While websites float in the ethereal realm of cyberspace, they remain rooted in the physical world by their hosting servers – which could be located virtually anywhere.
Although massive off-shore or long-distance service providers can often field the most economical options, smaller companies with a vested interest in the local community have the edge on service, says Steve Haire, president of the web-site development and hosting company Iboza.com.
“If you’re driven by cost and the bottom line, there are obviously cheaper solutions, but they come with a bit of a caveat,” he warns. “You get what you pay for. As far as cost goes, bigger is likely better, but I don’t think it translates into better service or more reliability.”
Iboza.com, established in 1988, started out as a full-time home-based business and quickly outgrew its assigned space. After three years in downtown Barrie, it moved to its current location at 4 Cedar Pointe Drive where it’s been for almost six years.
“It was originally a custom web-design company,” recalls Haire. “We did design, programming and ongoing maintenance. We didn’t outsource anything at that time except the hosting.”
That changed in 2003 after it was recognized too much time was spent troubleshooting hosting issues on behalf of clients.
“We outsourced it to several different places but we found issues with the level of customer service the larger IHPs (Internet hosting providers) were providing,” he says. “When the host company had issues, we’d assume the role of the customer listening to Bach or Beethoven (on hold).”
He’s quick to add, however, that there are exceptions to this rule and he continues to partner with other local IHPs to service long-standing clients there was no need to migrate.
To increase efficiency overall, an investment of hardware and training was made.
“So we made a conscious decision to bring it in-house to reduce the time waiting in line, because we’d have control over the hosting environment ourselves,” he explains.
Hosting, he adds, is a completely different skill set than website-developing. That’s why it’s relatively unusual for the two services to be done under one roof. From a client perspective, however, it’s one-stop shopping – quicker and more direct.
Because Iboza.com generally hosts what it creates, Haire and his team are intimately familiar with all the programming involved and can immediately recognize and correct any problems that come up.
Now Iboza.com has the ability to provide all website services to its clients except the connectivity itself.
“In my opinion, if you need support from your IHP, I think there’s value in having a local provider who can work with you one on one,” Haire explains. “A small host like me with a 100 clients can spend more time than an ISP with 10s of 1,000s of clients.
“Most IHPs offer the same tools, but if you’re having issues or wanting to do something a little different, are they going to take the time to figure out the problem? Things are so complicated, you kind of need someone in your corner.”
For more information, call Haire at 705-735-6996.
