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(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Months after revealing merger plans, Web hosting providers The Planet (www.theplanet.com) and SoftLayer (www.softlayer.com) have completed their merger, according to a confidential email sent Monday morning by The Planet and obtained by news site TechCrunch.

According to an email disclosed by TechCrunch and verified by SoftLayer, the transition will be seamless, but offer enhanced features; The Planet customer accounts and services will remain unchanged, however, they will receive new capabilities including direct access and control through a customer portal and open API, which enables customers to order, deploy and manage their entire environment remotely, and on-demand.

The email to customers noted: “Your existing The Planet services and account are managed and accessed as they were before through Orbit and the Managed Hosting Portal. But beginning next week, you can also access the SoftLayer Customer Portal with your The Planet username and password.”

In an interview about the merger in August, it was revealed that SoftLayer chief executive officer Lance Crosby would lead the combined organization as CEO, and a senior management team would be comprised of executives from both companies. It was said that The Planet CEO Doug Erwin would resign after the merger was completed.

The new SoftLayer provides an expanded line of products and services, as well as a larger international presence and expanded partnerships with industry leaders.

The combined infrastructure footprint of both companies increases the geographic diversity and customers’ ability to choose where servers reside. As well, a high-speed network and multiple points of presence will provide more than 1,500G of connectivity and direct connections for lower latency.

There will also be an improved Service Level Agreement promising 100-percent uptime and a two-hour or less hardware replacement (failure or upgrade) guarantee.

“Our goal is to provide the best hosting experience in the business and we want you to see it firsthand,” the email read.