Rarely does a business the size of Superb Internet move their corporate headquarters to a new location, let alone a new country. The move from Vancouver, Canada to Honolulu, Hawaii represented a year worth of work across a number of fields. We at WebHostMagazine managed to discuss this whole event with Superb Internet CEO Haralds Jass.
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Interview: Superb Internet's Move to Hawaii |
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By Staff Writer
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Rarely does a business the size of Superb Internet move their corporate headquarters to a new location, let alone a new country. The move from Vancouver, Canada to Honolulu, Hawaii represented a year worth of work across a number of fields. We at WebHostMagazine managed to discuss this whole event with Superb Internet CEO Haralds Jass.
What went into the decision for leaving Vancouver?
For quite a while we knew that in order to be able to put more focus on growing the business and enhancing our customer experience we need to leave Vancouver; that we can't continue to be weighted down by the excessive bureaucracy of having the office in Canada and the tremendously higher costs associated with that, not to mention the great inconvenience on travel to the data centres that the Vancouver location posed (sometimes as bad as 10 hours on the Canada border to get back to Vancouver from Seattle). Vancouver, and Canada as a whole, also has a very limited labour pool and we found that being located in Vancouver, Canada, we were greatly limited in our access to the skilled staff that we need in this very knowledge centric business. Simply put, the Vancouver, Canada office was like an iron ball chained to an ankle of a runner: allowing us to move forward still, yes, but with that excessive weight greatly dragging us back and down and significantly limiting the forward momentum speed.
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Haralds Jass
Founder & CEO
Superb Internet |
Were there other locales that you were looking to move to and if so what made Hawaii stand out?
Yes, at first we of course considered our data centre locations: Seattle and the DC metro area. However, while each of these locations has some advantages, they both also have some real disadvantages. What really made Hawaii stand out are a few key things:
- The truly unprecedented access to US wide, and in some ways even global, labour pool: when we did our test job postings we found more qualified candidates applying in Hawaii than in our other test areas (Seattle, DC metro and SF Bay Area, California); that has proven to be true, as some 60% of our new hires here have moved to here from elsewhere for the job (from places such as Vancouver, Canada, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Virginia, Texas, Michigan, and even the UK).
- The highest standard of life and the healthiest living environment in the US and one of the top in the world: the longest life expectancy in the US, far lower stress levels than the second lowest stress state in the US, one of the healthiest populations anywhere, etc. : this gave us the confidence to move here, knowing that we will have happier and healthier staff, which results in greater productivity – this has also been definitely the case as we see the Honolulu office productivity levels being much higher than Vancouver ever was
- The strongest incentives for high-technology companies of any state in the US (since then scaled back somewhat due to the state budget deficit, but still among the best);
- The time zone advantage: providing the most advantageous overlap for servicing our global client base, especially when coupled with our east and west coast data centres;
- Highly conductive to growth local business environment in Hawaii;
- Notably lower office and travel costs (when compared to Vancouver).
What considerations did you have to make as far as moving the company headquarters?
It involved a lot of planning and work throughout it. First and foremost, it took almost a year to get the required work visas for all of our Vancouver office staff who wanted to move. That was the longest and most difficult part of the process (100s upon 100s of detailed documents needed to be prepared). Then came the actual move: the company sponsored a large container for all staff personal goods move, as well as vehicle moves for those who wanted to keep and move their car. That was a large logistical undertaking, especially considering that it's an international move and all the goods needed to be individually customs examined upon arrival at the Honolulu port. Then of course was the individual help for all of our relocating staff to help them get set with the basics, such as a place to live, local bank accounts, mobile phones, so forth and so on. We had one person dedicated to facilitating this process for our staff and handling the logistics for a few good months, and some of our new hires here also stepped in to help. It was a lot of work (that we are proud to say did not interfere with our day-to-day operations at all), but it was well worth it and now here in Honolulu we have a stronger and more productive team than we've ever had before, and ultimately all of our customers benefit.
Did the move to Hawaii cause any special problems that Superb had to overcome?
There were a few "interesting" points, such as when the container arrived in Honolulu the actual ship operator refused to release it and threatened to "dump it" it as they had not been paid by the company whom we contracted to do the container shipping, though we had paid for it in full months ago. Many phone calls and paying the ransom payment required of us later, we got all of our staff personal possessions here safe and sound (and later justice prevailed as we got our ransom payment legally collected back from the unethical shipper: a Canadian company that we should have never trusted). However, there were no real problems or such caused by the move.
Has there been any problems with customers that may not be happy with the move?
None whatsoever. I think that our customers have seen the immensely positive impact of the move: us having the strongest ever management and overall team aboard, and being considerably more productive out of the Honolulu HQ than we ever were out of Vancouver.
What is the biggest change you have seen in Superb since moving to Hawaii?
Two, both closely related to each other: higher productivity and happier staff.
Earlier this year you talked about how the move would increase the health and well being of your employees. As this proved to be true?
Yes, absolutely. The staff who have moved to here from Vancouver, as well as our numerous new hires who moved to here for the job from elsewhere, have one thing in common: they all say that they would never want to live anywhere else. I have to say that I agree. Speaking from a personal perspective, after having lived here for a year I look back and think: "I wish that we could have made the move sooner," and "why would I (or anyone else) ever want to live anywhere else?" Every time I go to our data centres or elsewhere, I look forward to coming back home like never before. And at least for me personally living in Hawaii has a notably positive impact on health; I've heard the same from some other employees also.
Are the new surroundings more conducive to the work load?
Yes, absolutely. This can be a very stressful job. Hawaii gives countless recreational opportunities to recharge quicker, and in more varied ways, than anywhere else. Where else can one ski and snorkel or surf on the same day?
What advice would you give other companies looking to move?
The advantages and disadvantages of a move are different for every company, as it depends on where their customers are, how they conduct their business, the staff that they require, and so on. I would suggest doing a detailed labour market and local business environment study, meet with key local officials to find out what is the local government willing to do to facilitate the move and help the company grow, and if existing staff will be requested to move, interview the existing staff in regards to the prospective move.
Looking back would you still have moved to Hawaii? Would you have done it sooner?
Yes. The best time to move would have been by 2007, which is when costs of doing business in Canada went out of control and it would have been financially the most advantageous time to move for both the company and our staff. In fact, 2006 would have been the most optimal time to move, especially with 20/20 hindsight in regards to 2007 and onwards.
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