The development team has spent 3 months night and day to get a beta version of your product ready for testing. The COO wants to know when the customer will be able to see the product. The Venture Capitalist wants to see results for the $3 million they've invested. You just want to get everyone off of your back for 10 minutes. This is not the time to hastily pick a Web Hosting Company.
As an ASP your application is not a standard off the shelf product. Months and possibly years have been spent perfecting how your application operates. ASPs are creating applications that a few years ago would only be found in a LAN environment. These applications have similar components to their LAN brethren, and operate in a similar fashion to their LAN counterparts. It's this uniqueness that can cause problems at the hosting level.
Know what your needs are!
As simple as this statement is, you might be surprised by what actually goes into your application. Think about your needs: server capacity, storage space, multiple NICs and TCP/IP addresses, Firewalls, etc. Think about your application at the processes level and how the different components interact, look at how the different servers work together. Then draw the whole server farm out and document everything. This map and specification sheet will be your guide to the hosting company and a reference for everyone when things go wrong.
SLAs and Confidentiality agreements
Service Level Agreements are a way of life for the ASP. We make our customers sign them and we have to sign the Hosting Company's SLA. This is so everyone knows where the boundaries are. But, have you thought about how the hosting Companies SLA would affect your SLA?
I'll give you an example.
In your SLA it says that files can be restored from backup within 4 hours. A major customer calls; the file they downloaded off of your system 3 days ago is corrupt. Your customer has to have this document or it will cost them thousands of dollars. You say sure, not a problem and call the Hosting Company. They say, "Yes Mr. Smith, we will restore that file and we'll let you know as soon as it's done." The time passes and no file, one of your best customers is now threatening to sue. The Hosting Company is saying that the SLA that you signed sates that they will restore a file within 24 hours.
This is just one reason why you should make sure that the Hosting Company's SLA doesn't contradict your SLA. Make sure the Hosting Company can provide the services that you are promising your customers. If they can't, then either look for a Hosting Company that can or think about taking that service out of your SLA.
Make sure you get a signed confidentiality agreement from your Hosting Company. This may seem trivial, but the Intellectual Property could be worth millions. The last thing you want is for some low-level systems engineer to pirate your application and become the next Bill Gates. Your Intellectual Property is the real value of your startup.
Time to choose
Now for the moment of truth, time for you to pick a hosting company. Ok, you've decided what you need for hosting, and created a diagram. You've visited the sites and received your quotes. If there are differences between the quotes, chart them out and go with the best of the lot. If everything is equal, then flip a coin. Seems simple? Remember, it took me almost two and a half pages to get to this point and I haven't even talked about cost.
Now that you have picked a Hosting Company, it's time to get the financial people involved. Don't kid yourself! A hosted server farm is expensive, One hundred thousand dollars or more to setup and Ten Thousand dollars a month to keep operational. I'm just talking about a small farm of a dozen systems and one location. If you are building a multi-site network with hundreds of boxes, it could cost millions.
Don't panic; remember that it is your job to make sure everything is setup properly. ASP's use cutting edge technology to it's fullest. Unfortunately cutting edge technology costs money. Hopefully lots and lots of customers will share that cost, so that you can make a profit.
After the finance people are through moving bits of paper around you can finally sign the paperwork to install your server farm. Speaking of paperwork, make sure you get a confidentiality agreement signed by the Hosting Company and a copy of the original document signed by all parties involved.
In conclusion
All of this breaks down into the few simple things:
1. Know what your needs are before you start looking.
2. Research Hosting Companies before you make the first call.
3. Ask Questions, it's better to ask a stupid question than to pay to change something later.
4. Eliminate any Hosting Company that doesn't fit your application.
5. Give each Hosting Company a diagram and breakdown of your server farm needs.
6. When the quotes are back compare and question everything.
7. Get copies of all signed documents.
We are a part of a brave new IT world. The applications we are making today will change the way everyone works tomorrow. We are here for the challenges, and with some luck we'll be successful. Good Luck!
SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/hosting-horrors-16773/
As an ASP your application is not a standard off the shelf product. Months and possibly years have been spent perfecting how your application operates. ASPs are creating applications that a few years ago would only be found in a LAN environment. These applications have similar components to their LAN brethren, and operate in a similar fashion to their LAN counterparts. It's this uniqueness that can cause problems at the hosting level.
Know what your needs are!
As simple as this statement is, you might be surprised by what actually goes into your application. Think about your needs: server capacity, storage space, multiple NICs and TCP/IP addresses, Firewalls, etc. Think about your application at the processes level and how the different components interact, look at how the different servers work together. Then draw the whole server farm out and document everything. This map and specification sheet will be your guide to the hosting company and a reference for everyone when things go wrong.
SLAs and Confidentiality agreements
Service Level Agreements are a way of life for the ASP. We make our customers sign them and we have to sign the Hosting Company's SLA. This is so everyone knows where the boundaries are. But, have you thought about how the hosting Companies SLA would affect your SLA?
I'll give you an example.
In your SLA it says that files can be restored from backup within 4 hours. A major customer calls; the file they downloaded off of your system 3 days ago is corrupt. Your customer has to have this document or it will cost them thousands of dollars. You say sure, not a problem and call the Hosting Company. They say, "Yes Mr. Smith, we will restore that file and we'll let you know as soon as it's done." The time passes and no file, one of your best customers is now threatening to sue. The Hosting Company is saying that the SLA that you signed sates that they will restore a file within 24 hours.
This is just one reason why you should make sure that the Hosting Company's SLA doesn't contradict your SLA. Make sure the Hosting Company can provide the services that you are promising your customers. If they can't, then either look for a Hosting Company that can or think about taking that service out of your SLA.
Make sure you get a signed confidentiality agreement from your Hosting Company. This may seem trivial, but the Intellectual Property could be worth millions. The last thing you want is for some low-level systems engineer to pirate your application and become the next Bill Gates. Your Intellectual Property is the real value of your startup.
Time to choose
Now for the moment of truth, time for you to pick a hosting company. Ok, you've decided what you need for hosting, and created a diagram. You've visited the sites and received your quotes. If there are differences between the quotes, chart them out and go with the best of the lot. If everything is equal, then flip a coin. Seems simple? Remember, it took me almost two and a half pages to get to this point and I haven't even talked about cost.
Now that you have picked a Hosting Company, it's time to get the financial people involved. Don't kid yourself! A hosted server farm is expensive, One hundred thousand dollars or more to setup and Ten Thousand dollars a month to keep operational. I'm just talking about a small farm of a dozen systems and one location. If you are building a multi-site network with hundreds of boxes, it could cost millions.
Don't panic; remember that it is your job to make sure everything is setup properly. ASP's use cutting edge technology to it's fullest. Unfortunately cutting edge technology costs money. Hopefully lots and lots of customers will share that cost, so that you can make a profit.
After the finance people are through moving bits of paper around you can finally sign the paperwork to install your server farm. Speaking of paperwork, make sure you get a confidentiality agreement signed by the Hosting Company and a copy of the original document signed by all parties involved.
In conclusion
All of this breaks down into the few simple things:
1. Know what your needs are before you start looking.
2. Research Hosting Companies before you make the first call.
3. Ask Questions, it's better to ask a stupid question than to pay to change something later.
4. Eliminate any Hosting Company that doesn't fit your application.
5. Give each Hosting Company a diagram and breakdown of your server farm needs.
6. When the quotes are back compare and question everything.
7. Get copies of all signed documents.
We are a part of a brave new IT world. The applications we are making today will change the way everyone works tomorrow. We are here for the challenges, and with some luck we'll be successful. Good Luck!
SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/hosting-horrors-16773/
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