By Liam Eagle, theWHIR.com
September 18, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Rackspace (rackspace.com) announced on Thursday that it has introduced a new service the company calls “platform hosting.”
Adding a new distinction to the ever-expanding list of hosting varieties. According to the company, the new offering is “created as a unique alternative to colocation” in that it allows customers to “control and manage all aspects of their hosting environments,” while still providing the hardware management and service level agreements and network support for which Rackspace is known.
More specifically, Rackspace says that with platform hosting, it provides 24/7 management of equipment, network infrastructure and data center, while the customer retains “everyday administrative responsibility” for the environment. That includes the operating system, networking devices, monitoring, storage and applications.
Like so many other hosting providers, Rackspace appears to be expanding the scope of its services. While many dedicated hosts are moving to more Rackspace-like managed solutions, Rackspace’s offering moves in a less-managed direction, though the customer segment Rackspace appears to have identified - “customers that require more control and flexibility and the ability to administer their environment, without the burden of managing the hardware infrastructure,” according to the announcement - has a decidedly up-market feel to it.
Rackspace isn’t getting into the unmanaged dedicated market, or the colocation business. Just last week, In the company’s September earnings call, CEO Lanham Napier favorably described the per-square-foot value of managed services in comparison to those lower-margin services. With platform hosting, Rackspace seems more set to compete with IT service providers more along the lines of IBM.
“For years, colocation has been the only viable option for companies that have the technical expertise on staff to administer their infrastructure but don’t want the added expense or burden of managing their own data center facility,” says Lew Moorman, Rackspace chief strategy officer, quoted in the press release. “However, colocation still requires having resources close by and an inventory of hardware in the event of a failure – which can be a huge burden for IT departments. As a service company, we know that customers value our fanatical support and wanted a solution where the hardware burden still rests with Rackspace but full control of the applications and systems reside with them; thus Platform Hosting was born.”
While neither the press release or the company’s website offers a basic description of the pricing for the service, the exhaustive platform hosting info section on the Rackspace website does provide a link to a sales contact form, or a chat window with a live sales assistant.
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