Copyright © 2014 ZeroLag www.ZeroLag.com
What is the Best Web ApplicationHosting Strategy for Your Business?Keys to Effective Decision-Making
Copyright © 2014 ZeroLag – 2 – www.ZeroLag.com
What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Introduction
Developing a web site and web application hosting strategy is
a critical decision-making process for companies of all sizes.
Security, cost, reliability, and performance all factor into making
the right choices.
But with a wide array of options available, it can be difficult
to know what is best for your company. In order to make the
correct choice, it is necessary to weigh the costs and benefits of
available options.
As IT infrastructure outsourcing has grown in popularity, more
companies are considering offloading server management and
maintenance to third-party providers, rather than investing in
on-premises data centers. This strategy has numerous benefits,
but is it right for your company?
ZeroLag offers reliable managed hosting solutions
ZeroLag’s managed hosting
solutions rank among
the highest in reliability,
security and speed. We
are among the most
cost-effective hosting
providers for businesses
that prefer the advantages
of managed hosting.
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Choosing the right hosting strategy:Factors you should carefully consider
Do we have the necessary IT staff?
The first step in determining what hosting strategy is right for
your company is evaluating your in-house IT staff. Is your current
staff large enough and suitably qualified to design, install, and
maintain your own hosting infrastructure?
Do we have the necessary space and equipment?
Other important factors are your current IT and physical
resources. Does your company have sufficient climate-controlled
space, the required hardware and network connectivity, and
other necessary infrastructure to support an on-site data center?
If not, how much will the needed equipment, facility, and infra-
structure upgrades cost?
How much security and control is required?
Do you have the resources and expertise to implement adequate
security controls, including hardening and monitoring your
servers against cyber threats? If your company stores sensitive
data, do you have the capability to institute physical security
measures such as biometric access controls and on-site security
personnel?
What is the best use of resources?
Investing in a robust hosting solution, including servers and
networking hardware, data center infrastructure, and the highly
skilled staff required to implement and maintain it, involves a
long term financial commitment. When deciding what hosting
strategy is right for you, it is important to determine the most
effective way to invest your finite resources.
IT STAFFING
SPACE & EQUIPMENT
SECURITY & CONTROL
RESOURCES
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Choosing the right hosting strategy:Key factors in the decision-making process
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)Total cost of ownership attempts to quantify a purchase’s total
cost over time, taking into account the initial price and ongoing
upkeep, plus any hidden costs, risks, opportunity costs, and
other long-term expenses. Although TCO is a projection, it can
be a very useful metric when making large purchasing decisions.
TCO can help you evaluate the real costs of hosting options. In
most cases, the initial price of information technology is only a
fraction of the TCO. For example, a server usually accounts for
only 15 to 25 percent of the overall costs to deploy, maintain,
upgrade, and support the server over its useful service life. [1]
Ownership vs. rental of servers
Server ownership entails a significant up-front cost for the
hardware, software, and IT staff to perform the work required
to initially deploy the server. Ownership also requires significant
long-term expenditures.
In contrast, outsourcing IT infrastructure to a managed hosting
provider eliminates a significant up-front expenditure. All
equipment, facility, and support staff costs are the respon-
sibility of the hosting provider. Your business will pay only a fixed
monthly fee for stable, secure hosting services without exposure
to additional costs normally associated with uncontrollable
events such as equipment failures, blackouts, natural disasters,
and the like.
[1] What is TCO and Why Should You
Care?. Laurie McCabe.
www.smallbusinesscomputing.com.
January 29, 2010
TCO includes hardware and software acquisition, management and support, communications, end-user expenses and the opportunity cost of downtime, training and other productivity losses.
- Gartner IT Glossary
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Security
Data protection is almost always a top priority, especially
where sensitive information or mission-critical applications are
concerned. When evaluating hosting options, it is important to
assess your staff’s and facility’s abilities to protect your data.
