Some days ago, a get-together was arranged in our company and on that occasion, touched the theme of hosting, ISPs and Cloud Computing. From the discussion, we present the conclusions of this event in which representatives of the hosting market, data centers and cloud computing were talking.

Cloud Services

This concept came to power in 2008 in the Anglo world. Its implementation is greater in the U.S. and the largest investments are occurring in Asia. You could be implementing these solutions directly in the process of incorporating the Internet. In Europe there is a delay and investment is more discreet. In part, this may be due to a distrust of the existence of a real demand against expectation, somewhat inflated, which has been created.

Some sectors are still wary, and on the other hand, there is really an opportunity for  real Cloud, because companies are making the necessary investment for standardization.

Hosting And Data Center Trends

While some see the Green Hosting as a fad, some voices say it is a necessity dictated by the efficiency associated with new technologies and increasing storage demand in business. Today, the most popular way to reflect this efficiency is through the Power usage effectiveness (PUE). And while the equipment manufacturers are increasingly earning more demanding and therefore more consumption, it is also true that these devices allow concentration and cooling solutions that affect efficiency.

Although the CTOs of companies are uneasy about the outsourcing for fear of losing certain amount of control or power over their area, the crisis and the need to save in HR is leading the change. The enterprise solution based on Plesk panel is simple and works very well for the end customer. For more complex solutions, hosting providers have to provide a higher level of administration.

Hosting Market Situation

Hosting providers recognize that much of hosting you hire is provided by local businesses or professionals who are not able to give good service. A criterion for recognizing a good deal of hosting is a Customer Service quality, although it is difficult to agree to the setting of minimum requirements in order to consider a hosting provider as such.

The Hosting Market is growing, albeit at a rather low (between 5% and 10% annually), but the new expansion coming and associated internet e-commerce is already a major source of important business for the hosting.

A key growth driver for a new hosting provider is the post-sale service and support. Along with the Business Breakfast, we discussed several cases and examples that reflect the value of the customer that gives the over moderate service and differences in price.

This year is predicted to continue the process of concentration on hosting companies with new acquisitions. This will gradually reduce the number of “players” in the market while they grow stronger.

Security & Trust

The hot topic right now in the concept of security in the hosting is the conjunction between Cloud Computing and Data Protection Act. The possibility that foreign servers creates anxiety and mistrust.

In terms of technical security, almost all hosting providers agree that there is less of  DDoS that is involved, and that over 90% of intrusions are due to irresponsible use by the customer.

They are also unanimous in stating that attacks against net neutrality by the big telcos or governments, the network will respond with new resources as encrypted connections or changes in provider access.

IT Staff

The CTOs show some misgivings about the so-called “digital natives”, since most stays in the outer layer of the technology they use. The advantage is that they have a high degree of adaptability and learn quickly. Therefore, if the IT department has always documented everything, it will avoid a long and troublesome process of learning.

The forecasts in relation to the salaries of IT professionals are to rise .

Entrepreneurs

It is relatively common for startups to request servers for free in exchange for benefit of the impact, this might happen when the company reaches a success stage. But this happens very rarely. In general, startups need to over tighten the margins, and do not typically demand a higher volume of servers like the other customers.

Finally, we discussed the upcoming trends: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), audiovisual content and products for applications in the cloud type DropBox , some of the applications that are carried to the cloud, to consolidate applications that had no competition until now.