July 16, 2009 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Heineken The Netherlands launched its new multifunctional website Heineken.nl with the cooperation of
LeaseWeb, one of Europe’s largest dedicated hosting providers. LeaseWeb installed the hardware and software for the website, a VMware-based hosting solution, in LeaseWeb’s dedicated space within the ‘green’ data-center environment of EvoSwitch in the Amsterdam region.
The website Heineken.nl is a portal that not only provides information in the form of a comprehensive musical and sports agenda, but also features a web shop where you can reserve and purchase various extras, including music downloads and tickets to sold-out concerts. Visitors to Heineken.nl can use so-called Heineken “e’s” – the savings system at Heineken.nl – to pay for those special offers. The new Heineken portal caters is intended to enhance the level of enjoyment for people going out in the Netherlands, for both music lovers and sports enthusiasts.
Corporate Hosting
Heineken.nl was created in close collaboration with well-established partners, including LeaseWeb. LeaseWeb provides Heineken The Netherlands with a VMware-based hosting solution for the website. Within this solution, several VMware Virtual Machines (virtual servers) run on the VMware-based virtual hosting platform developed by LeaseWeb. LeaseWeb also provides the necessary hardware-based servers as well as network equipment, such as a firewall and a load balancer.
LeaseWeb’s engineers worked to ensure that the migration of Heineken.nl to the new virtual hosting solution at LeaseWeb could be completed in one night. Ruud Mous, sales director of LeaseWeb: “Our engineers have extensive knowledge of VMware, and will – where necessary – provide support to Heineken The Netherlands with regard to maintenance and/or supplements to the existing web environment.”
LeaseWeb’s own worldwide hosting network using telecom carriers and Internet exchanges ensures that consumers can make unlimited use of the Heineken.nl website. LeaseWeb’s network has ample bandwidth, currently more than 750 Gigabits per second, which benefits websites with heavy traffic, multimedia applications and/or streaming video.
VMware Hosting
Why were virtual servers used for this website? “Virtual hosting is particularly attractive to the enterprise market and the higher segment of the small and medium-sized business sector,” says Mous. “A corporate hosting environment such as Heineken.nl, in particular, benefits from a virtualized solution compared to a purely hardware-based solution. Examples of such benefits include scalability and availability. It also makes migrations much simpler, and it does not affect the applications.”
LeaseWeb uses VMware for this virtual hosting solution, since its stability is crucial to the corporate market. Mous: “VMware is the Rolls Royce of virtual hosting. This is state-of-the-art virtualization software, which makes it ideal for use in enterprise and large corporate environments.”
Mous adds that LeaseWeb’s ‘green’ data center environment is also in agreement with the sustainable market approach that is being implemented by an increasingly large number of corporate businesses. “We have a dedicated space within EvoSwitch in the Amsterdam region. This space benefits from substantial energy savings in the data center compared to conventional data centers. Furthermore, EvoSwitch uses green energy and residual CO2 emissions are compensated for by investments in tree-planting and biogas projects.”
Hosting Music and Web shop
Heineken.nl has a large amount of musical content. The download shop offers more than 2,500 CDs and 650 DVDs, and more than 500 downloads are available. There is also a web shop where you can find a variety of gifts in the form of Heineken gadgets, such as clothing, beer glasses, bags and wristwatches. Heineken.nl also features a ticket shop operated in collaboration with Ticket Online, where visitors can order tickets online for (musical) events, for example.
The website allows consumers to pay with a so-called Heineken E-Card, a full-fledged VISA credit card specially designed and customized for Heineken. They can also use the E-Card to save “e’s”. This E-Card is therefore the payment and savings method at Heineken.nl. With each purchase using the Heineken E-Card, the card holder collects “e’s” that make the buyer eligible for a variety of special offers. In addition to the e-offers and the extensive musical and sports agenda, Heineken.nl also features a Pub Search Engine that allows consumers to find the 2,000 largest Heineken pubs in the Netherlands, with a description, address details and itinerary for each pub.
The beer brewer views Heineken.nl as a logical initiative that complements the brand. Herwin van den Berg, marketing director of Heineken The Netherlands: “The primary objective of Heineken.nl is not to sell more beer, but rather to encourage our customers to feel even more strongly connected to the brand by offering them tangible benefits, priority and privileges, in order to make their night out even more enjoyable.”
