CHOOSING THE TYPE OF HOSTING TO PROVIDE

Given this rate of growth, IT professionals with varying technical
backgrounds have keen interests in entering new web hosting markets
and forming partnerships with existing players to develop a
comprehensive suite of services. Just what kinds of web hosting
companies are out there and in what niche market areas? What are
the characteristics of these?
The main types of web hosts can be loosely organized into the
following general categories:

Shared hosting Customer web sites share space on the same
physical web servers.
Dedicated hosting Involves allocation of a specific web
server for use by one customer only, for one or several of that
customer's web sites.
Co-location hosting The customer houses its web server
within a web host provider's secure data center or facility.
Reseller hosting Usually a web host provides storage at a
discount to web consultants (which can include web designers,
developers, or systems integration firms), who then resell the
storage as a service or add-on to complement their other range
of services that can include web site design or programming.
Template hosting Customer create a web site through a web
browser using standard templates from the template hosting
web site; usually with the host's logo viewable on the web
pages hosted.
Specialized platform hosting A customer will require a
specific platform for dynamic pages to be generated or to
support a specific technology for custom development such
as JSP, ASP, or ColdFusion.
Application hosting (Also called application service
providers, or ASPs) Involves the managed hosting of software
services and is popular with small- to medium-sized businesses Web Hosting
that want controlled hosting of enterprise software applications
securely through the Internet or a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
Managed-services hosting Includes the management of a
wide range of value-added IT services that ensure that a web
site (or host) is performing effectively.
High-scalability hosting In the upper tier of hosting plans,
a customer will require a highly scalable environment to
respond to rapidly changing site traffic needs.
that want controlled hosting of enterprise software applications
securely through the Internet or a VPN (Virtual Private
Network).
Managed-services hosting Includes the management of a
wide range of value-added IT services that ensure that a web
site (or host) is performing effectively.
s High-scalability hosting In the upper tier of hosting plans,
a customer will require a highly scalable environment to
respond to rapidly changing site traffic needs.
Many larger web hosting companies and direct providers have
a mixture of plans that encompass several of these categories.
When you decide which hosting markets to focus on, you must
consider several core variables, including in-house expertise and
infrastructure, market conditions, competition, current trends, and
industry partnerships. When you want to gain entry or expand into
some of these related hosting markets, you should ask yourself some
basic questions, including:
What potential markets are emerging within this niche area of hosting?
Who is the competition? Are they profiting in the market?
Is the timing right for providing the type of web hosting
services you are considering?
What competitive advantages can my company provide that are not being met in the industry?
Is expertise available in-house?
What are the potential drawbacks? Do the advantages
outweigh the disadvantages?
What partnership opportunities are available to reduce the
level of risk and complement my existing core business?

In the next post i will be describing the most
common types of hosting plans available so you can determine which
is right for your business and your particular market.