Local firms branching out
By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer
The owners of Island Insurance have opened an Internet service provider subsidiary, making the insurer one of the latest local companies to "cross over" into the information technology sector in an attempt to diversify its holdings.
Island's Hoike.net, quietly "live" since the spring, offers high-speed Internet access for businesses, plus Web hosting, e-mail exchange and related services. With about two dozen clients, it competes directly against providers including Lava.net, Pixi.net and Verizon Online.
Hoike.net is "real preliminary," but the company eventually hopes to attract software vendors as business partners, so that it can offer a suite of applications and services to business clients, said Riki Fujitani, president of Hoike.net.
The company is renting equipment space from sister company Island Insurance, which has a small internal computer data center at its 1066 Bethel St. headquarters.
Fujitani, a University of California engineering graduate who worked for IBM until 1999, is also Island's vice president of information technology.
Island is one of several established Hawai'i service companies to venture into Internet businesses.
Advertising agencies including Starr Seigle McCombs and Milici Valenti Ng Pack have started Internet consulting subsidiaries StarrTech and Firefly. American Savings Bank and public relations firm Communications Pacific backed ePacificTrader, an online commerce site for Hawai'i retailers.
First Insurance Co. of Hawaii has teamed with Internet provider SystemMetrics to offer high-speed Internet services at discounted rates to the insurance company's clients.
And the Hawaii Government Employees Association, one of the largest public employee unions, founded Inets, an Internet company that has become one of the state's most well-known IT training firms.
"You see some interesting combinations in the market as companies look to diversify their business models," said Earl Ford, founder of SystemMetrics.
"People realize that this type of business can add a revenue stream and can provide added benefits to their existing customers," he said.
