AIT Puts You Online for Pennies.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2003

A civil engineer working part-time from his home in Glendale, California topped $30,000 in sales last year using AIT's, http://ait.com, turnkey e-commerce hosting package.

The AIT solution is a complete digital toolkit that takes only minutes to install, and includes a shopping cart, secure payment gateway, and merchant account, all for the price of a good dinner. "The e-commerce hosting plan is the perfect fit for both the Internet-based entrepreneur and the traditional merchant who wants to augment his brick and mortar storefront," said Kirk deViere, AIT's Senior VP of Operations and Marketing. "It is ideal for small businesses, many of which have a simple web presence but need more in order the reach their full online potential."

The cornerstone of AIT's e-commerce hosting plan is the proprietary shopping cart, Mcart, meaning customers do not have to rely on 3rd-party vendors or contend with unresponsive technical support. The package also includes plenty of disk space and unlimited bandwidth to support virtual 'foot traffic'. "Our e-commerce bundle is designed to be as close to plug-and-play as possible," according to AIT Chief Executive Officer Clarence Briggs. "We realize that most small and medium businesses have neither the time nor the money to hire or learn a high degree of technical skill. Therefore, we provide a package that is easy to maintain, but also packs a lot of features." The AIT plan lets merchants access sales data from any browser, anywhere, anytime; transactions are automatically settled every day; and, there are no software upgrades to pay for.

"We've worked to make this product as seamless as possible so any business can take advantage of the power of the network economy," said deViere. "Of course, we also provide toll-free, 24/7 live support in case a customer has an issue or question." AIT also has a web site design tool for businesses that need to create an Internet presence, along with several suites of tools and services that allow businesses to move beyond basic sites to ones that can be competitive. AIT is currently working on the next version of its shopping cart to provide additional features that will further enhance the ability to service the customer.

Founded in 1996 in North Carolina, AIT, Inc. has been recognized as one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America by Inc Magazine and by Deloitte & Touche. AIT provides web hosting and e-commerce services to more than 190,000 domains in 107 countries. Shared, dedicated, and co-located hosting plans are available along with the industry's most lucrative reseller program. AIT also offers data storage, software development, IP telephony, security services, application hosting, and a technical education center. The company has a 25,000 square foot data center and provides live, 24/7 toll-free technical and billing support.