Hakan Ali
Founder and Chief Marketing Officer
InterNetX
Twitter | Facebook
Fast Facts
Location: Regensburg, Germany
How long have you been in the domain industry: 17 years
Favourite extension: .SRL, .LTDA
Best cities for conferences: Las Vegas and Miami
Q&A
Describe your company and how long have you been there?
I founded InterNetX in 1998. Today InterNetX is one of the most successful registrars and providers of premium domain products and hosting solutions. More than 3.8 million managed domains, a portfolio including virtually all ccTLDs and gTLDs and more than 2,500 hosted servers make us one of the leading providers for resellers and professional users on the international market.
Can you tell us about your last time at NamesCon and what you got out of it?
We have been attending NamesCon since 2014 and are excited anew each year. The combination of a familiar atmosphere and a highly professional environment in front of the spectacular backdrop in Las Vegas make the event the perfect start to the exhibition year. Although most of the players have known each other for years, new attendees are welcomed with open arms. As one of the largest domain events, NamesCon is the perfect place to discuss trends in the industry and to present and learn about new business opportunities for the domain business.
NamesCon is all about business networking. Can you tell us a story about the success of a meeting at NamesCon?
The NamesCon in general represents successful networking. There hardly is another event where so many high profile attendees from the industry come together. In this respect every meeting at NamesCon is an asset.
Can you tell us about how your service or product helps deliver value to your customers?
Our software AutoDNS DIRECT has been specifically tailored to meet the requirements of domainers and professional users. The InterNetX portfolio offers the largest selection of domain extensions possible, including 350 ccTLDs and all gTLDs. The connection to parking and marketplace providers such as Sedo, and a large number of free services such as WhoisPrivacy, High Secure name servers or the Bulk Transfer Service make AutoDNS DIRECT the perfect tool for professional users. Thanks to the intuitive structure, AutoDNS DIRECT users can enter the domain business within minutes.
What was one of your biggest “Aha!” moments in life?
The most important events in my life surely have been the births of my two children.
What are you most looking forward to at the upcoming NamesCon?
Of course the many presentations are an exciting opportunity to use the know-how of the expert lecturers to re-evaluate the view on the business. But right after the Christmas holidays, NamesCon is also like a second family meeting. We are not only connected to many attendees through business, but also through friendly relationships.
What are your thoughts on the new TLDs?
The introduction of new gTLDs is an exciting project, which has the potential to change many things in the next years. The new domain extensions open up new opportunities for communication and presentation on the Internet. Of course we are still at the beginning of this process and many users are still skeptical. But who would have thought in 1995 that more than 100 million .COM domains would be registered in 2015.
Name 3 things you can’t travel without.
I could never do without my MacBook, iPhone and of course my passport.
What kinds of changes do you foresee within the industry in the next year? 5 years?
The new domain extensions will remain a focal point in 2016. With .WEB, .SHOP or .BLOG there are still interesting domain extensions in the starting blocks. It will also be exciting to see if the first large brand pioneers will start to work with new gTLDs. Google lead the way with abc.xyz. If other large companies are to follow in the coming year, this will substantially boost awareness for the new extensions.
Domains will remain an important communication tool for companies on the Web. For this reason several different topics regarding domains will become more important, but also more complex: Domains will be receive particular attention in regards to security. Services such as Anycast or DNSSEC will continue to developed and be in increasing demand.
If you had fifteen extra minutes each day, what would you do with them?
I would dedicate the time to my family: To go for a walk with my children and my dog and enjoy the tranquility.
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Are you interested in being a NamesCon Featured Attendee? Whether you’re the head of a large company or a one-woman operation, an industry veteran or a first-timer who’s curious to learn more about the domain industry, we want to hear and share your story! We’ll be publishing these profiles on the NamesCon website right up to the launch of the conference, so it’s great visibility for your company or brand.
