1 11482 the Benefits of Website Hosting
Content
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd ABN 21 082 930 916
Serving Customers and Protecting Your Brand: The Benefits of Website Hosting
How a web hosting provider can help relieve the pressure of managing your online presence.
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2 The challenges of managing your own websites ....................................................................... 2 Why Have Your Websites Hosted? .............................................................................................. 4 Introducing Macquarie Telecom Business Web Hosting ........................................................... 7
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 1 of 10
Introduction
Your online presence is more than just a website. It has replaced the shopfront as the entry point for your customers and suppliers, and is the public face of your brand. Do you have the systems, staff, skills and backup in place to ensure your websites are online all the time? In today’s world of always on, always connected business, customers demand that your web applications are available and performing night and day, every second of the year. Yet many organisations find it difficult to manage corporate Web applications in-house. As IT budgets continue to get smaller, and CFOs and CEOs become savvier about the role IT plays in the business, CIOs have a new focus on renting or leasing the assets that make up the IT infrastructure layer rather than purchasing them. One area where CIOs and IT managers are achieving tremendous benefits from outsourcing services is on the web. Shifting the management of the technology that drives your critical applications to a hosting provider not only increases the operational efficiency of those services, it actually does so in a manner that is more reliable and less expensive. More and more, organisations are turning to hosting services as a cost-saving manoeuvre. Outsourcing website applications allows them to reduce their capital spending on data centre floor space, servers and network equipment and to replace it with a monthly hosting expense, reducing operational expenses and turning capital expenditure to operational expenditure. There are also plenty of operational business benefits to be had, such as alleviating internal skills shortages, improving speed to market and increasing application and bandwidth power. Hosting solutions offer businesses powerful, reliable and secure services that are extremely cost effective. Guaranteed service levels, backed-up by the highest level of physical and digital security procedures, enable accurate cost predictions and simplify the management of IT expenditure. Moreover, using the services of a third-party hosting provider means your organisation is no longer subjected to constant hardware refreshes, upgrade cycles and depreciation costs, and instead gets fast access to the most up-to-date technology available.
The challenges of managing your own websites
Web hosting providers offer system-level and server-level administration to support large-scale web applications. These services are designed to remove the pain points traditionally associated with operating a business-critical web presence using your own internal resources. Traditional challenges of operating online applications in-house include: Lack of reliability Businesses that generate revenue from high-volume, transaction-based online systems can lose thousands if their systems go down for even a few minutes. In the public sector, many organisations have similarly critical requirements. Health, fire and police services, for example, must be able to provide real-time information and assistance to those in need, at all times.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 2 of 10
Over the last few years, almost every business has realised the correlation between a company’s online presence and its offline reputation. If the former fails, the latter suffers – along with the company’s bottom line. Single points of failure While achieving maximum uptime for web applications is critically important, most in-house systems are not fully redundant and do not provide effective backup. An uninterrupted power supply might keep servers up and running for an hour or two, but many companies remain dangerously exposed to power outages or other unplanned service interruptions. Small to medium businesses in particular often can’t afford to equip their in-house data centres or server rooms with the full spectrum of technologies essential for business continuity, such as backup generators, connections to multiple electricity grids, efficient air conditioning and cooling, and strict security systems. Without these technologies it is difficult to ensure critical business and customer-facing websites stay online in the event of an unforeseen business calamity. Lack of 24/7 support coverage Organisations often struggle to obtain the human resources needed to keep applications operating around the clock. Employing staff with the right mix of skills and who are available to deal with emergencies outside regular office hours is a critical requirement in the online era. Nevertheless, many businesses simply can’t afford – or can’t find – the human resources necessary to meet this challenge.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 3 of 10
Why Have Your Websites Hosted?
