News | March 22, 2012

National Vision Selects Internap's High-Performance Colocation, CDN And IP Services To Support Rapid Business Growth

Flexibility and performance of Internap's IT Infrastructure platform allows leading optical retailer to future-proof investment, ensure seamless customer experience

Internap Network Services Corporation, a provider of intelligent IT Infrastructure services, recently announced that National Vision, Inc. (NVI), one of the nation's largest optical retailers, is leveraging multiple Internap services, including its robust, scalable colocation and Content Delivery Network (CDN), powered by its patented, high-performance IP network. Internap's flexible platform will allow NVI to meet its increasing IT Infrastructure demands, which are being driven by rapid growth.

NVI is the fourth largest optical retailer in the U.S., with more than 700 retail locations spanning 44 states. Opening approximately 40 new stores annually, the company has a strong growth trajectory, and in 2011, it acquired AC Lens, one of the fastest-growing online contact lens providers in the world. As a result of the acquisition, NVI needed to consolidate the infrastructure for more than 12 AC Lens ecommerce websites. In addition, NVI was seeking a world-class facility for its existing infrastructure, which was housed in its own data center – a converted, former Walmart store with limited space and power capacity.

Rather than invest the substantial time and financial resources necessary to expand its internal data center, NVI sought an IT Infrastructure provider with a full portfolio of services that could easily and cost-effectively scale to meet its current and future requirements. NVI selected Internap based on the scope and flexibility of its portfolio, as well as its unique network performance capabilities. Internap's colocation will provide scalability and redundancy as well as critical anti-DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) protection, while its global, route-optimized Performance IP service with TCP acceleration (XIP) will ensure fast, seamless website access for NVI customers that are placing and tracking orders online and for employees accessing business-critical applications. Additionally, Internap's CDN will distribute NVI's website content across its data center footprint so that it is delivered to end users as quickly as possible – from the geographic location nearest to them.

"As an online and ‘brick and mortar' retailer, our primary business priority is ensuring that we deliver a superior experience for our customers. And as we continue to grow, working with the right IT Infrastructure provider is critical to helping us achieve this goal," said John Vaught, chief technical officer at National Vision. "Internap provides us with the flexibility to meet our full range of IT Infrastructure needs today and in the future as our requirements evolve. We are confident that Internap will enable us to grow customer satisfaction and increase the efficiency of our internal business operations through its unparalleled network performance, backed by a 100% uptime SLA."

Internap works with some of the nation's leading ecommerce and retail providers, including six out of Internet Retailer's top 10 online retailers. More than 3,700 customers worldwide rely on Internap's high-performance IT Infrastructure services; they span a wide range of industries including financial services, gaming, media and entertainment, online education, retail, software and technology and SaaS, among many others.

"Retail organizations like NVI require a high degree of IT Infrastructure flexibility to meet significant fluctuations in demand – from massive traffic spikes to plateau periods, along with a network that is purpose-built to ensure customer satisfaction," said Paul Carmody, senior vice president of product management and business development at Internap. "With one of the most diverse portfolios in the industry – ranging from dedicated hosting and public cloud to private cloud, managed hosting, colocation and a CDN – Internap is uniquely positioned to meet retailers' full range of needs, including unmatched availability and performance guarantees."

About Internap
Internap provides intelligent IT Infrastructure services that combine unmatched performance and platform flexibility to enable our customers to focus on their core business, improve service levels and lower the cost of IT operations. Our unique trio of route-optimized enterprise IP, TCP acceleration and a global content delivery network improves website performance and delivers superior end-user experiences. Our scalable colocation, managed hosting, private cloud, public cloud and hybrid offerings provide enterprises the flexibility to adapt to changing business needs and future-proof their IT Infrastructure. Since 1996, thousands of companies have entrusted Internap with the protection and delivery of their online applications. Transform your IT Infrastructure into a competitive advantage with IT IQ from Internap. For more information, visit http://www.internap.com/.

About National Vision
National Vision, Inc. (NVI) is the fourth largest optical retailer in the United States, operating 700 retail locations in 44 states through the U.S. National Vision employs over 6,000 employees, and our retail divisions include America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses, Eyeglass World, Vision Centers inside select Wal-Marts, Vista Optical inside Fred Meyer and Optical Centers on select military bases. National Vision has plans to open over 40 America's Best and Military locations annually. For more information, visit http://www.nationalvision.com.

SOURCE: Internap Network Services Corporation