All servers are subject to potential breaches from both inside
and outside sources – whether malicious or otherwise. So it is
crucial for a company with self-managed on-premises hosting to
maintain sufficient resources and in-house expertise to identify
security issues and take corrective action immediately. IT staff
must be capable of conducting regular security audits, applying
security updates and patches, and detecting security vulnera-
bilities such as unnecessary services, open ports, and excessive
user privilege levels.
If a company does not have the capability to implement the
security measures necessary to protect valuable equipment and
data, contracting with a reputable managed hosting provider
may be the best option.
Support
A qualified and constantly available support team is critical
to maintaining secure, reliable IT infrastructure. For many
businesses, the staffing requirements are cost prohibitive.
As an alternative, managed hosting providers employ highly
skilled support technicians who perform constant server
monitoring, quickly implement repairs in the event of hardware
failures or network problems, and stand ready to provide
information and assistance to clients.
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
79% of web shoppers who have trouble with web site performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again and 44% of them would tell a friend if they had a poor experience shopping online.
A 1-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
If an e-commerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1-second page delay could potentially cost $2.5 million in lost sales every year. [2]
[2] Speed and Customer Confidence.
Kissimetrics.com.
Scalability
Fast-growing companies must carefully consider whether their
hosting infrastructure is capable of supporting their growth, or
poses an impediment to it. Physical facilities, equipment, human
resources, and technical expertise must all be evaluated when
determining whether hosting can be scaled efficiently.
One of the key benefits of outsourced hosting is that as demand
grows, resources such as CPUs, RAM, and storage space
can be added quickly with predictable costs. Top-tier hosting
providers can also move clients from single servers into clusters,
or migrate sub-functions of a web application – such as the
database – to specialized servers.
Speed
Nearly every business can benefit from higher web hosting per-
formance. More responsive web pages and applications increase
conversions, customer satisfaction, and employee efficiency.
Nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or
less, and abandon a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds.
Although hardware has a big influence on web site performance,
more CPUs or RAM won’t necessarily improve web site speed.
Maximizing web site performance requires a holistic approach to
configuring the hosting environment. Aside from the hardware,
every variable – including the operating system, applications,
network infrastructure, and backbone connectivity – must be
analyzed and optimized individually to deliver the best possible
performance. This work is the stock-in-trade for managed
hosting providers, and their expertise virtually guarantees
superior results vs. web applications hosted in an on-premises
data center.
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Choosing the right hosting strategy:Three different approaches to server management
Organizations of all sizes typically utilize one of three hosting
options: self-managed on-premises hosting, self-managed
colocation hosting, or outsourced managed hosting. Each
offers advantages and disadvantages which must be carefully
considered.
Self-Managed ON-PREMISES HostingWith this option, organizations bear exclusive responsibility for
their IT infrastructure. In-house staff must have the expertise
and training necessary to maintain all the hardware, software,
applications, networks, and security measures. The organization
must also provide the physical facilities and supporting infra-
structure – climate control, uninterrupted power, backbone con-
nectivity, equipment spares, etc. – to house, protect, and operate
an on-premises data center.
A large investment of capital and human resources is required
over the long term with this approach, but the additional costs
can deliver big benefits for large, IT-centric businesses that want
and need to have complete control over their infrastructure.
Self-managed On-premises Pros
Total control of IT infrastructure
Quicker changes to hardware and software
Root level access to server
Supports business strategy of IT infrastructure as competitive advantage
Self-managed On-premises Cons
Total responsibility for IT infrastructure
Greatest risk profile of all options
Maximum capital and HR expense
Unpredictable costs
Going it alone or hiring outside consultants when and if trouble arises
Likelihood of slower connection speeds and degraded user experience
Higher risk of downtime
Typically, lower digital and physical security
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Self-Managed COLOCATION Hosting
Colocation is a hybrid approach that combines elements of both
the self-managed on-premises and managed hosting models.
Organizations maintain control over their data and equipment,
while taking advantage of the physical security, climate control,
uninterrupted power, and fast Internet backbone connections
provided by a hosting company.
The financial and HR investment of this approach is still high
as organizations are responsible for providing their own server
hardware, software, and the IT staff to implement and maintain it.
