By Dennis McCafferty
This article appeared in the August 2005 issue of Web Host Industry Review magazine. Click here to subscribe for free.
September 9, 2005 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- It's common these days to spot hosting executive Tom Collins fielding a tech-support concern while sipping a latte at Starbucks. Or having a meeting at the office of a prospective client and - during the conversation - getting immediate responses to the client's questions by instant messaging one of his network engineers. Never mind that the engineer is attending a training class on the other side of the country at the time.
The wireless revolution is in full swing, after all. And while hosts still know the directions to their offices these days, they're discovering that it's not always necessary to be there get the job done.
"Being able to check email and deal with business all in the palm of my hand with a wireless handheld is unbelievably powerful," says Collins, who is sales and marketing director at hosting company Atlantech Online (atlantech.net).
"I can reply to email from technical support because a data center deployment is not going smoothly. I can be at an appointment with a prospect, receive email about the customer problem and make a quick phone call to solve it. When I get back to the office, I'm already caught up and don't have to take care of the crisis. It's already been handled."
Other hosting executives are discovering the same advantages. Have you ever reviewed and transmitted a detailed new work agreement with a hosting customer while on the beach? Or taken an e-conference with a security-solutions vendor while waiting for a dental appointment? Or have you signed off on vacation requests from your employees at home, just after changing your new baby's diapers?
If you're a hosting executive who has, like many others, embraced the concept of running operations remotely via wireless tools, then it's very likely that you have had some of these experiences. Remote workers have migrated from the plug-in-at-home laptop to the wirelessly connected laptop, and on to the powerful handheld device.
The tools are catching on more and more as Web hosts and other professionals use them to run company operations from wherever they are - at a ballgame, on the deck or wherever. The wireless market is maturing and with voice services becoming more of a commodity, US wireless carriers are generating $1.6 billion in data service and application revenues from more than 178 million subscribers and customers, according to IT market research firm IDC, which forecast industry growth at 15 percent annually for the immediate future.
Web hosts are clearly an attractive target market for wireless players. So much so that some wireless providers are coming up with solutions designed specifically for hosts' needs. For example, WPCS/Heinz Corp., a subsidiary of wireless engineering company WPCS International (wpcs.com), recently deployed a point to multi-point network in an office park for a regional host.
"They had two T-1 connections," says Andrew Shoffner, a project manager for WPCS/Heinz. "They cancelled one, used the other for redundancy and now use wireless as their primary link to the Internet. As far as mobility is concerned, any Web host can work remotely almost anywhere and remain connected to their own network or directly to their clients' servers with expanding Wi-Fi hotspot access, residential Wi-Fi availability, reduced cost of PDAs and laptops and remote-access software." This includes overseas, he says, where every major city will have Wi-Fi access, so devices can be hardwired to the Internet.
With a solid hosting-provider client base based both in the US and overseas - it counts BellSouth, Wanadoo, Orange, Portugal Telecom and France Telecom as customers - enterprise instant messaging solution provider Jabber Telecom is finding that hosts often lead the way when it comes to embracing the wireless revolution. The mobile phone was simply the first stage. Then, the Blackberry and similar voice and email hand-helds and smart phones sparked a phenomenon.
"If you are building towards a zero latency or real-time enterprise, then wireless devices will become increasingly important," says Tony Bamonti, Jabber (jabber.com) president. "You need to keep specific job functions available to the network more frequently."
Bamonti points to the emerging tools making off-site access more appealing, such as text conferencing - an instant-messaging feature. This allows, for example, executives to manage a developing crisis such as a hosting-site accident, and coordinate the response of executives who need to be involved from wherever they are. Text conferencing allows these executives to access a chat room that serves as an "incident room" for this kind of mishap. They discuss the situation, react and update other executives on progress - whether they're sitting in a data center or accessing from a handheld.
All of this should only improve as wireless broadband and remote access continue to converge. The introduction of 3G broadband cellular networks has opened up the remote-operations world, avoiding costly and complex VPNs that require more labor and capital, says Michael Simon, CEO of 3am Labs (3amlabs.com), a remote-access and administration provider.
"Even five years ago, a broadband connection outside a corporate environment - like in a home or a hotel - was the exception, not the rule," says Simon. "Public hotspots were barely on the radar screen. Today, a person sitting in a café in Paris could use a tool of ours, such as LogMeIn - our remote-access service - to access and support their corporate network using nothing more than a PDA that is Wi-Fi or 3G enabled."
Security is a common concern, and Web hosts who want to maintain solid, remote operations are finding that many tools out there can address this issue.
"Long-range, secure wireless access points allow you to extend your wireless range to the pool or throughout a store or warehouse, for example, while preventing access or leakage of data to war drivers or the chap on the next sunbed," says Mary Hwang, product line manager for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based SonicWALL (sonicwall.com), a wireless security systems provider. "We have an Australian hosting company that leans heavily on our wireless tools to allow it to scale rapidly throughout the country. The bill-paying system, for example, is conducted over thousands of wired and wireless access points. With thousands of transactions processed on a daily basis, redundant data environments have been established to ensure optimal uptime and provide a fail-proof backup at all times."
Hwang believes that in the future, one of the most interesting areas will be secure voice over Wi-Fi. "This will allow voice networks to extend beyond the LAN without exposing the internal network to issues like toll fraud, denial of service attacks or identity theft," she says.
And will instant messaging - the current "it star" of the wireless revolution - become as common as talking on the telephone? The jury is still out. IT managers and players are using it more, and are eager to see what future possibilities hold. But there are inherent limitations that may keep instant messaging from taking off entirely as a be-all communications tool for Web hosts seeking remote operational access, as well for the rest of the working world. At least one key industry observer feels that IM still has much to prove, connectivity-wise.
"Because instant messaging is a 'real-time' communication medium, it absolutely requires that both parties be connected to the network at the same time," says Nate L. Root, who has tracked instant messaging trends for Forrester Research, an IT market research firm. In a recent Forrester report, Root found that more than half of professionals surveyed aren't using instant messaging. Along with connectivity, Root cites viruses and high support costs as prime factors supporting the finding.
"If someone is in the wilds of Alaska or driving through the Lincoln tunnel and loses their connection, the conversation is over," he says. "For that reason, IM over wireless can't be firms' only communication mechanism yet."
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