This AUsome! blog addresses the technical portion of the .au Registry Transformation Project. In today’s post, we give a bit of an update about the recent .au Registrar Briefing at the Afilias Australia office in Melbourne on 14 June.

The guests of honor were a dozen registrar representatives from Arq Group, Discount Domain Name Services, VentraIP, Terrific.com.au, and Trellian in the office, and many others by telephone link. Also in attendance were Cameron Boardman, Peter Mason, Alister Paterson, Bruce Tonkin, and Will Bond from auDA, and our own Patrick Donaldson, John Kane, and Paul Goodsell.

Here are the key items on the agenda.

Transition Weekend Coming Soon!

We’re ready to go!

We’ve undertaken extensive testing, and everything is ticking along nicely. We provide lots of detail to registrars about what’s being undertaken as we orchestrate this historic transition - or, as we put it, our Sydney Opera House production - in a recent blog.

We’ve gathered contact details from all registrars so we can keep them all up-to-date on each milestone during transition weekend and reach them when it’s time to lift the curtain and go live!

Importantly, and this isn’t just reserved for transition weekend, we have technical support available 24/7/365. Yep, they’re there in the unlikely event that you’ll need them. Our Melbourne-based team will check in with registrars once we go live. They can’t wait to make that call!

auDA Resources For Registrants

In addition to Afilias’ 24x7 support for registrars, auDA will provide a resource for registrants which registrars can pass on to them.  This will reduce the work for registrars and provide an extra measure of reassurance for registrants.

Fortunately, registrants and Australian internet users in general won’t even notice the transition. Their websites will continue to do what they do best - provide information, attract new customers, and facilitate transitions in an Australian context.

Changes To The Afilias Marketing Website

Keep an eye on the Afilias website over the following weeks as changes continue to be made. We want the website to be as useful and functional as it can be and welcome any suggestions. We’re serious about feedback, as outlined in last week’s blog, Afilias Brings Continuous Improvement to .au, so send it our way.

So, to sum up the meeting:

Staff, check.

Systems, check.

Let’s do it!

Following the serious part of the afternoon we all got together - registrars, auDA, and Afilias - over a few drinks. It was a great opportunity to talk internet, put faces to names, and for registrars to ask questions one-on-one. These kind of events are fantastic - we’re serious about relationship building and enjoy our time with all of our stakeholders.

Thanks to all who attended - we’re looking forward to transition day!

Have a question or want to suggest a topic for us to cover? Email us at transformationblog@afilias.com.au.

More information on Afilias plc is located at www.afilias.info.