i2Coalition Member Spotlight: Heficed

Heficed is the IP address-centric infrastructure provider whose mission is to make accessing and managing IP addresses easier than ever. We found out more about their new IP address platform and how good policy can help you stand out as a company.

Earlier this year, Heficed launched the first global self-service IP address management platform. IP addresses, of course, are the unique identifiers all devices need to access the internet. Dedicated IP address provide stable and secure connections, and they’re managed locally by regional Internet registries.

The company is leveraging more than 10 years of infrastructure and networking experience to offer customers a simpler way to manage complex IP networks, and they can get up and running in minutes. If the user needs IPs from a particular region, they can just get them on IP address platform, whether their business has a physical presence in that region or not.

We talked with Heficed about the company’s service, which aims to bring efficiency and value to the way IT deploys and manages IP addresses. 

i2Coalition Can you give a little background on the company name? 

Heficed: It’s pronounced Hef-iced. It was inspired by Greek mythology. Hephaestus was the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. The “ice-d” part is like a cyberpunk term. Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics (or “ICE”) refers to security programs which protect data. You could say we’re the protectors of the digital realm.

i2Coalition: So, where did this managed IP address concept come from?

H: In general, we’re still cloud and dedicated server providers but we’ve realized our uniqueness is IP addresses and our customers know us for our expertise in this industry. We decided to take it to address in general as our key service and develop it as far as we can. We started with the IP address management platform where companies can easily register and get IP addresses in minutes. 

We continue to offer infrastructure and advanced network engineering services. However, we emphasize the benefits of our IP address provisioning, which is particularly relevant to companies in the VPN, cyber security, business intelligence and hosting sectors.

The platform is in direct response to our customer needs, and customers can easily access all our services on it.

i2Coalition: How are customers seeing the benefits of using this? 

H: So we are now just developing more functionality into this platform based on our customer needs. This platform, after all, was made because of our customers.

If, for instance, you are a VPN provider and you need different different IP address, you can get easy access to our IP addresses from our more than 18 locations worldwide (and we are expanding!). 

If you are a company and you need IP address you can go directly to registers, but you will need to go through different procedures and different documentation. You will have to wait a long while until you get or don’t get IP addresses. 

So we made these steps very easy so people or companies can register themselves and get those IP addresses in minutes. 

We’ve made it just as simple for infrastructure. For example, if you need a cloud, you can access our platform and get it as soon as you want.

i2Coalition: Being in those 18 global markets, do you run into situations where legislation or local regulations could impact your business?

H: Well actually our presence in Brazil. Brazil is amongst the most complicated and costly countries to import IT hardware because of tax rules which rely on protectionism and a bureaucracy in the customs clearance process. Getting established in Brazil was a very difficult procedure because not everyone can have their business in Brazil. But ever since we went through it, we’ve made it very easy for outside organizations to set things up in Brazil without having to go to the same trouble we went through. (See Case Study on Brazil – PDF)

i2Coalition: What are the challenges of operating in so many countries and dealing with customers who might want to use your services for illegal activity?

H: We have our own dedicated abuse team who’s working to solve the various problems relating to abuse. If we notice something suspicious we always have to take some actions to check what’s happening. We don’t want to lease our IP addresses to just anyone who needs it.

Keeping our network safe from malicious use is important for many reasons. Coming from Europe where we’re based, regulation is strong here and there are a lot of customs already in place. But it’s not just about meeting bare minimum requirements; your policies as a company help establish your reputation internationally and it’s useful to come from an environment that has strong regulation but also business practices that are more established and trustworthy. 

i2Coalition: Why do you think it’s important to join with other companies in the i2Coalition?

H: We decided to join the i2Coalition to become a member of the group of companies that put the effort in keeping the Internet sustainable. Moreover, we want to make sure Internet infrastructure providers have a voice in public policy. This means working with other organizations and institutions to talk about the issues and challenges we’re all facing, and look for some solutions together.  Also i2Coalition’s values are relevant and play major role for us too. Together with other like-minded enterprises, we want to help ensure that the resources of the Internet are being used effectively.