Considering Web hosting option
Shyla Sangaran
Computimes-01/11/01
WEB hosting is beginning to be seen a compelling business option among companies in Malaysia.
According to Cordoda Corp Sdn Bhd’s chief operating officer Shane Hodge, the biggest challenges facing these companies are access to leading technologies, infrastructure and network expertise, and ongoing technical and maintenance support to manage their own electronic business (e-business) platform.
“Outsourcing the management of the infrastructure, including Web hosting, to service providers is gaining favour,” he says.
He adds that expertise, infrastructure and technology that are available at competitive costs is the most appealing feature of the outsourcing model. International Data Corp (IDC) recently described the Web-hosting services market in the Asia-Pacific region as ‘burgeoning”, projecting the market to increase from US$239 million (RM908 million) in 1999 to US$4.5 billion by 2004. Under Web hosting, clients have their Web-server hardware housed at the premises of the hosting company, which also takes care of the requirements.
SMI segment. Hodge says companies that are still predominantly conventional brick-and-mortar operations are the ones which require Web-hosting services.
Another segment, he adds, is the small and medium-sized industries (SMIs). “Due to the small scale of their operations, cost is usually a major consideration to the SMIs”
Investment to build an e-commerce network and infrastructure of their own and maintained on an ongoing basis to ensure reliable and robust performance are vital for SMIs to gain a competitive edge.
Hodge says by working with managed network service providers, companies will be able to leverage the advantages offered by the Internet and maintain a world-class Web presence. To ensure successful Web hosting, a sound corporate Web strategy is important - either static or multimedia and interactive. Other factors involved in Web hosting are infrastructure, servers, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and power generators.
“Besides the type of bandwidth required, scalability of connections is also needed,” Hodge says, adding that security of data centre, total implementation cost, back-up storage services are also important issues that need to he considered.
On the pitfalls, there is a tendency for organisations to distinguish between their network operations and support organisations. Other pitfalls are staff retention and service-driven concept (providers tend to be too hungry for quick and fast deals without having the right service strategy).
LAH Network Sdn Bhd’s chief technical officer Dennis Baker says Web hosting is a means of hosting Web server applications on a computer system through which electronic content on the Internet is readily available to any Web-browser client.
“In Malaysia, the Web-hosting service is definitely growing,” he says, adding that this can be seen by the number of new Web-hosting companies entering the marketplace on a regular basis. According to Baker, the Web hosting industry is evolving and only companies and management which are willing to evolve will succeed. "Web hosting is providing all-in-one, complete problem-free Web services that make it easy for anyone to get online and start doing business,” he says.
Baker says one of the appealing aspects of Web
hosting is that nearly everybody needs this type of service, from corporate businesses down to regular people who want their own personalised domains and e-mail addresses. “Even when times are bad, these services are a necessity. To a large extent, e-mail has replaced postal mail and fax, and e-mail is stored on Web servers provided by Web-hosting companies” he notes.
Customer support. To ensure successful Web hosting, the most important issue that companies need to tackle is customer support.
“Your customers need to have a method of contacting you to get any questions resolved quickly,” Baker says.
The second key issue is the level of service provided by the Web-hosting company, specifically the uptime and reliability of their servers.
The final factor is server set-up and configuration, Baker says. “Most users won t have a problem here, but some do require
specific tools.”
He adds that affordability is an important issue as well. “If your services are overpriced, there won’t be a market for them.”
Baker says as with any industry, careful planning and a solid business strategy are needed to ensure that the company is prepared to meet the ever-changing demands of the marketplace.
“Web-hosting companies in particular need to consider the tangled relationship between technology, business strategy and the way people work.”
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