by WHIR Happenings - Friday, March 16, 2012

Last night proved to be another successful WHIR event in Chicago, four years in a row. Part of that success, as it always is for some reason in Chicago, is the high concentration of pure play web hosts in attendance.

And not only locals, such as sponsor WiredTree, but other reps from companies flew in from out of town to attend this event, such as Robert DeVita from Cologix, and Usman from HostDime.

Click the image to view more photos from the Chicago Event

What is it about Chicago that makes everyone love this town?  To the folks at theWHIR, it always reminds us of our home town Toronto. Everyone’s friendly, but not too friendly, there’s a rich multiculturalism, delicious food, shopping, and plenty to do here to keep any tourist or local busy.

We’d like to send out a huge thanks to our 2012 title sponsors Parallels, e-onlinedata and BlackLotus for their continued support all year long.  And we’d also like to thank Chicago sponsors CA, Arbor Networks, and local web host WiredTree, for their generous support.

The sponsors were thoughtful enough to donate door prizes, and here are the lucky winners:

• Leo Dominguez of Right Servers won an iHome iD3 Premium Bongiovi Acoustics DPS Stereo Speakers from Parallels
• Mark Hughey of Website Magick won a Kindle from e-Onlinedata
• Jennifer Moy of Midnight Marketing won a Wenger Watch from Black Lotus
• Derar Al-Sheikhly of Right Servers won an iPad from Arbor Networks
• Jonathan Manuzak of CodeGuard won a Kindle Fire from CA, Inc.
• Keith Gerald of DPSciences Corporation won a Samsung Galaxy Tab from Wired Tree

We look forward to seeing you at our next WHIR Networking Event in Denver, Colorado on April 19th, 2012. RSVP Free and invite a guest!

by Liam Eagle - Friday, March 16, 2012

So what happens now?

Mark Stanley from the Center for Democracy and Technology, Andrew Rasiej from Personal Democracy Media, Mike McGeary from Hattery Labs and Engine Advocacy, and Laurent Crenshaw from Rep. Darrell Issa’s office laid out their ideas at a great panel at South by Southwest’s interactive event.

McGeary said that SOPA was a “barricades” moment, but that the internet community can’t approach regulation this way every time: that there is a need to approach these issues from a positive angle. Rasiej agreed, pointing out that the issue pointed out the following dichotomy: Congress tends to look at advocacy from a hierarchical basis; however the SOPA / PIPA protests, and the internet constituency in general are not hierarchical. Further, the “tech industry” isn’t a cohesive group of businesses who all stand for the same issues. As a result, there may not be one issue, or set of issues, for the “industry” to take action on.

Crenshaw said a lesson that can be learned from this process is that there won’t be the long amount of time to get organized for the next fight. Importantly, there is a need for advocates to be educated in what they say. While in this case, the other side really didn’t understand how to respond to concerns about PIPA / SOPA, that is not likely to happen again. McGeary pointed out that advocacy means building relationships not only among those in Congress, but also among ourselves.

Rasiej said that going forward, PIPA / SOPA represents a viewpoint that 20th century business models need to move to the 21st century, and going forward, the tech industry will have to keep pushing on this issue. He used the example of Uber: Uber is opposed by entrenched transportation interests who are trying to preserve their current business model. Going forward, tech businesses will need to fight these fights as well. McGeary agreed saying that the next fight may not be a legislative fight, but a business fight.

A question was asked about the move away from transparent judicial processes to “expedited” but less transparent processes like the proposal in OPEN to move some copyright disputes to the International Trade Commission. The panelists agreed that it appears that the trend is away from less transparency: the protests over ACTA, the stacked hearings on SOPA / PIPA and others have demonstrated to policymakers that closed processes have generated significant public protests.

by David Snead - Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The first panel I attended during the interactive event at South-by-Southwest discussed media coverage of SOPA / PIPA. This topic is near and dear to my heart because of the allegations from Big IP that SOPA and PIPA were derailed not because they were a bad idea, but because of a vast conspiracy within the media that presented only the “anti” side of the argument.

As an initial matter, the audience was decidedly “anti” SOPA /PIPA: only one person out of thirty raised their hand as a support of the legislation. Oddly, from the perspective of someone who followed this legislation for a significant period of time, each of the panelists commented that their publications only started following the issue in mid-October, late November. Stacey Higginbotham attributed the uptick in coverage to efforts from EFF and Reddit, as well as Congressional hearings in which members of Congress made statements like, “I don’t understand how the Internet works.”

