre, bandwidth, servers, firewalls and back-up services.
The Running Room operates 58 stores across Canada and the U.S., catering exclusively to runners. In addition to shoes, apparel and other athletic equipment, the Running Room provides in-store and on-line running clinics that encourage and enable Canadians to pursue a healthier lifestyle. There have been more than 400,000 graduates from these programs since inception.
"By outsourcing our infrastructure to Q9, we're enabling our staff to focus on developing innovative applications that will better serve our running customers," says John Stanton, President and Founder, Running Room. "In our view, Q9's state-of-the-art facilities, 7x24 expert support and high availability managed services clearly establishes them as the industry leader. We're confident that the partnership with Q9 will help facilitate our continued growth over the long term."
Q9 delivers unparalleled service through an extensive suite of customer care products, including a Web-based portal that provides complete visibility into customer equipment and Q9 services. All Q9 and customer systems are monitored from the Q9 Network Operations Centre (NOC) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NOC experts are also available to customers on an around-the-clock basis to resolve issues and provide advice.
"Our Calgary facility, which opened only six months ago, is attracting significant interest from top Alberta-based companies like the Running Room," says Osama Arafat, CEO, Q9 Networks. "The Running Room is an excellent example of how leading Canadian companies recognize and leverage the value of Q9 services to build their businesses and their brands. Our world-class data centres and expert staff are uniquely positioned to take on the infrastructure management burden for these firms. We are delighted to have been selected by this outstanding Canadian retailer."
Q9's focus on Internet and related IT infrastructure allows it to hire, train and retain highly qualified experts in network-specific disciplines. Key services are backed with service level agreement (SLA) guarantees for installation time and problem identification and response. These factors enable customers to outsource mission-critical systems to Q9 with complete confidence.
About Q9 Networks
Q9 Networks is the leading provider of outsourced Internet infrastructure and related managed services to Canadian companies with mission-critical IT operations. Q9 raised $115 million in private equity financing to fund a national network of Internet data centres in major Canadian cities. Q9's data centres and network are engineered for 100 percent uptime with SLA-backed guarantees. Q9 managed services, including: bandwidth, dedicated servers, firewalls, load balancing, Virtual Private Networking (VPN) and back-up/restore, enable the rapid provisioning and scalability of client infrastructure. For more information, visit the Q9 Web
site at www.Q9.com.
For further information, please contact:
Q9 Networks
Kevin Spikes
Manager, Marketing Communications
Toll-Free: 1-888-696-2266 x7211
media.relations@Q9.com
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