The arguments in favour of third-party hosting services are very persuasive. A managed hosting environment offers carrier-grade, shared infrastructure that is resilient and scalable. Meanwhile, trusting a hosting provider site with your customer-facing websites is an effective way to reduce costs while improving performance and ensuring uptime. There are six key reasons why your websites should be hosted by a third party: Change order: 1. Guaranteed uptime with redundant systems One of the key considerations when contemplating selective sourcing of your web services is the cost of efficiently and effectively maintaining them – and the risks you run if this is not done properly. A hosted solution provides high service levels backed by a firm service-level guarantee (SLG). With a managed offering, you get also get a level of reliability that most in-house IT organisations simply cannot match, such as fast access to the spare pools of hardware and on-site experts that can minimise downtime should the worst occur. 2. Increased security When your website is operated in-house, it can be extremely difficult to keep up with continually emerging online threats. Hosted service providers have systems in place to deal with any type of security threat. Macquarie Telecom, for instance, was the first hosting provider in Australia to achieve ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation, which certifies that the company has implemented a system to secure information and has the right policies and procedures in place to ensure this is maintained. This accreditation is audited against a global standard by an independent third party. Macquarie Telecom employs technical specialists and experts who are certified and accredited with industry recognised, international professional qualifications to help you secure your organisation. 3. 24/7 monitoring and visibility Hosted services also include formal monitoring, logging and event management processes to maintain advanced technical support. The hosting provider not only proactively monitors all the equipment, they also provide alerts – defined by the customer according to their particular needs – as well as tools that customers can use to monitor server utilisation, perform analysis and make changes as needed. This monitoring of all mechanical, electrical and other critical systems ensures high availability and timely response to events like peak sales periods, unplanned spikes in business transactions and other variables that can affect use of your website. 4. Improved compliance When you’re selling products online, you need your site to be always open for business. Hosted solutions are supported by an accredited, secure, data hosting facility, which makes them particularly suited the hosting of high-availability transactional online systems and e-commerce applications. It can take months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), which is unfeasible for many growing businesses. Using the services of a PCI compliant web hosting provider enables you to meet the required standards of the PCI DSS without the need for ongoing management and maintenance of your own infrastructure, which saves time, money and resources in the IT team.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd www.macquarietelecom.com Page 4 of 10
5. No more hardware depreciation issues Server components depreciate at the same rate technology advances. Whether it is new chip sets or expensive network upgrades, keeping up with the demands of a growing online presence can result in unplanned and systematic technical refreshes. These increase costs and lengthen the time it takes to achieve return on investment. Offloading the responsibility of owning the hardware shifts the burden of financial depreciation to the hosting provider. 6. Reduced operational and capital costs The costs of implementing and maintaining your own servers can quickly exceed your IT budget. Servers can range from $5,000 for entry-level models to upwards of $100,000 for high-end blade systems, and that’s before you factor in the expense of the staff needed to maintain and manage them. Moving to an outsourced model means you don’t have to buy expensive servers; you can lease them per month and get the added benefits of 24/7 maintenance and management.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 5 of 10
Web hosting checklist: is it right for you?
• • • • • • • • • • • Your business is web-based and requires high-availability, online, transaction environments Your online applications need guaranteed uptime, reliability and scalability You conduct either business to business (B2B) or business to customer (B2C) e-commerce You need to operate sites that facilitate collaboration with partners, suppliers and other stakeholders of your business You need to launch temporary sites for special projects, such as microsites for new products or a short-term site for an event You do not have the time or resources to manage your security needs You prefer not to manage your own server environment and infrastructure Infrastructure management and skills are becoming a problem in your business You need the flexibility of scalability on demand You want to be able to extend the economic life of your existing IT infrastructure through consolidation You have limited in-house IT skills.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 6 of 10
Introducing Macquarie Telecom Business Web Hosting
Organisations are looking for providers that can take the cost out of running business-critical websites; however, they also need to be assured that this is not done at the expense of maintaining efficient and effective performance. Macquarie Telecom offers customised, secure, flexible, reliable, cost-effective business hosting solutions that scale as your business grows. Macquarie Telecom Dedicated Hosting services ensure that your business-critical applications are always up and running. Your applications reside on servers in a world-class data centre, which is managed by a highly skilled and certified team. A business generating revenue online requires 24/7 uptime. Macquarie Telecom’s secure online data centre guarantees the systems that run your websites are secure and operational at all times. Our solutions include: • • • • Secure managed web and online application business hosting Hosting of high-availability transactional online e-commerce systems Business email hosting Managed co-location services (where we provide the managed infrastructure and you manage your servers).
What we provide Dedicated servers and hosting As a dedicated server hosting provider, we have the resources to ensure world-class security for your business. Our Dedicated Server Hosting solutions deliver secure and flexible support for mission-critical web applications, data and application hosting, and e-commerce web hosting. Macquarie Telecom can provide, install and manage the hardware, security and operating environment for your dedicated servers. We provide your business with: • • • • • • Dedicated servers for Windows hosting Dedicated servers for Linux hosting Access to skilled professionals Improved security Increased flexibility Guaranteed service levels
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 7 of 10
Bandwidth with high performance Macquarie Telecom’s high-speed Tier 1 backbone internet connection provides significant advantages in speed and throughput, delivering the highest quality bandwidth. We also offer highbandwidth internet traffic plans to cope with peak periods and spikes in usage. Guarantee uptime A team of specialists provide technical support around the clock. Our service includes 24/7 phone support and dedicated account managers. We monitor your servers for problems, use redundant backup systems for your files and provide service level agreements (SLAs) that guarantee uptime. These SLAs are available to suit your choice of server support and budget. If a server fails, we will guarantee that it is fixed – we don’t just provide a guarantee that an engineer with spare parts will be available onsite, as many other vendors offer. Three types of SLAs for uptime are available: First Class For businesses requiring the highest level of uptime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Business Class For businesses requiring the highest level of uptime during business hours, usually between 8am and 6pm AEST. Entry Class For businesses that can afford some downtime and may only require next business-day repairs. Security and stability Macquarie Telecom’s data centre facilities feature multi-level security, including video surveillance, interlocking “mantrap” doors, 24/7 security guards and cameras. We also use purpose-built management tools that provide complete visibility of your managed hosting and data network infrastructure. The basic management reporting service is included, with a premium service available for extensive reporting and alerts. Our hosting service supports managed servers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, internet performance and more, enabling you to see real-time service status across the entirety of your managed service elements. Getting on with business When your online presence is the lifeblood of your business, you simply cannot afford any downtime. Put your trust in a hosted service provider and get on with the business of acquiring customers and increasing your revenues online. For more information about Macquarie Telecom’s web hosting services, go to www.macquarietelecom.com/hosting.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 8 of 10
About Macquarie Telecom
Founded in 1992, Macquarie Telecom is Australia’s only business-specific hosting and telecommunications company. Working with and supporting some of Australia’s best-known organisations including SBS, Cricket Australia, Webjet and the Australian Rugby Union, Macquarie Telecom provides data network services, mission critical hosting facilities and telecommunication services underpinned by industry-leading customer service.
