what is the best web application hosting strategy for your business?

Copyright © 2014 ZeroLag www.ZeroLag.com

What is the Best Web ApplicationHosting Strategy for Your Business?Keys to Effective Decision-Making

Copyright © 2014 ZeroLag – 2 – www.ZeroLag.com

What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper

Introduction

Developing a web site and web application hosting strategy is

a critical decision-making process for companies of all sizes.

Security, cost, reliability, and performance all factor into making

the right choices.

But with a wide array of options available, it can be difficult

to know what is best for your company. In order to make the

correct choice, it is necessary to weigh the costs and benefits of

available options.

As IT infrastructure outsourcing has grown in popularity, more

companies are considering offloading server management and

maintenance to third-party providers, rather than investing in

on-premises data centers. This strategy has numerous benefits,

but is it right for your company?

ZeroLag offers reliable managed hosting solutions

ZeroLag’s managed hosting

solutions rank among

the highest in reliability,

security and speed. We

are among the most

cost-effective hosting

providers for businesses

that prefer the advantages

of managed hosting.



Choosing the right hosting strategy:Factors you should carefully consider

Do we have the necessary IT staff?

The first step in determining what hosting strategy is right for

your company is evaluating your in-house IT staff. Is your current

staff large enough and suitably qualified to design, install, and

maintain your own hosting infrastructure?

Do we have the necessary space and equipment?

Other important factors are your current IT and physical

resources. Does your company have sufficient climate-controlled

space, the required hardware and network connectivity, and

other necessary infrastructure to support an on-site data center?

If not, how much will the needed equipment, facility, and infra-

structure upgrades cost?

How much security and control is required?

Do you have the resources and expertise to implement adequate

security controls, including hardening and monitoring your

servers against cyber threats? If your company stores sensitive

data, do you have the capability to institute physical security

measures such as biometric access controls and on-site security

personnel?

What is the best use of resources?

Investing in a robust hosting solution, including servers and

networking hardware, data center infrastructure, and the highly

skilled staff required to implement and maintain it, involves a

long term financial commitment. When deciding what hosting

strategy is right for you, it is important to determine the most

effective way to invest your finite resources.

IT STAFFING

SPACE & EQUIPMENT

SECURITY & CONTROL

RESOURCES



Choosing the right hosting strategy:Key factors in the decision-making process

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)Total cost of ownership attempts to quantify a purchase’s total

cost over time, taking into account the initial price and ongoing

upkeep, plus any hidden costs, risks, opportunity costs, and

other long-term expenses. Although TCO is a projection, it can

be a very useful metric when making large purchasing decisions.

TCO can help you evaluate the real costs of hosting options. In

most cases, the initial price of information technology is only a

fraction of the TCO. For example, a server usually accounts for

only 15 to 25 percent of the overall costs to deploy, maintain,

upgrade, and support the server over its useful service life. [1]

Ownership vs. rental of servers

Server ownership entails a significant up-front cost for the

hardware, software, and IT staff to perform the work required

to initially deploy the server. Ownership also requires significant

long-term expenditures.

In contrast, outsourcing IT infrastructure to a managed hosting

provider eliminates a significant up-front expenditure. All

equipment, facility, and support staff costs are the respon-

sibility of the hosting provider. Your business will pay only a fixed

monthly fee for stable, secure hosting services without exposure

to additional costs normally associated with uncontrollable

events such as equipment failures, blackouts, natural disasters,

and the like.

[1] What is TCO and Why Should You

Care?. Laurie McCabe.

www.smallbusinesscomputing.com.

January 29, 2010

TCO includes hardware and software acquisition, management and support, communications, end-user expenses and the opportunity cost of downtime, training and other productivity losses.

- Gartner IT Glossary



Security

Data protection is almost always a top priority, especially

where sensitive information or mission-critical applications are

concerned. When evaluating hosting options, it is important to

assess your staff’s and facility’s abilities to protect your data.

