Partnership goals: Zones LLC and GoDaddy on DT

Sean Hobday, SVP of Global Business Development for Zones LLC, has had a very exciting 12 months. The company is a strategic partner to GoDaddy - the internet domain registrar and hosting company based in Arizona.

He says, “The client acquisition and development teams report up through me as well as all of our foreign entities, and that includes the offices in fulfillment centres Zones has all around the world, which take care of our customers wherever they go.”

Zones offers a wide variety of solutions. At its core is their Global Supply Chain as a Service, which has been in overdrive since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Hobday says, “Making sure that businesses and enterprises can get the IT hardware, software and solutions that they need and here domestically within the US, but also all around the world, has been our responsibility,”

Hobday believes network optimisation as part of digital transformation in the hybrid public and private cloud sphere, with security at its core, is the key to agility for companies going forward.

He describes the relationship Zones LLC has with GoDaddy, as evolutionary, because it has evolved significantly since the companies formed a partnership. From working on projects in one location for the global internet and hosting company, Zones LLC now handles much of the corporation’s IT logistics. 

“GoDaddy approached us because they had a business problem in one of their locations and they needed quick fulfillment of hardware to support a small office. We were able to do that efficiently and effectively.”

Hobday continues, “And GoDaddy is a company that continually acquires smaller companies within their space around the world to enhance their growth. We were a good fit because Zones has got offices and our own fulfillment centers in key locations. We’re in Canada, we cover the EU, the Nordics, Switzerland, the UK, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, and both Israel and the UAE. We also have a very large footprint in India. That aspect is something customers see a lot of value in.” 

Flexibility in the current working climate is also essential, Hobday points out. “We learn from our customers,” he says. They're adapting and trying to solve issues within their business. We make sure that at our core DNA, we have the right flexibility and processes frameworks that allow for adaptability to help clients succeed in their digital transformation”.

The work-from-home mandates have been challenging, but essentially, a success, Hobday says. “Tackling working from home around the world for GoDaddy is an enormous task. The solutions that we offer therefore bring tremendous value today and that's how that's how I see our partnership growing.

He adds, “As that grows, other solutions come together within the data centre, security and networking areas as well.”