Disrupted ISP back, but doubts linger

By PETER GRIFFIN

Troubled internet service provider Asia Online is back to normal after series of breakdowns in service.

But confusion still surrounds the source of the problem.

It seems to run deeper than the disruptive denial-of-service attacks of two weeks ago, which the company at one stage said caused its network problems.

The "pan-regional" company has shed hundreds of staff, pulled out of the United States market and shifted its business focus considerably since September, when it shelved plans for a $US100 million listing on the Nasdaq.

The company's chief executive officer, Ed Roberto, has not ruled out further cuts in Asia Online's operations, including those in New Zealand.

Asia Online is believed to have dropped 25 staff in New Zealand since December, leaving it with about 40.

General manager Hugh McKellar also left in February.

Yesterday, his successor, Kevin Francis, would not be drawn on the cause of the drops in service that left major clients such as the Ministry of Health, New Zealand Post and Carter Holt Harvey with sporadic cuts in e-mail and web access.

"The issue has been redressed and we are satisfied with the outcome," responded Simon Fenwick, Asia Online's marketing director for Australia and New Zealand in an e-mail.

Asked yesterday about its claim a fortnight ago that hackers had gained access to Asia Online through one of its customers, Herald publisher Wilson & Horton, the ISP referred inquiries back to Wilson & Horton.

Wilson & Horton Interactive's chief information officer, Gary McKenzie, who last week said he did not believe Asia Online's problems could be put down to denial-of-service attacks, was also unwilling to comment.

Instead, he said, lapses in service were due to misconfigured software on an Asia Online router.

Last year's abortive initial public offering was followed by the departure of Asia Online's chief executive officer, Kevin Randolph, and led his replacement, Mr Roberto, to undertake extensive cost cutting to make the company profitable.

Mr Roberto told the Herald that Asia Online's aggressive acquisition programme had led to duplicated resources in many areas, hence the cutting of last year's staff of more than 900 to 565.

"We acquired so many businesses and had so much replication we needed to consolidate and rationalise some of the duplication of functions."

The rationalisation may still not have run its course, as Mr Roberto could not say if further staff cuts would occur.

"I hope not," he told the Herald, "but we can't control the market. I'm hoping that companies start to buy more, that the Nasdaq will break 5000 [points]."

Mr Roberto rejected claims that Asia Online's methods of routing traffic through servers in Sydney was having an adverse impact onservice.

"We've got fibre running across the Tasman - speed-of-light transmission.

"Someone in New Zealand is not going to know the difference in whether that server sits in New Zealand or Australia."

In February, Asia Online pulled out of the application server provider (ASP) market after reportedly investing $US500,000 in developing ASP services.

One high-profile client that contacted the Herald at the height of Asia Online's problems said the service dropoffs were the "last straw" that could lead to the company switching to an alternative provider.

A source close to the company who did not want to be named said Asia Online's decline could be traced from the acquisition of the Internet Company of New Zealand, which had a reputation for good service.

"All those values were shoved out of the window after the takeover and the customer became the least important person in the world."