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The Basic Necessities of Web Hosting
There is an old expression that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. In this age of outsourcing and subcontracting, it's rare to find tasks that are effectively done in-house beyond the actual mission of the company.
But at some point, the traffic and size of your Web presence could end up making it a good idea to host it yourself. The criteria for this will vary from business to business, but generally speaking, it will be worthwhile once you encounter undue delays or problems from your hosting service that interfere with your ability to do business.
Web hosting is not as simple as it sounds. There is far more involved than simply drawing in customers and finding enough server space to accommodate them. It requires huge quantities of storage, airtight network security, and a large staff of skilled personnel to keep things in operation.
If you think your business is at the point where hosting should come home to you, spend some time evaluating your business and your desire to commit before you take the plunge.
The Capacity For A Large Quantity Of Transactions
If your company conducts any type of sales online, you will have a huge number of financial transactions going on. These will include everything from credit cards to gift cards to PayPal. If a large percentage of your sales take place through an online storefront, you can very quickly reach the threshold needed to make web hosting worthwhile.
The reason for this demand comes in several areas. First, your store must be able to communicate with the various payment methods and do so securely. Second, your store must be able to link to your production systems and tie in with the shipper. Finally, details of the transactions, as well as the customers themselves, must be stored for an extended period of time.
Consumers are very in tune with the risks of online shopping. If you want to host your own store, be sure you can meet their requirements.
The Ability To Respond To Breakdowns
Time is money, and that is no less true when you're dealing with online business. If you do any quantity of business online--advertising your products, selling goods, or servicing customers--you are counting on your website being available and fully functional at any moment.
This is one of the things that drives most companies to web hosting. They become frustrated with the downtime their site is experiencing and with the process of getting the outside host to make things right, so they bring the service home and host it themselves.
There's no doubt that an IT team that is employed by your company alone is a team that is motivated to monitor for and quickly correct anything that may go offline. Make sure that you can hire and retain a quality IT staff to get these problems fixed quickly.
The Equipment To Get The Job Done
Computer equipment is a fluid need. You go from a position of being fully functional to one where you are outdated--and that transition is shockingly fast.
But your business grows and technology improves. Web sites become more demanding for space, and hackers keep finding new ways in. It takes more software, more equipment, and more personnel to keep things current to stay a step ahead of the competition and the thieves.
So, in order to maintain a functional website in-house, you need to be prepared for frequent and expensive upgrades of your equipment. Patching along with older gear won't cut it; your functionality will suffer and with it your business.
There is a great deal of benefit in knowing that your hosting service is downstairs instead of thousands of miles away. For that reason alone, it's worth investigating the option of hosting your own website. Just make sure that you fully understand the commitment required.
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