All servers are subject to potential breaches from both inside

and outside sources – whether malicious or otherwise. So it is

crucial for a company with self-managed on-premises hosting to

maintain sufficient resources and in-house expertise to identify

security issues and take corrective action immediately. IT staff

must be capable of conducting regular security audits, applying

security updates and patches, and detecting security vulnera-

bilities such as unnecessary services, open ports, and excessive

user privilege levels.

If a company does not have the capability to implement the

security measures necessary to protect valuable equipment and

data, contracting with a reputable managed hosting provider

may be the best option.

Support

A qualified and constantly available support team is critical

to maintaining secure, reliable IT infrastructure. For many

businesses, the staffing requirements are cost prohibitive.

As an alternative, managed hosting providers employ highly

skilled support technicians who perform constant server

monitoring, quickly implement repairs in the event of hardware

failures or network problems, and stand ready to provide

information and assistance to clients.



79% of web shoppers who have trouble with web site performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again and 44% of them would tell a friend if they had a poor experience shopping online.

A 1-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.

If an e-commerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1-second page delay could potentially cost $2.5 million in lost sales every year. [2]

[2] Speed and Customer Confidence.

Kissimetrics.com.

Scalability

Fast-growing companies must carefully consider whether their

hosting infrastructure is capable of supporting their growth, or

poses an impediment to it. Physical facilities, equipment, human

resources, and technical expertise must all be evaluated when

determining whether hosting can be scaled efficiently.

One of the key benefits of outsourced hosting is that as demand

grows, resources such as CPUs, RAM, and storage space

can be added quickly with predictable costs. Top-tier hosting

providers can also move clients from single servers into clusters,

or migrate sub-functions of a web application – such as the

database – to specialized servers.

Speed

Nearly every business can benefit from higher web hosting per-

formance. More responsive web pages and applications increase

conversions, customer satisfaction, and employee efficiency.

Nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or

less, and abandon a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds.

Although hardware has a big influence on web site performance,

more CPUs or RAM won’t necessarily improve web site speed.

Maximizing web site performance requires a holistic approach to

configuring the hosting environment. Aside from the hardware,

every variable – including the operating system, applications,

network infrastructure, and backbone connectivity – must be

analyzed and optimized individually to deliver the best possible

performance. This work is the stock-in-trade for managed

hosting providers, and their expertise virtually guarantees

superior results vs. web applications hosted in an on-premises

data center.



Choosing the right hosting strategy:Three different approaches to server management

Organizations of all sizes typically utilize one of three hosting

options: self-managed on-premises hosting, self-managed

colocation hosting, or outsourced managed hosting. Each

offers advantages and disadvantages which must be carefully

considered.

Self-Managed ON-PREMISES HostingWith this option, organizations bear exclusive responsibility for

their IT infrastructure. In-house staff must have the expertise

and training necessary to maintain all the hardware, software,

applications, networks, and security measures. The organization

must also provide the physical facilities and supporting infra-

structure – climate control, uninterrupted power, backbone con-

nectivity, equipment spares, etc. – to house, protect, and operate

an on-premises data center.

A large investment of capital and human resources is required

over the long term with this approach, but the additional costs

can deliver big benefits for large, IT-centric businesses that want

and need to have complete control over their infrastructure.

Self-managed On-premises Pros

Total control of IT infrastructure

Quicker changes to hardware and software

Root level access to server

Supports business strategy of IT infrastructure as competitive advantage

Self-managed On-premises Cons

Total responsibility for IT infrastructure

Greatest risk profile of all options

Maximum capital and HR expense

Unpredictable costs

Going it alone or hiring outside consultants when and if trouble arises

Likelihood of slower connection speeds and degraded user experience

Higher risk of downtime

Typically, lower digital and physical security



Self-Managed COLOCATION Hosting

Colocation is a hybrid approach that combines elements of both

the self-managed on-premises and managed hosting models.

Organizations maintain control over their data and equipment,

while taking advantage of the physical security, climate control,

uninterrupted power, and fast Internet backbone connections

provided by a hosting company.

The financial and HR investment of this approach is still high

as organizations are responsible for providing their own server

hardware, software, and the IT staff to implement and maintain it.

