March 17, 2006 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- This week's Web hosting news saw the continuation, and likely a kind of conclusion, to the ongoing CEO issue at Web host SAVVIS, as well as several acquisitions and the announcement of a series of updates to many of the tools that power Web hosting services.
Following last week's announcement that SAVVIS had settled the dispute over the topless club bill incurred by its previous CEO, the company announced this Wednesday that it had appointed a new CEO, Philip J. Koen. Also elected to the company's board of directors, Koen most recently spent four years as president and COO of data center operator Equinix. Acting CEO Jack Finlayson will continue to serve as SAVVIS's president and COO.
While the appointment was possibly this week's biggest news, the biggest trend in Web hosting this week was the announcement of significant updates to some of Web hosting's most significant tools.
On Monday, Web hosting software developer SWsoft announced that it had begun http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/031306_SWsoft_to_Release_Plesk_8_0.cfm previewing the Plesk 8.0 for Linux/Unix control panel, the most significant upgrade to the product in two years. The new software includes more than 40 new features, and is expected to be available by the end of the month. New features include customizable interface temples, domain aliases and improved integration with Virtuozzo.
Hosting software competitor Ensim announced an upgrade to its Ensim Unify platform. On Tuesday, the company said it had integrated support for VoIP technology into the Ensim Unify service delivery platform. The company said it would demonstrate the new technology at the Spring VON Conference this week in San Jose.
At the same conference, Ensim announced that it had joined the Level 3 Communications VoIP Technology Alliance Program. The company will work with Level 3 to offer VoIP service providers a streamlined process for delivering their services. According to Level 3, Ensim is one of a select group of partners intended to help the company maximize VoIP revenues for service provider customers.
On Friday, UK-based reseller hosting provider Resellerspanel announced that it had made release candidate one available of its Control Panel v1.0. According to Resellerspanel, the company also added three new cPanel production servers designed to meet the needs of the growing number of new resellers using the cPanel control panel.
And along with the unusual news of major upgrades to some popular hosting tools, there was some more of the now-common acquisition news that seems to come each week in Web hosting.
On Tuesday, Web host The Planet announced that it had acquired 72,000 square feet of additional data center space in Dallas, the first step, says the company, in a new product plan that will unfold in the coming months. The initial phase of the data center includes 30,000 square feet of finished tier 1 data center and support space, and future capacity for more than 36,000 servers.
On Thursday, application service provider IceWEB announced that it had acquired IT service provider PatriotNet. The deal added 3,500 email users to IceWEB's IceMAIL service and roughly 300 Web hosting customers to its IceVISTA. The company says the deal will enable IceWEB to provide an end-to-end business service, and will immediately generate more than $100,000 in recurring revenue each month.
Some of this week's biggest news marked the obvious conclusion to an ongoing story, as in the case of SAVVIS. But other news, such as the preview release of Plesk 8.0 for Linux/Unix marked the obvious beginning of a period of anticipation of news to come, in this case the wide release of the software.
