The story so far

Quick Facts...

- Initial KDI logo designed by Maria P. (1998). Improvements made by Makis T. in 2005.
- Website online since: 11-10-1998
- Creating software since 1998
- Building commercial websites since 2000
- Creating virtual environments (3D) since 2003

NOW...

We continue to support and promote internationally our network of websites. We are still true to our philosophy and continue to do it because we like it. We are looking for ideas to create new innovative services. And we continue to be guided by the positive response of our users, which forms our services into what people really want and need.

The Web 2.0 face of KDI

As of 2007 KDI became strictly a network of free websites, supported by Makis and Maria and other friend developers. No income was generated from them and all advertising space were used to support the expenses of the websites themselves. The network became a self- and ever-growing and this actually helped us return to the original concept when we created KDI. Once again it was all about, creativity, communication, care and not about money or success. In the first half of 2008 the network had a significant face lift with many new websites joining the group and some older sites closing down. This was the time Feed Anchors, Template Blocks and Flash Antics where released...

The land of down under...

In the summer of 2006 the preparations for our relocation to Australia were complete and we packed our bags and files and made a new start. We already had eight years of professional experience in the I.T. industry and a large portfolio of our previous work. That could only take us half way through to closing Australian web design deals and unfortunately we were missing the other crucial element for our success - PRs. So, the decision was made to work as developers in other companies just for as long as we needed to stand on our two feet and create our "circle of trust". This of course meant that we had to close our business, temporarily at least. Makis got a position as a web developer pretty fast - in September 2006. Maria followed a little bit after, at another company. Both were in the Sydney business district.

Hosting is King...

We always wanted to offer web hosting to our customers and at some extent we made it possible though reseller accounts - but we didn't have the strength to dominate the web hosting market as a big player. A partnership with Hostony.com provided us with more web space than we could handle so KDIhost, the hosting subsidiary, became fully operational in 2006. This was a big step forward for all our websites in the network as well. We could now materialize all our crazy ideas and broaden the services we offered. Many file storing services like SaveMyGame and greekCULT "bloomed" at that period of time.

The big decision...

Our daily tasks had been web-related for a long time. But after 2004 we merely dealt with greek paying customers. We had hundreds of users each day visiting our websites, a large number of which were greeks, but all support was conducted using online media - it was apparent that we weren't needed in Greece. On the other hand we were in a disadvantaged position, not being able to meet our foreign friends in person. We had to do something to fix this, so we decided to relocate our HQ - somewhere where I.T. is more appreciated. We picked Sydney in Australia (for various reasons but mainly because it is the business center).

Our World has grown...

During the same period of time (until 2004) we had broaden our network of websites. We created full-blown communities and online services like WebmasterGR and Foitites, many of which are still live today. Updating and improving these sites had build a loyal user base who moved from one site to another, using all we had to offer online. We also enriched the services we offered to our clients. Our experience in software development helped us adopt multimedia skills to create custom CDs and DVDs. On the side Makis was creating electronic music and was gaining experience in creating video clips for himself and other music buddies. Dreamway, the multimedia subsidiary, was born in 2002...

The client is always right...(?)

To our surprise finding quality customers in our immediate environment was more difficult than building the websites. We defied business rules (at least those that we didn't feel right) and the greek businesses defied us. Our ethics and ideology was put to test and we decided to stick to the things we believed to, whatever the consequences. To our advantage, clients from abroad came along (through our websites and online PRs), and that made definite the fact we already had in mind - that Greece was a small market in I.T., conducting business the "small way". Four years in practicing professional web designing (2000-2004) and our income was decreasing from our greek clientele and increasing from our clients abroad. Apart from that we had better business relations and repetitive response rates.

Plenty is not enough...

And this is a reference to the websites we created. One could never be enough. By the end of 2000 we had build a small network of websites and some of them had been getting significant traffic. After three years of constant mumbling around, learning the web standards and reading design tutorials we were confident enough to start our own web design business, a subsidiary of KDI called Make Sites. Our university studies were already in the past and web designing was our plan of making a living out of what we loved.

And the "adventure" begun...

Web developing was hard and needed from all parties to sacrifice many hours from their precious time. The workload was so overwealming at times that quiting was the only sane option. And one of us did - so we were just two people now operating everything, Makis and Maria. We already were a SOHO business but that made us a private business. Makis and Maria, slept, ate, laughed and worked together. Needless to say that they were partners in life as they were in business.

The dot-com era...

Those days, building a professional website to make money was in the lips of everyone. We loved the Internet and certainly wanted to participate to this new world. Creating software was good, and we were getting better at it, but online services was the new adaptation for the company's profile. But these were just thoughts, we first had to build a proper website. So in 1999 we uploaded our first website. Even though it was on a free server and we only advertised it on the street with flyers, we loaded it with as much stuff as we could. It took us a couple of months but we finally made it and our "grand" site was up and working.

From Sunny Greece...

KDI was created in 1998 as a side project of three university students (in Athens, Greece), to express creatively their passion for computer technologies. At that stage we merely knew what we were doing so we kept a low profile until we had gained some experience. Making silly, small video games for free distribution was our first attempt to put something online. The exposure was limited to our closest friends and relatives.