2e2 administrator demands £4k datacentre bailout from customers

The administrators responsible for ailing IT service outfit 2e2 have appealed to its datacentre customers for help financing the migration of their data to another supplier.

The company was placed into administration on 28 January, along with a number of other organisations owned by 2e2 Group, and insolvency practitioners FTI Consulting brought in to find a buyer.

In the absence of funding from customers, we will cease all datacentre operations.

As reported by IT Pro yesterday, despite FTI claiming there had been a "significant number of expressions of interest" from potential buyers, large parts of the business have now closed.

The has resulted in the firm's flexible resourcing, business applications, unified communications and field support operations being shut down with immediate effect, and a further several hundred of its staff being made redundant.

In a letter to customers, published on the 2e2 website, those affected by the switch-off are advised to "put alternative arrangements in place" as quickly as possible.

The missive then goes on to ask the firm's datacentre customers for immediate help in financing the migration of their data to an alternative provider.

Since news of 2e2's administration first broke, FTI said it had received numerous requests from customers for help moving their data elsewhere.

"Unfortunately, the levels of data held in the datacentres are such that this process could take up to 16 weeks and we will need to ensure the integrity of third-party data and security is maintained," the letter stated.

"We are seeking to continue to maintain the infrastructure and key personnel who operate the datacentres to facilitate an orderly migration of the data and systems or some other alternative solution."

FTI said it has asked 2e2's 20 largest datacentre clients to foot the majority of the bill, but is seeking a further 4,000 plus VAT payment from its smaller datacentre customers.

This money will be used to cover staffing, utilities and the rental costs associated with keeping 2e2's datacentre facilities up and running, the letter explains.

"We are currently requesting funding from customers of the Companies' datacentres through to Friday 15 February 2013," the letter states.

"During this period, the companies will not take any steps to close the datacentres and will work with customers to develop a strategy for the orderly transition of datacentre services," it continues.

Customers that do not commit to paying up by 5pm on Friday 8 February will have their datacentre services switched off, warned FTI.

"In the absence of securing sufficient funding from customers, we will need to cease all datacentre operations with immediate effect without any managed wind-down of those operations," the letter concluded.

At the time of writing, IT Pro was awaiting confirmation from FTI about the number of datacentre customers that could be potentially affected by this.

Meanwhile, mobile operator O2 has snapped up part the part of 2e2's managed services business, resulting in 107 jobs being saved.