Inside the Data Haven
How eight people and their magnificent stronghold for data brought an Indianapolis manufacturer to the world, and vice versa.
Horner Electric

Dave Nelson does not want his pager to go off. If it does, he'll answer it, of course, but in general, the Harley-riding computer guru only hears from his network server if there's a problem. Then, if he's not there already, Dave will head to his near-eastside office to see what happened, more than likely meeting up with a few of the other Indyweb employees who got the instant message and responded just as quickly. The problem will be solved, in all likelihood before it ever really becomes a problem, and the client whose website hiccuped or was attacked will never know anything went wrong. It's a beautiful system, and it should be–they built it themselves.

Not far from Indyweb's present-day offices, Horner Electric was founded by George and Mary Horner to provide quality electric motor repair services to industrial customers in and around Indianapolis. In 1949, when they started their business, they didn't have a website. They also didn't have an advanced products group or a division in Ireland, producing state of the art programmable logic controllers with touchscreens and ethernet ports. But times change, and Horner's ability to change with them has proven to be a big part of their growth from a family-owned motor repair shop to a family-owned multinational corporation.

Today, Horner's products and services are more complex than ever, and a website has proven to be the best way to handle support for the legions of tech-savvy users (and
prospective users) of Horner's offerings. After all, when a client is considering upgrading their multimillion-dollar automation system, they'll want more than an 800 number for advice. They need downloadable manuals, online software upgrades and certification information, message boards, and so on–reams of information to satisfy even the most data-ravenous engineer. The sheer volume of this type of data requires capacious, secure storage that is also immediately accessible. Enter Indyweb.

An Indianapolis-based internet service provider with the bandwidth to run a small country and the problem-solving skills to debug it, Indyweb has been making the impossible possible and the unthinkable probable since 1996.

They're a group of very smart, very resourceful individuals. The professionals at Indyweb will have a solution in mind before you mention the problem, and they have the ability to explain things to you in terms that are simple to understand. They're the kind of people who make you glad they're working for you.

Tucked away in the quiet offices of Indyweb is the masterwork known as "NOC", the impregnable Network Operating Center. The NOC is fortified with a dedicated A/C unit backup linked to its own substation, tape backups for daily periodic archiving,
cutting-edge operating software, and an OC3 fiber optic cable, protected by thick black insulation, snaking up ominously from the floor as the very high speed internet on-ramp. The OC3 makes a cable modem look like a horse and buggy. Behind the NOC's (literal) firewall, Indyweb can provide clients like Horner with safe, unfaltering, near-instantaneous near-instantaneous access to an entire planet of potential and existing
customers, not to mention the convenience of e-mail that works properly.

Horner Electric was in need of technology, and Indyweb possessed the capability of providing it to them. This confluence of circumstances led to the growth of both companies, side by side, expanding the Horner site and its attendant features in an effcient, seamless manner. Today the relationship continues to pay off, as Horner consistantly provides new challenges (like instituting a Materials Resource Planning
system that needed to be equally accessible on either side of the Atlantic) and Indyweb perpetually rises to the task.

As Chuck Ridgeway, Horner Electric’s Product Manager, states simply, “They have the horsepower.” For Indyweb, pulling off this kind of technological hat trick is just business as usual. Co-founder Dave Nelson summarizes their approach to client service thusly: “Some customers offer exceptional challenges and we meet them like
any other customer. We provide whatever they want.”

Thanks to this ongoing partnership, Horner Electric has a streamlined, bulletproof
website that regularly copes with a global onslaught of traffic. And their customers get an amazingly knowledgeable technical consultant/marketing representative who’s always available.

As for the talented, dedicated crew at Indyweb, they enjoy knowing that the system they have built is sound, that the vast bandwidth they provide their clients is being
put to good use, and that their pagers will stay blessedly silent.

INDYWEB CASE FILE

Client: Horner Electric, established 1949
Horner’s Transformation: Grown from a family-owned motor repair shop to a family-owned multinational corporation with a division in Ireland, producing state of the art programmable logic controllers with touchscreens and ethernet ports
Goal: Supply support for the legions of tech-savvy users of Horner's offerings by providing downloadable manuals, software upgrades, message boards, certification
information, etc.
Problem: Locating proper storage for data that is large enough as well as immediately accessible and secure
Result: Indyweb provides server with enough bandwidth
to run a small country and the problem-solving skills to debug it
Move it Foward: The two companies have grown side by side, expanding the site and its attendant features in an efficient, seamless manner. Horner provides new challenges, and Indyweb perpetually rises to the task.
To contact Horner, call 317-916-4274 or visit www.heapg.com