Liam Eagle: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

We serve a variety of objectives in producing the Web Host Industry
Review, and one of the most important of those objectives, along
with reporting on the issues, trends, ideas and innovations aff ecting
the industry, is revealing opportunity to readers. We take a lot of
pride in providing readers with insight into the unexplored possibilities
that may exist for expanding their businesses.

And that’s what this issue is, almost from start to fi nish. With a few
exceptions, every article on these
pages touches on some fi eld of opportunity
for Web hosting companies
and, as a result, I think it should
prove to be an especially useful tool
for your business.

Of course, the centerpiece of that
larger focus on opportunity is our
three-part cover story on “Getting Up
to Code,” which explores the world of
industry- and government-imposed
regulations, standards and certifi cations
designed to protect the growing
amount of sensitive information
being brought online by businesses.
While those regulations are limiting
to the scope of service providers
with which the businesses they govern
can partner, they can also present an opportunity to hosts that
meet those standards.

In his article on the healthcare business, Wayne Epperson discusses
the government-imposed standards, such as the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act, faced by businesses that
deal with sensitive patient data. While such regulations can restrict
the access of a non-compliant service provider to a whole market
of potential customers, a compliant host can face a limited fi eld of
competition for their business.

Dennis McCaff erty, in one of two features for the section, covered
compliance in the fi nancial services industry. In a business that
handles customers’ confi dential fi nancial information and processes
hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, the stakes are high for performance
and security. Financial services industry companies face
both industry-imposed standards and government relations dictating
the levels of service and security they require.

He also covered the government sector, where increasingly progressive
legislation and growing concerns for national security have
created a period of growing IT purchases among government agencies
reaching from the federal, all the way down to the local level.

While there is certainly a kind of opportunity presented by the
limitations in the world of certifi -
cation, there is another, perhaps
more obvious, kind of opportunity
off ered as a result of the
changing technology needs of
businesses in general.

One such business need is the
growing demand, among enterprises,
to outsource their messaging
and email platforms. In her article
on hosting Microsoft Exchange,
Esther M. Bauer discusses some of
the strategies hosts can employ in
adding Exchange to their service
off erings, as well as some of the
pitfalls they may encounter.

And Jay Lyman explores the
evolving world of pay-per-click
search engine marketing, discussing some of the opportunities for
hosts to get involved with the process, from off ering marketing services
to providing optimization and performance monitoring tools.

Opportunities are everywhere in the Web hosting business. A
host just needs to know where to look. And hopefully, by providing
some direction in that regard, we have helped open up some opportunities
to your business.

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