May 16, 2003 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Industry analysts concluded some time ago that Web hosting was quickly becoming a commodity, which is to say that with the widespread use of automation and management systems, and across-the-board standards for performance, all but the very largest and most complex of hosting providers are now essentially offering the same product.
Commoditization, analysts say, leads to the lowering of prices industry-wide as Web hosts attempt to undercut one another. Fortunately, those mass-market hosts that do not wish to compete in a price-cutting war still have a few options available. Some may turn their efforts to outstanding customer service, while others may attempt to add value and potential revenue to their businesses with support for new services.
Application developers understand this need, and are working to develop solutions that Web hosts and ISPs can build into their existing solutions with minimal cost and difficulty, but which can add individuality and revenue to a service provider's operation, says Nigel Spicer, president of application developer 1stWorks (hotComm.com), which just launched a program for the distribution of its conferencing solutions by ISPs.
"It occurred to us," says Spicer, "that an application service provider or hosting company that is presently looking at its corporate customers spending money with companies like Raindance and WebEx, and not getting a nickel out of it, could host this conferencing capability on its own servers, and supply this kind of service to its own customers as a branded, private solution."
1stWorks' hotComm conferencing solution, says Spicer is the product of several years of development. A complex but easy-to-use client-based tool for establishing online meetings with multimedia capabilities, hotComm can support "rooms" with space for up to 4000 users. The software uses VoIP technology to support voice and video communication, as well the ability to send presentations and screens from any program on the sender's computer.
Also essential to the solution is 1stWorks' powerful automated scheduling system. Users book sessions on an on-demand basis, setting up meetings as little as 15 minutes in advance, and pay for the service on a per-minute, per-user basis.
Spicer says hotComm is a good fit as an additional service for a hosting company, covering territory important to corporate customers. Supporting the solution is as simple as installing the platform on a server, and making the client software available to customers. The solution is stand-alone, and would not require any ongoing support from 1stWorks.
"We would license the underlying technology fairly inexpensively," says Spicer, "and then we would simply take a royalty. In this day and age, those services with audio and video and Web applications on a per-user, per-minute basis are running from 30 to 50 cents. We would like to find hosting partners that would be willing to pay a royalty rate of 3 cents per minute. It seems like a good opportunity for hosts to move into providing those services to their customers."
Internet conferencing is profitable business, says Spicer. And, while it is certainly a value-add capable of setting a hosting provider apart from the straight commodity side of the business, hotComm can also offer Web hosting companies an opportunity to provide customers with a solution they are very likely already spending money on elsewhere.
