Quadric Software

Net Neutrality: Quadric Software Takes A Stand

Why Net Neutrality Matters to Quadric

If you’ve been paying attention to U.S. news outlets in the past week or two, you’ve probably noticed that the Net Neutrality debate has saturated the news and social media.

We know this issue matters to a lot of our customers and partners, so we want to take the opportunity to show our support for Net Neutrality and why preserving it matters to us.

Before we explain why this issue is so important, here’s a good explanation of Net Neutrality as presented by freepress:

Net Neutrality is the internet’s guiding principle: It preserves our right to communicate freely online. Net Neutrality means an internet that enables and protects free speech. It means that ISPs should provide us with open networks — and shouldn’t block or discriminate against any applications or content that ride over those networks. Just as your phone company shouldn’t decide who you call and what you say on that call, your ISP shouldn’t interfere with the content you view or post online.

Net Neutrality and Small Businesses

Now we would like to share why Net Neutrality matters to us on a personal level. When we started Quadric Software nearly 10 years ago (then called Quorumsoft), our goal was to fill what we saw as a real need in the XenServer backup market.

We were huge fans of the Xen platform from its infancy, and we wanted to offer a user-friendly, lightweight, and affordable BDR solution that ensured accurate, complete, and fully recoverable backups. So we developed the first version of Alike, and Quadric Software was born.

However, having an amazing product for a platform we believed would grow tremendously over the years is only half of what’s needed to grow a small startup into a successful business. We also needed a website to serve as the main vehicle to launch our products and services on a global level. And we needed to be able to present our content online without ISP throttling or exorbitant fees.

Without a free and open Internet, we couldn’t reach the consumers who were looking for a reliable XenServer backup and recovery solution. We wouldn’t have been able to create a market and a niche for Alike. Put simply, Net Neutrality enabled us to grow and compete on a global scale.

Net Neutrality preserves the right for every business, small and large, to communicate freely. We believe this is an important issue, and one that matters to us as a company founded on a platform that shares the same philosophy behind a free and open Internet.

Think about it this way: would open source projects like Xen eventually power one of Citrix’s most successful products and a leading virtualization platform?

What Can You Do to Preserve Net Neutrality?

Fortunately, there are several ways you can speak up for online freedom. First, you can tell the FCC directly why you believe Net Neutrality should be preserved. You can also call your State Representative, email Congress, or personally make a visit to your Congressperson. Lastly, there are plenty of online petitions you can sign to show your support.

Normally, we wouldn’t write about such a political issue, but we truly believe that no matter what your political beliefs are, Net Neutrality should matter to everyone. Eliminating Net Neutrality could hinder innovation and may subsequently hurt companies that provide the products and services to help maintain healthy competition for a stronger economy.

We invite you to join us in this fight and take action in whatever way you can to protect Net Neutrality for a more vibrant future for everyone.