Self-managed Colocation Pros

Shared risk environment in commercial data center

Total control of hardware and software

Data center environment supports scalability

Root level access to server

Robust physical security

Access to superior Internet backbone connectivity

Self-managed Colocation Cons

High initial capital expenditure

Moderately high long-term operating costs for in-house IT staff

Hosting provider offers technical support and other assistance at extra charge



MANAGED Hosting

With managed hosting, there is little or no capital expenditure,

and typically, much lower long-term operating costs compared to

on-premises and colocation hosting. Managed hosting providers

employ highly skilled IT professionals who will handle all

maintenance and security issues around the clock. The hosting

environment is usually guaranteed to perform at peak levels, with

leading providers’ uptimes approaching 100%. The unpredictable

costs of on-premises hosting are replaced by fixed monthly fees,

with average costs trending downward in recent years.

Managed Hosting Pros

Lowest risk and stress of all options

Lowest capital and IT staff expense

Predictable fixed costs

Cost-effective; average costs trending downward

Guaranteed uptime of 99.99% to 100%, depending on provider

Highly scalable to meet future growth needs

Robust physical security

Access to superior Internet backbone connectivity

Managed Hosting Cons

No root level access*

* May be available with co-managed option



Choosing the right hosting strategy:Benefits compared

Self-managed On-premises

Hosting

Self-managed Colocation

Hosting

Managed Hosting

Price-performance Lowest Moderate Highest

Capital expense Highest High Lowest

Cost predictability Lowest Moderate Highest

Ongoing IT staff expense Highest High Lowest

Risk profile Highest Moderate Lowest

Direct responsibility for IT infrastructure Highest High Lowest

Choosing the right hosting strategy:Typical server management costs

The upfront hardware cost for onsite hosting, including the purchase of a server and networking equipment

runs approximately $5,000 to $15,000. Additional costs include backbone connectivity, firewalls and security

tools, plus the facility to house the server – uninterrupted power, climate control, and physical security

measures. The total can run from $50,000 to $100,000 for the first year, with annual expenses exceeding

$50,000 thereafter.

Managed hosting services cost only a small fraction of comparable on-premises capabilities, with typical

single-server solutions ranging from $4,500 to $8,500 per year.

Given the significant difference in costs between managed and on-premises hosting, companies must

carefully consider whether the benefits of on-premises or even colocation hosting justifies the substantial

investment associated with either option.

Get 100% reliable hosting from ZeroLagIf your business is ready to make the switch to faster, safer, more reliable hosting, ZeroLag can help. Our competitively priced hosting solutions were rated the most reliable by NetCraft and rank among the fastest and most secure available.

If you’d like to learn more about how ZeroLag can help your business, contact us at 877-937-6524 or visit us online at ZeroLag.com today.

ZeroLag Communications, Inc. 15260 Ventura Blvd. Suite #730 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 877-ZERO-LAG (937-6524)


Why managed hosting is usually the best option

Choosing the best hosting option for your business requires weighing many factors. But more often than

not, managed hosting is the best choice for most businesses. Managed server solutions provide the most

favorable cost to benefit ratio for organizations of all sizes.

Key advantages include:

Initial and long term cost savings

Costs for managed hosting services have been trending downward for the past several years while costs for

on-premises hosting have remain static or increased. Even some very large enterprises have opted for managed

hosting services in recent years, taking advantage of reduced capital expenditures and operating expenses.

Constant professional IT support

A top-tier hosting provider functions much like an extension of your company. A team of engineers, database

administrators, security personnel, and technical support staff are working around the clock to ensure your

mission-critical applications and data are never compromised.

Maximum performance and reliability

Leading hosting providers have a consistent track record that inspires confidence in their ability to maintain IT

infrastructure at peak performance levels, and to minimize risk of crippling downtime.

Less hassle than self-managed options

Managed hosting frees organizations to focus on their core business mission and to spend less time

worrying about maintenance, outages, and other hosting infrastructure issues. This is especially beneficial

for businesses that have limited or overstretched IT departments.