What You are Reading - HEXONET Blog:

HEXONET regularly posts our articles and information that we believe will be interesting for our clients and resellers.  The October blog articles below are the ones with the most number of hits! We encourage you to check them out for their invaluable insights on domains and the industry.  

• Insight into the .PH ccTLD ... read the post
  
• The Value of Being an Active CIRA Member ... read the post
• HEXONET Achieves Nearly Perfect Score with .COM.DE Introduction ... read the post
• Does HEXONET Have Plans to be a REGISTRY Operator for newTLDs?  ... read the post

How nTLD Operators can Succeed with RegistrarOC ... by Robert Birkner

In my series of posts on new TLDs, the goal has always been to inform and provide insight, from the perspective of a registrar.  With there being so much focus on ICANN and on registry operators during the initial stages of the nTLD process, we felt the voice of the registrar needed to be heard.  This is because, from our perspective, success for any new TLD will greatly depend on its support of registrars.

My first post, “Does HEXONET Have Plans to be a REGISTRY Operator for newTLDs?“, was intended to make it clear that as a long standing registrar, our goal is to make any nTLD a success by doing what we have always done, by being a great registrar and nothing more.  My second post, “Choosing a Registry Operator for New TLDs“, was done to help prospective registry operators think critically about there registry platform, probably the single biggest decision that will affect their registry today and for years to come.  I wanted to give some key insights on registry platforms from our nearly ten years of operational knowledge as a registrar working with these various solutions and technologies.

Making It Easy for Registrars to Start Selling Your nTLD

Today’s post is to take the next step beyond the ICANN process and registry platforms, to start talking about registrars, the gatekeepers to the end customer.  For a prospective registry, the biggest questions about registrars is how to get as many of them on board as quickly as possible.  Most registrars are very busy selling domains, supporting domains, managing systems, and simply running their business.  And for many registrars, engineering resources are tight or non-existent.  As a result, for registrars, choosing to implement a nTLD requires a substantial return on investment.

Given that even adding one nTLD for a registrar is a commitment, how will the possibility of  three, four or ten nTLD introductions in a given year affect that choice?  Registry operators need to be cognizant of possible slow registrar acceptance and implementation.  Sounds a bit scary right?  The good news is that HEXONET has a solution called RegistrarOC (Registrar Operations Center) that helps registrar’s quickly, easily, and cost-effectively add any new TLD.

Help for Registrars in a Crowded nTLD Marketplace

Potentially hundreds of nTLDs will be available over the next years.  Some of them are listed below.  A  more complete list of declared and potential applicants has been published by Kieren McCarthy, CEO of .NXT.

    * Community new TLDs: .eco, .gay, .gmbh, .fam, .love, .poker, …etc.
    * geo newTLDs: .tokyo, .nyc, .berlin, .paris, .sfo, .scot, .bcn, .china, …etc.
    * .brand newTLDs: .canon, .hitachi, .post, .motorola, .aigo, …etc.
    * generic newTLDs: .app, .bank, .bike, .food, .free, .music, .web, .videos, …etc.

What if there was a way for registrars to simply add a nTLD to their sales system with little or no technical effort for registry integration, testing and on-going maintenance?  In this scenario, registrars can then offer a nTLD as soon it is available, even offer pre-registration!  This is exactly how HEXONET’s RegistrarOC solution helps registry operators and registrars.

What is RegistrarOC

HEXONET’s RegistrarOC solution takes away all the technical and engineering overhead for registrars.  Designed to be plug and play, once a registrar is connected with the RegistrarOC solution, adding a nTLD is as simple as throwing a switch (add an accreditation and go!).  We even help and guide new businesses become accredited or help existing registrars quickly add new accreditations.

HEXONET has successfully managed a comprehensive and extensive portfolio of gTLDs  and ccTLDs accreditations for nearly a decade.  We specialize in inter-operating with all the registry platforms at industry leading reliability and performance.  So with RegistrarOC, not only do registrars plug in to the technology, but more importantly, they also plug in to all the operational and engineering expertise garnered by HEXONET over the years.

How Does RegistrarOC Work?

• Customers Responsibilities:
  • Integrate with HEXONET’s systems to manage your domains (Add, Transfer, Renew, Modify, ..etc) using a multitude one or a combination of interfaces: Mailrobot,  EPP 1.0, HTTPS-API, SOAP, XML/RPC and Web Interface
  • Execute the RAA (Registrar-Accreditation-Agreement) with a respective registry
  • Maintain a good standing with the Registry and ICANN
  • Execute an Agreement with a Registrar Data Escrow Supplier (e.g. Iron Mountain)
  • Pay your registry and ICANN Invoices

• HEXONET Responsibilities:
  
  • Conduct OT&E testing with the respective registry
  • Technically manage your production account
  • Ensure your accreditation is always up to date with the latest registry technical developments (DNSSEC, IPv6, …etc.)
  • Ensure you are in compliance with various ICANN requirements, such as RDE (Registrar Data Escrow), WDRP (Whois-Data-Reminder-Policy), …etc.
  • Ensure your data is always in-sync with the registry – a highly underestimated task by registrars that is potential very expensive future cost

If you are interested in learning more then either visit the RegistrarOC solutions page or send us an email at [email protected].  We would be happy to arrange a quick conference call to explain the product in more detail.