MyCrane is the first and only global platform for online crane rental. Its innovative platform connects customers and suppliers around the world, radically simplifying the crane search and rental process.
MyCrane also offers an online marketplace for the sale of cranes, spare parts, and other lifting equipment. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Dubai, UAE, MyCrane is the fastest growing startup in the crane industry.
Notoriously fickle industry
A Cloud Above: Meeting Needs and Disrupting Industries with 11:11 Systems Ask Erik Altena, vice president at MyCrane, to describe his vision for the company and you’ll get an ambitious, yet decisive, answer. “What we’re trying to achieve with MyCrane is, basically: Whenever someone thinks about a crane, they think about us,” he said.
Before MyCrane launched its platform in 2021 — essentially the Uber for crane rentals
Before MyCrane launched its platform in 2021 — essentially the Uber for crane rentals — the global crane procurement process was, to say the least, incredibly complex. In an industry with little-to-no digitisation, would-be customers are responsible for all the legwork, including sizing cranes, sending inquiries, and evaluating quotes. This, of course, comes at the expense of valuable resources, most notably, time, money, and a lot of paper. MyCrane wants to eliminate all that. But achieving such a goal does not come without obstacles, especially when it means upending a notoriously fickle industry.
Fastest growing startup
“That’s why it is so important for us to have the best possible digital platform — one which is accessible and secure all around the world,” said Altena To attain this level of accessibility, connectivity, and security, both for itself and the crane industry at large, MyCrane turned to 11:11 Systems to host its innovative platform and marketplace, first in the United Kingdom and then across the globe.
With 11:11 Cloud and its proven VMware-based technology, MyCrane can now seamlessly run its infrastructure across 15 countries (and counting), while adhering to a strict set of privacy and security requirements. It also can easily scale as its business does — an important feature when you’re an industry’s fastest growing startup.
Global cloud provider
MyCrane needed a truly global cloud provider, one that could ensure data security
“We considered other cloud service providers to host our platform, but 11:11 Systems was simply the best,” said Altena. “Their team understood what we needed, what our requirements were, and delivered. They were always quick to respond and willing to help grow our understanding from initial quote to deployment and beyond.”
To start, the MyCrane platform was available in four countries. In the two years since its launch, however, that number has more than tripled to include the UK, United States, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and more. The company does not intend on slowing its pace, either, with plans for further expansion into the United States and Canada in the coming year, according to Altena. As a truly global business, MyCrane needed a truly global cloud provider, one that could ensure data security, stability, and sovereignty, while also guaranteeing where it physically resides.
Many cloud contracts
At first, the MyCrane and 11:11 relationship centred around hosting services in the UK alone. But Altena and his team soon realised the benefit of partnering with a cloud company that possessed a global footprint as expansive as their own.
At first, the MyCrane and 11:11 relationship centred around hosting services in the UK alone
“Our work at MyCrane is global in scope, and continuously expanding. So, when it came to cloud services, we needed to work with one company in the UK, another in Germany, and another in United States just to make everything work,” said Altena. “At a certain point, it just didn’t make sense to have that many cloud contracts, all of which came with different parameters, control panels, and performances. As a global company itself, 11:11 was able to help us get up and running all over the world. Its worldwide coverage was a big plus. Now, whenever we need to get set up in a new country, I know all we need to do is get in touch with 11:11.”
Stringent workload requirements
It’s been said that the sun never sets on 11:11 Systems (and now, as a result, MyCrane). With more than 25 state-of-the-art facilities around the world, 11:11 was well positioned to find the right home for MyCrane’s most stringent workload requirements, anywhere in the world. 11:11 was also able to ensure more than mere availability for Altena and his team.
Being able to address region-specific compliance requirements, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, was of paramount importance. “Given our global reach, we needed to ensure compliance with all the necessary data privacy regulations, especially GDPR,” said Altena.
Global compliance and security
11:11 understands that keeping data safe is a challenge — especially these days
“Confidently running our platform and marketplace everywhere we intended, meant finding a provider we could trust. 11:11 earned that trust by not only ensuring our cloud infrastructure met the standard for GDPR compliance, but by also demonstrating the experience and expertise necessary for us to maintain it long term.”
When it comes to global compliance and security, 11:11 understands that keeping data safe is a challenge — especially these days — and some businesses, like MyCrane, have more complex compliance requirements than others. That is why all 11:11 services are designed with both compliance and security in mind. This commitment naturally extends to its global data center locations, which are built with rigorous physical security measures and access controls in place. 11:11 is also continuously updating and evaluating its compliance certifications and attestations and has a team of dedicated, in-house compliance experts on standby.
Two communication barriers
“We considered other cloud service providers to host our platform, but 11:11 Systems was simply the best. Their team understood what we needed, what our requirements were, and delivered. They were always quick to respond and willing to help grow our understanding from initial quote to deployment and beyond,” said Erik Altena, Vice President.
We considered other cloud service providers to host our platform, but 11:11 Systems was simply the best"
Right from the start, Altena had a good feeling about 11:11. Not an IT administrator by trade, he wanted to work with a cloud provider that could clearly communicate both the technology and costs associated with it. This would be particularly difficult if he were also unable to speak his native language, battling two communication barriers at once.
Rise in cloud adoption
“I don’t speak the language of IT, so whenever I’m interacting with someone who does there’s already somewhat of a disconnect. The fact that our 11:11 account manager could speak Dutch, as I did, gave me a ton of initial comfort,” said Altena.
“That helped me better understand the tech-side of things and feel comfortable that 11:11 could meet our requirements. From that point on, I had a lot of confidence in 11:11’s ability to communicate clearly and fix any issues, should they arise.” Communication is critical to success in the cloud, especially when it comes to understanding its costs. Despite the ongoing rise in cloud adoption, many IT administrators still struggle to successfully manage the costs associated with it. Pricing models and hidden fees vary from provider to provider, making the true cost of the cloud difficult to understand and, more importantly, predict.
Supporting service packages
11:11’s initial quote actually seemed more expensive at first, but it didn’t stay that way"The level and quality of support available is also rather unpredictable, often dictated, as many things are, by fine print — the more you want, the more you must pay. “From the very beginning, 11:11 was fair and upfront about its pricing with no surprises or hidden fees,” said Altena.
“11:11’s initial quote actually seemed more expensive at first, but it didn’t stay that way. While the other quotes we received may have started low, we quickly realise how many additional charges there were. You had to pay extra for the firewall, extra for different support service packages, and so on. With 11:11, it was all included in the initial quote. That’s just an upstanding way of doing business.” As Altena and the rest of the MyCrane team continue to chart the company’s path toward ubiquity in the crane industry, they can do so with full confidence in the 11:11 Cloud infrastructure.
More internal resources
The award-winning 11:11 Cloud Console, for example, provides unparalleled visibility and control over all MyCrane’s workloads. This allows Altena and his team to monitor and manage the pulse of company’s infrastructure, while also being able to lean on 11:11’s expertise and thus free up more internal resources to develop and innovate their own platform.
“When it comes to our cloud infrastructure, the most important thing for us is that it does not create any unnecessary headaches or problems. We need it to be always up and running, especially as a small startup company without a ton of IT resources,” said Altena. “11:11 delivers on their end so we can continue to innovate on ours. It’s huge.”
