June 13, 2000 -- As recently as last year, there seemed to be little interest in Canadian-based managed and complex hosting services. Most Canadian firms stored their Web presence in the United States because of the wider range of choice and a perceived lack of bandwidth in Canada. However, many Canadian hosting companies and telecoms are starting to sing a different tune now that high-end Web hosting has become the sole focus of many companies down south, coinciding with increased bandwidth availability up north.
The trend was evident at a recent conference held in Toronto titled "Guaranteeing Online Security, Accessibility and Bandwidth: Selecting the Right Web Host". The conference, believed to be the first of its kind in Canada, fielded delegates from some of Canada's biggest hosting companies and telecoms, all of whom were tripping over each other in a rush to discuss their new set of managed Web hosting products.
One of the companies very eager to discuss their new plans was Calgary-based telecom TELUS, who fielded a number of delegates at the event. It was only a few weeks ago that the company announced it would pick up the Canadian assets of troubled American ISP PSINet. The deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval, will see TELUS pick up approximately 50 points-of-presence, or Internet connection facilities that serve most major Canadian markets, and a state-of-the-art data center in Toronto. The company also plans to unveil an additional Calgary center in early July.
Not to be outdone, Toronto-based Primus Telecommunications Canada launched a new data center of their own this week in Toronto's downtown business district to supplement their growing roster of complex Web hosting services. The center is located in a building popularly dubbed a sort of "tech hotel" because it houses the offices of a number of large hosting and telecom giants, including AT&T Canada.
"With our first full service data centre for Canada, we have responded to customer demand for a technologically advanced, reliable and stable environment to support their data and Internet requirements," says Ted Chislett, President and Chief Operating Officer of Primus Canada. "The data centre also enables us to bring our well-established expertise in data services to some of Canada's leading businesses, and it gives all our customers the benefit of our superior broadband connectivity to major markets around the world."
Even AT&T Canada has caught the high-end hosting bug, announcing this week that they had purchased Mississauga-based Bird On A Wire Networks, a provider of managed hosting services. With the purchase, AT&T inherits a client base that includes a number of notable companies, including Famous Players movie cinemas, and a 30,000 square foot data center in Mississauga, Ontario.
Further proof of the migration to managed and enterprise services can be seen in Toronto's Q9 Networks, who have landed a number of high-profile clients in the past months in need of high-end care. Some of Q9's newest clients include Globe Interactive, Goldcorp and the Canadian Securities Institute. Q9's specialty is co-location, and is one of the few companies in Canada to guarantee 100% uptime. And don't forget the players who already have established managed hosting operations in Canada, including Worldcom, OnX and Sprint.
The Web Host Industry Review has also recognized the need to provide coverage of this growing sector of the hosting market, and subsequently launched theWHIR.ca, a Canadian-specific destination for managed Web hosting. The site, which went live this week, includes daily news, columns and features geared toward Canadian Web hosting consumers and companies.
"Our goal is to provide the Canadian marketplace with high-quality information and tools in order to enable the best purchase decisions in regards to professional Web hosting solutions," says Rawlson King, managing editor of The Web Host Industry Review. "The Canadian Web Host Industry Review will monitor the Internet industry from a uniquely Canadian perspective, providing news about the Canadian e-business sector and e-government initiatives, with a specific focus on the Web hosting space."
So with all the new entrants in to the managed hosting field, the question remains: is there a market to sustain all the players? Michael Pegg, Product Manager for Primus Telecommunications Canada's Hosting and ASP Services division, says there's more supply than demand at this point. "It's premature right now," he says. "There's a certain adaptation people have to make." Pegg says the logic in rolling out these services now, despite the lack of demand, is to keep a leg up on the competition. That way, when businesses begin to start using managed services, companies like Primus will be prepared. "We're on the blocks and ready," he says.