Kim Hart, from Politico talked about how the MPAA, RIAA and other pro-SOPA organizations wouldn’t return Politico’s phone calls, or issued traditional “Washington” statements. This is different from the tech community, who would return phone calls, understood the bill and could speak cogently and specifically to a reporter’s questions. Brian Stelter from the New York Times wondered whether the initial lack of coverage stemmed from the fact that most content sponsored legislation always passed, so reporting on the issue was not news. Interestingly, Stelter referred to the internet blackouts as “manipulation” of the internet audience.

Hart looks at the fight as a “coming out” of sorts for the start-up tech industry in Washginton. Stacey Higginbotham from GigaOm disagreed with this statement opining that the start-up tech industry really doesn’t want much attention from Washington.

There was substantial discussion about whether it was ethical for publications like GigaOm to actually advocate for, or against, legislation. Higginbotham stated that she remains thoughtful about the subject, and while GigaOm is not an advocacy organization, it has a different place in the journalism ecosystem as a blog so advocacy is not as troubling. This was contrasted with the New York Times, which did not advocate in print, but did advocate at the corporate level.

The SOPA debates may have changed the way organizations advocate in Washington. Hart said that members of Congress may now be tiptoeing around tech issues for fear of being “SOPA’d.” Beyond that, the advocacy shows the effectiveness of non-traditional technology, for example online bill drafting, in influencing policy. Hart says that while the jury is still out about whether the SOPA debate changed lobbying, the culture in Washington is so difficult to change, one shouldn’t necessarily assume that the game has changed.

by Liam Eagle - Tuesday, March 13, 2012

On February 23, 2012, the WHIR took its series of networking events to Austin, Texas for the first time, settling into the Parkside lounge on the famous 6th street for a night of fun and networking, and then a bit more fun.

The party was a hit, and was made possible by the support of sponsors, Parallels, Black Lotus, e-onlinedata, CA technologies, CyrusOne and Data Foundry.

During the event, WHIR editor Liam Eagle had the opportunity to speak with each of the sponsors, including Scott Hanna of CyrusOne and Shane Menking of Data Foundry, as each of those companies manages the introduction of a new data center facility into the Austin market, with some excitement around the growth of the IT and general business environment in the city.

He also spoke to Ashton Simon of Black Lotus, who discussed the growing understanding of the DDoS threat among internet users; Jon Gilbert of e-onlinedata, who explained some of the advantages to a hosting provider of partnering with a payment processor; James Raquepau of Parallels, who talked about the company’s ability to enable cloud services for hosting providers; and Bart Peluso, who discussed how that companies vision for cloud services has it excited about service provider partners.

The WHIR networking events series will continue in March in Chicago (March 15), April in Denver and Toronto, Berlin, Amsterdam, London and Paris in May. Head over to the WHIR Events page for more info on upcoming dates and locations.

by Liam Eagle - Tuesday, March 13, 2012

March 13, 2012 — The WHIR heads to Austin, Texas, for a networking event at the very nice Parkside lounge on the city’s famous 6th street.

by WHIR Happenings - Tuesday, March 13, 2012

This Thursday, the WHIR returns to The Windy City for our fourth annual Chicago WHIR Networking Event.

This is a city we can’t avoid returning to. Not for the pizza, and not for the architecture, but for the large turnout (especially from web hosts) that we always get an our Chicago events.

This year promises not to disappoint, returning to one of our favorite venues, Rockit Bar & Grill.  They have even agreed to play a few March Madness games during the event. There are also some awesome prizes to be won from our amazing sponsors. And without their support, there would be no free drinks or WHIR events!

Parallels – iHome iD3 Premium Bongiovi Acoustics DPS Stereo Speakers
e-onlinedata is giving away a Kindle
Black Lotus is giving away a Men’s Wenger 70485 Alpine Watch with Leather Band
ca technologies is giving away a Kindle Fire
Arbor Networks is giving away an iPad
WiredTree is giving away a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1

If you think you can make it and haven’t already RSVP’d, please do so here and don’t forget to bring your business cards!

Follow @WHIREvents and @theWHIR on Twitter and add the #WHIREvents and #WHIREventsEU hashtags to your event tweets.

by Tom Millitzer - Thursday, March 8, 2012

Turning over the keys is usually not the first thing that comes to the seller’s mind when a hosting company changes hands. It’s usually about the check. The buyer, on the other hand, wants those keys. In turning over the keys you can create value, and Tom likes value.

Before we go too far, you may have noticed this is the 6th post in this series. But the series is not in any specific order. We are far from the end. To assist you in finding the other five you can consult this Index.

Now, back to those keys. Every buyer at one time or another asks if the the owner is available to stay on. Often, they want you out the door as fast as you want to leave. What they are doing is asking for the keys.

But what are those keys? And how can you create value for your company?

