Moving always marks a new beginning. For iuppiter, a company specialising in refurbishing and custom-configuring computer servers, moving to a bigger warehouse opens new possibilities and allows to expand on the old ones. The company offers various services, from refurbishing and re-selling servers and their parts through certificate-attested data wiping, to ITAD work. In 2022, the company served 600 clients in 45 countries, on 4 different continents. Iuppiter’s founder, Saban In, explains about moving and his plan for iuppiter’s future.
Refurbishment superpowers
Iuppiter’s speciality is custom-configuring servers according to the clients’ demands. The company buys complete servers and reconfigures them while thoroughly testing their functionality. Last year, they sold over 8000 servers, 70% of which were custom-configured. Some of that work was as close to magic as it gets. Saban recalls an order for a client in the gaming industry: five SpaceShip Supermicro servers with Intel Platinum Skylake processors, and 36 SATA drives of 18 terabytes in each. The order required gathering parts from several suppliers. Now, the client is using the servers as Storage Service for his customers in an Amsterdam datacenter.
Some supplies just fly off the counter, Saban says. Like the recent delivery of Dell R640 NVMe servers. “Those are amazing in the market. Plus, they are OEM XL, which means they were custom-built for an OEM, meaning a sharper price for our customer if they can accept minimal Dell branding.”
Custom-configuring would not be possible without iuppiter’s talent to fulfil specialised customer requests. Clients often approach the company asking for a server model, generation, or server part. Here, iuppiter banks on its steadily growing network of trusted suppliers: “We have many contacts,” Saban explains. Suppliers come to us whenever they have something cool, and we reach out when we’re looking for something. That is why whenever a short-term request comes in, we can accommodate it.” The network of suppliers also allows iuppiter to dig out products at their best prices, which cannot be underappreciated.
Possibilities after moving
Ever since the company started offering server configurations, its size has been growing. “We were just exploding,” Saban says. He started iuppiter in his home in 2015 and moved it into a warehouse in Rotterdam Crooswijk two years later. With the years that followed, with expanding stock, more employees, and various extra services, the space got just too small.
This summer, iuppiter found a new home in Rotterdam Spaanse Polder, with a warehouse space almost triple as compared to the previous one. Walking around the new warehouse, one can spot tall server shelves of five layers each, large tables to configure servers on, and rows of servers waiting to be reworked. There is a logic to the slight post-moving disorder, reflected in the continuous construction plans. “We’re now building areas where we can test and wipe drives,” Saban points at a corner.
Building a professional photo studio for the eBay stock is also in the works. “Our eBay store is doing better each month,” Saban tells. “We usually work with companies and sell in large quantities, but eBay is a great way to reach individual customers.” Jokingly, he adds “I think everyone should profit from our good prices!” Also from the customer service: last year, iuppiter had a 100% positive eBay rating and ranked among the platform’s Top Sellers.
The new warehouse opens many possibilities even without all facilities finished. Such as the ITAD business, a growing part of iuppiter’s services. “We get contacted by customers who want to get rid of their data center equipment,” Saban explains. “We get a list of products and make an offer, then our team goes into the data center and takes everything out. We bring it to our warehouse, test everything, and put it on our stock list.”
Their last ITAD order was 84 racks full of servers and networking equipment. “It is an easy and carefree way for the client to get rid of the hardware they do not need,” Saban states. “And we get great stock to resell.”
Looking ahead
The move has marked a fresh start for iuppiter, with changes in the company’s business approach. The company had a golden time during the COVID-19 pandemic when the chip shortage caused the refurbished hardware market to boom. Yet, all good things come to an end, and Saban took a serious lesson from this experience. “We will focus on more recent product generations,” he states. “And look a bit closer at the EU market. This way, we can have shorter arrival and lead times. Because the longer you wait for a delivery, the more the market changes.”
In the future, Saban also wants to focus on customers in the hosting industry. “Since we’re about large quantities of servers, we can accommodate the needs of hosting companies really well,” he states. And, of course, keep configuring servers to ever-more-complex tasks and chasing the good deals.
This is a contribution by iuppiter.