Word: ait
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...security guards patrolling the lobby of Advanced Internet Technologies (AIT) in Fayetteville, N.C., are the first giveaway. In place of the standard-issue dark suit and tie, they are decked out in military garb, including black caps, fatigues and combat boots, with 9mm Berettas strapped to their side. Getting past them to work is a lot like getting on a plane these days: every employee as well as every visitor has to go through a metal detector and then get searched by a guard using an electronic hand wand...
...tight security at AIT sounds more MP than M.B.A., there's a good reason. The private company--which provides Web-hosting services largely through resellers, maintaining 180,000 Web domains for 32,000 clients, including Microsoft--was founded in 1996 by CEO Clarence Briggs, 42, a tightly wound, 13-year veteran of the Army who served in Panama and the Gulf War before a knee injury ended his career. More than 80% of AIT's 160 employees also have military backgrounds, including a number who joined right after a stint at nearby Fort Bragg. Seven of the eight senior executives...
...corporate world, Briggs, a brash, combative native of Rhode Island, is still sticking to his guns--literally. "If you come to do damage," he barks, "expect that damage will be done to you." Briggs' concern is more with computer hackers and corporate saboteurs and spies than with terrorists--AIT's security measures long predate Sept. 11--but for all potential foes, he has applied the same discipline, tactics and training that he learned as a major in the 82nd Airborne Division. New hires have to go through two weeks of AIT's brand of basic training, and employees wear color...
Though still a relatively small player in the fiercely competitive Web-hosting business, AIT is faring better than a lot of its bigger, cash-strapped rivals such as Exodus and Digex. Without the help of any venture-capital financing--which Briggs has compared to making a "deal with the devil"--AIT claims to be profitable and says about half its new customers came over from its competitors. One of the fastest growing tech companies over the past five years, AIT should pull in about $30 million in revenue this year, up 50% from...
Nowhere are AIT's defenses more on display than at its 25,000-sq.-ft. data center, packed with server computers that are the lifeblood of the company. The building is made of reinforced 8-in. concrete cinder blocks, surrounded by sandbags and a 6-ft.-high chain-link, barbed-wire-topped fence. In case anyone should ever penetrate those barriers, AIT keeps an arsenal of weapons, including shotguns, in a storage room nearby. Any security breach triggers a bevy of alarms and a lock-down mode. (So far, the only serious threat has been the possibility of looting during...