The Quick Ten
The latest developments in Web Hosting
Cloud computing
Web hosts will increasingly deliver cloud-based apps for storage, delivery and e-commerce. As well as offering better performance and reduced costs, cloud computing will let marketers develop more flexible campaigns with faster delivery rates.
Virtualisation
Virtual servers offer significant additional features over their physical hosting services. The ability to scale campaigns quickly and easily will be of benefit to digital marketers.
High availability
The new generation of virtual technologies includes high availability, which will provide services without the expensive hardware and software required for clustering.
New content delivery networks
Jon Russell, managed services partner at LBi, says the new generation of content-delivery networks will enable videos to be streamed more efficiently, meaning they are likely to play a bigger part in the online experience.
Mergers and acquisitions
A shake-up among the major hosting providers this year and changes in the market could see a challenging time for firms looking to choose a hosting vendor.
Growth in SaaS (software as a service)
IDC claims that growth in SaaS, which allows marketers to rent hosting services when they need them, will be strong despite the weak economic conditions.
Software provider partnerships
Web hosts will increasingly partner with software providers to deliver the latest software to users more swiftly and cheaply. This will allow digital marketers to deliver more interactive apps to consumers.
Dedicated managed hosting
While cloud computing will transform technology, dedicated managed hosting will still be important to firms that do not want to risk their business-critical data.
Hybrid hosting
Fabio Torlini, marketing director at Rackspace UK, says that in 2010, more marketers will mix technologies with cloud. This will offer more processing power to stream video or run secondary apps, while core apps can stay in a dedicated environment.
More for less
Marketers want technology that delivers cost-effective hosting, including domain-name registration, shared hosting, dedicated hosting and virtualised services.
Second Opinion
If there is one thing that marketing managers often tend to overlook, it is the critical infrastructure that is needed to underpin any successful digital marketing campaign.
Web hosting may not be the most exciting part of rolling out a brand’s online initiative, however, it is one of the most crucial to consider.
You may have the most captivating marketing campaign of your company’s history waiting in the wings, ready for launch, but if you have not ensured that your website is prepared for the expected increase in traffic, it will crash and all your efforts will be wasted.
In that scenario, you will find your focus will then have to switch to repairing your brand’s reputation, as customers and prospects will have lost faith in your ability to deliver.
The question is, therefore, how can such calamities be avoided? The answer is by embracing the underlying concept of marketing – that is, communication.
Most companies outsource their hosting and see it as a standard supplier relationship. However, if the supplier becomes an extension of your in-house team, with insight into your campaign plans, it will be able to provide a level of service unique to your needs.
Creating a successful digital marketing campaign is just like building a house: without solid foundations, the structure will inevitably collapse and the facade, no matter how impressive, will be irrelevant.
Jodie Hoare is the Head of Marketing at DediPower