Self-managed Colocation Pros
Shared risk environment in commercial data center
Total control of hardware and software
Data center environment supports scalability
Root level access to server
Robust physical security
Access to superior Internet backbone connectivity
Self-managed Colocation Cons
High initial capital expenditure
Moderately high long-term operating costs for in-house IT staff
Hosting provider offers technical support and other assistance at extra charge
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
MANAGED Hosting
With managed hosting, there is little or no capital expenditure,
and typically, much lower long-term operating costs compared to
on-premises and colocation hosting. Managed hosting providers
employ highly skilled IT professionals who will handle all
maintenance and security issues around the clock. The hosting
environment is usually guaranteed to perform at peak levels, with
leading providers’ uptimes approaching 100%. The unpredictable
costs of on-premises hosting are replaced by fixed monthly fees,
with average costs trending downward in recent years.
Managed Hosting Pros
Lowest risk and stress of all options
Lowest capital and IT staff expense
Predictable fixed costs
Cost-effective; average costs trending downward
Guaranteed uptime of 99.99% to 100%, depending on provider
Highly scalable to meet future growth needs
Robust physical security
Access to superior Internet backbone connectivity
Managed Hosting Cons
No root level access*
* May be available with co-managed option
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What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Choosing the right hosting strategy:Benefits compared
Self-managed On-premises
Hosting
Self-managed Colocation
Hosting
Managed Hosting
Price-performance Lowest Moderate Highest
Capital expense Highest High Lowest
Cost predictability Lowest Moderate Highest
Ongoing IT staff expense Highest High Lowest
Risk profile Highest Moderate Lowest
Direct responsibility for IT infrastructure Highest High Lowest
Choosing the right hosting strategy:Typical server management costs
The upfront hardware cost for onsite hosting, including the purchase of a server and networking equipment
runs approximately $5,000 to $15,000. Additional costs include backbone connectivity, firewalls and security
tools, plus the facility to house the server – uninterrupted power, climate control, and physical security
measures. The total can run from $50,000 to $100,000 for the first year, with annual expenses exceeding
$50,000 thereafter.
Managed hosting services cost only a small fraction of comparable on-premises capabilities, with typical
single-server solutions ranging from $4,500 to $8,500 per year.
Given the significant difference in costs between managed and on-premises hosting, companies must
carefully consider whether the benefits of on-premises or even colocation hosting justifies the substantial
investment associated with either option.
Get 100% reliable hosting from ZeroLagIf your business is ready to make the switch to faster, safer, more reliable hosting, ZeroLag can help. Our competitively priced hosting solutions were rated the most reliable by NetCraft and rank among the fastest and most secure available.
If you’d like to learn more about how ZeroLag can help your business, contact us at 877-937-6524 or visit us online at ZeroLag.com today.
ZeroLag Communications, Inc. 15260 Ventura Blvd. Suite #730 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 877-ZERO-LAG (937-6524)
What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business ? A ZeroLag White Paper
Why managed hosting is usually the best option
Choosing the best hosting option for your business requires weighing many factors. But more often than
not, managed hosting is the best choice for most businesses. Managed server solutions provide the most
favorable cost to benefit ratio for organizations of all sizes.
Key advantages include:
Initial and long term cost savings
Costs for managed hosting services have been trending downward for the past several years while costs for
on-premises hosting have remain static or increased. Even some very large enterprises have opted for managed
hosting services in recent years, taking advantage of reduced capital expenditures and operating expenses.
Constant professional IT support
A top-tier hosting provider functions much like an extension of your company. A team of engineers, database
administrators, security personnel, and technical support staff are working around the clock to ensure your
mission-critical applications and data are never compromised.
Maximum performance and reliability
Leading hosting providers have a consistent track record that inspires confidence in their ability to maintain IT
infrastructure at peak performance levels, and to minimize risk of crippling downtime.
Less hassle than self-managed options
Managed hosting frees organizations to focus on their core business mission and to spend less time
worrying about maintenance, outages, and other hosting infrastructure issues. This is especially beneficial
for businesses that have limited or overstretched IT departments.