This latest installment in the “Meet the Resellers” series features Nergis Sungur, marketing manager of DorukNet, Turkey’s first and largest Internet service provider.

Nergis Sungur, DorukNet

James McNally (JM): How long has DorukNet been doing business and what are all the services you offer to your customers?

Nergis Sungur (NS): DorukNet was the first Internet service provider (ISP) in Turkey. Since 1993, DorukNet has functioned as a B2B company providing Internet access, shared hosting, co-location and dedicated hosting, local and long-distance telephony and value-added services to corporate foundations.
 
DorukNet has more than 30 POPs in all the major cities of Turkey and two POPs abroad – one in Frankfurt and the other in London. Within this infrastructure, each node is backed up in order to ensure an interruption-free service. DorukNet monitors its backbone and data centers by means of top-notch security equipment and skilled technical staff who are available to provide assistance 24/7.
 
Over the years, the quality of the service and the value offered to customers have earned the trust of many small-scale to worldwide well-known global companies, thereby making DorukNet a strong player in the Internet services market. Currently, DorukNet provides over 15,000 companies with data center services and over 500 companies with TDM, PCM, Frame Relay, ATM and G.SHDSL solutions. We use world-class technology and equipment from Juniper, Cisco, 3Com and Alcatel.

JM: How did you personally get into the Internet business?

NS: I began my career as a Marketing Specialist at the headquarters of Akbank which is one of the biggest and most respected banks in Turkey. I was responsible for the development and marketing activities of Internet banking, both web site and mobile banking. I also had the chance to work on different projects regarding kiosks, ATMs, call centers and self-service banking platforms. That is how I had the chance to get into the Internet and IT sector, which I find to be a lot of fun.

Ortakoy Mosque (1854), Istanbul, Turkey

JM: Where are you located and what makes it such a great place to do business?

NS: We are located in Istanbul, Turkey which is a great place to do business. Turkey is a big unsaturated market and there are currently 6 million broadband Internet subscribers and around 30 million Internet users in total. The population is young and technology-oriented. Also, we have laws requiring corporate entities to have a web site and this enhances the sector. As a city, Istanbul is the financial and commercial center of Turkey which makes the location very convenient for business.

JM: How long have you been an OpenSRS Reseller and how has your partnership with OpenSRS helped your company succeed?

NS: DorukNet has been an OpenSRS Reseller for the past 10 years. A partnership should be based on and can flourish in an environment where mutual trust exists. OpenSRS takes our business relationship seriously and provides that environment. We are aware of the fact that OpenSRS does business with its partners on a win-win basis, and we believe that we can always rely on OpenSRS which brings comfort and frees us to focus on our core business.

JM: What can we do to make our relationship with your company stronger?

NS: I think OpenSRS is taking serious steps and on the right track to enhance the relationship with its partners by assigning account managers and its new organizational structure.  I would suggest some general meetings to be held among your Resellers which would be a great platform to exchange some ideas and for fruitful discussions. (Editor’s Note: Our new forum is a perfect platform for our Resellers to exchange ideas.)

JM: Any other suggestions or feedback for us?

NS: I would highly recommend that you further develop your Reseller interfaces. They could be more user-friendly and also some useful reporting tools could be implemented. (Editor’s Note: This is a top priority for us this year, and you should be seeing some welcome changes very soon.)

If you’re a reseller interested in sharing your story with our readers, get in touch with me (jamesmATopensrsDOTcom). We’d love to hear from you!

Special thanks to Flickr user Vyacheslav Argenberg for making his image available under a Creative Commons license.