If you have to look it up, its probably a key. Yes there are all of those physical keys, to the office, desk, vehicles, storage unit, coke machines et al. Those ‘sort-of keys’ like, pad locks and safe combinations.

I know you’re thinking of all of those passwords, obviously in the hosting business you have dozens (thousands?) of security, server and software logins. The list almost seems endless. Aaccounting, billing, domain name: of course if you need a password, you need a login name or associated e-mail address. It seems to go on and on and on.

And then there are keys we don’t consider keys: people, certain vendor representatives, outside technical staff that know your business and you often can’t do without. Even the building maintenance person you call on the weekend when it’s impossible to contact the landlord.

Then there are soft keys – actual files of how you work, procedures, network and system designs and diagrams not to mention operational contracts. 

I highly suggest you start accumulating your keys. Develop a system, binder, secure spreadsheet or whatever you feel comfortable with, where you can put those keys.

During the courting process a potential buyer will eventually ask you a key related question. Now, you can turn around, open the safe, take your out your “key folder” and read off a general litany of the keys to be transferred when they purchase your company.

Security and confidence has value. If a buyer is secure that the acquisition will go well, could be hassle free and take less management time, you build that confidence. That has value. It seems like all these suggestions I write end with, “it makes your business run more efficiently anyway.” This one fits that nill.

Later – Tom

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by Liam Eagle - Monday, March 5, 2012

This week’s WHIR Demo was delivered by Blake Tyra, product manager at Parallels, handling a range of products that includes the company’s Plesk Panel control panel software, which provides hosting providers with a range of tools for configuring, provisioning and managing hosting services.

The demo takes us through some of the newer features of the software, including functions designed for hosting providers, as well as those aimed at small business users and server admins, and quick look at the built-in site-builder tool.

by Liam Eagle - Monday, March 5, 2012

March 5, 2012 — Parallels product manager Blake Tyra gives us a quick overview of the Parallels Plesk Panel control panel product, and some of its functions for hosting providers, for server administrators and for small business operators

by Liam Eagle - Monday, March 5, 2012

Addressing a question that comes up frequently in the hosting business, where plenty of resellers and other small operators lack a real breadth of expertise in their one- or two-person shops, a Friday post on the Rackspace blog by Garret Heath (from the company’s marketing department) looks at how smaller startups without any coding expertise can freelance out software development work to create custom code.

While he’s talking specifically to startups that are more likely to be hosting (Rackspace) customers than hosting providers themselves, all the advice applies pretty much equally to a small hosting provider that wants to build some custom software into its offering.

The post is a great step-by-step guide that looks at where to source your programmers, how to mock up your needs, post your offer and assemble your team, as well as structure your payment and finalize your contract.

It’s definitely some interesting thinking on a process that could help answer the question of how you’ll add some unique value to your hosting offering.

by Liam Eagle - Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Web hosting provider NEXESS has seen a lot of DMCA takedown notices, and been in the middle of notifying parties and infringing customers more than a few times.

In the wake of the widespread PIPA and SOPA processes, the company observed that the general public (not to mention many US elected officials) still lacks a complete understanding of the complete DMCA takedown notice.

So, NEXESS created an awesome graphical flowchart illustrating the process by which a complaint is submitted to, and processed by, a hosting provider, and what options a customer accused of copyright infringement has available to them.

As a hosting provider, you’re probably familiar with the middle section. I want to say this is something you could use as a teaching tool to help your customers better understand their options when faced with a DMCA takedown notice, but of course, it is a pretty strong advertisement for another hosting provider.

Maybe your takeaway here is just “do cool stuff like this.”

by Tom Millitzer - Monday, February 27, 2012

Positively the ONE word I would use that sums up Parallel’s Summit theme was TRUST. It was woven throughout the Keynotes and underscored by each of Guy Kawasaki’s (former Apple  chief evangelist…whatever that is) and Marsha Collier (online marketing guru) Keynote presentations.

While I am an M&A guy, first and foremost I am a salesman, or marketing dude. Really all go hand in hand. As I consider everyone on this planet my clients, I want to share this SoftCom (used by permission) video, it does a great job in marketing a company and underscoring TRUST.

Did you notice the last line? They asked for the order, a call to action. Do not be afraid.

Parallel’s did a great job of weaving thoughtful and  “non-product” presentations like Kawasaki’s and Collier’s. In the end however they are Lego blocks in the basics of building your business. I think that could be what I find most fascinating about the Parallel’s approach. Serguei Beloussov (Parallel’s Exec Chairmen) has build the firms success (aside from a great product) by empowering its customers to become successful. They tend to use the word family a lot, and the family is going to Vegas baby.

Later – Tom

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