Head Office Level 20, 2 Market Street Sydney, NSW 2000 Call 1800 676 272 Fax 1800 676 373
Web www.macquarietelecom.com
MacquarieHUB 1800 789 999
MELBOURNE Level 1, 441 St Kilda Road Melbourne, VIC 3004 Call 03 9206 6800 Fax 03 9206 6888 CANBERRA Level 7, 54 Marcus Clarke St (Cnr Rudd St), Civic ACT 2600 Call 02 6257 6277
BRISBANE Level 10, 26 Wharf Street Brisbane, QLD 4000 Call 07 3874 2300 Fax 07 3874 2388 PERTH Level 10, 251 Adelaide Terrace Perth, WA 6000 Call 08 9229 0000 Fax 08 9229 0088
ADELAIDE 297 Pirie St, Adelaide, SA 5000 Call 88 8363 9700 Fax 08 8363 9788 HOBART 49 Davey Street Hobart, TAS 7000 Call 03 6214 0000 Fax 03 6214 0088
Serving Customers and Protecting Your Brand: The Benefits of Website Hosting
How a web hosting provider can help relieve the pressure of managing your online presence.
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2 The challenges of managing your own websites ....................................................................... 2 Why Have Your Websites Hosted? .............................................................................................. 4 Introducing Macquarie Telecom Business Web Hosting ........................................................... 7
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 1 of 10
Introduction
Your online presence is more than just a website. It has replaced the shopfront as the entry point for your customers and suppliers, and is the public face of your brand. Do you have the systems, staff, skills and backup in place to ensure your websites are online all the time? In today’s world of always on, always connected business, customers demand that your web applications are available and performing night and day, every second of the year. Yet many organisations find it difficult to manage corporate Web applications in-house. As IT budgets continue to get smaller, and CFOs and CEOs become savvier about the role IT plays in the business, CIOs have a new focus on renting or leasing the assets that make up the IT infrastructure layer rather than purchasing them. One area where CIOs and IT managers are achieving tremendous benefits from outsourcing services is on the web. Shifting the management of the technology that drives your critical applications to a hosting provider not only increases the operational efficiency of those services, it actually does so in a manner that is more reliable and less expensive. More and more, organisations are turning to hosting services as a cost-saving manoeuvre. Outsourcing website applications allows them to reduce their capital spending on data centre floor space, servers and network equipment and to replace it with a monthly hosting expense, reducing operational expenses and turning capital expenditure to operational expenditure. There are also plenty of operational business benefits to be had, such as alleviating internal skills shortages, improving speed to market and increasing application and bandwidth power. Hosting solutions offer businesses powerful, reliable and secure services that are extremely cost effective. Guaranteed service levels, backed-up by the highest level of physical and digital security procedures, enable accurate cost predictions and simplify the management of IT expenditure. Moreover, using the services of a third-party hosting provider means your organisation is no longer subjected to constant hardware refreshes, upgrade cycles and depreciation costs, and instead gets fast access to the most up-to-date technology available.
The challenges of managing your own websites
Web hosting providers offer system-level and server-level administration to support large-scale web applications. These services are designed to remove the pain points traditionally associated with operating a business-critical web presence using your own internal resources. Traditional challenges of operating online applications in-house include: Lack of reliability Businesses that generate revenue from high-volume, transaction-based online systems can lose thousands if their systems go down for even a few minutes. In the public sector, many organisations have similarly critical requirements. Health, fire and police services, for example, must be able to provide real-time information and assistance to those in need, at all times.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 2 of 10
Over the last few years, almost every business has realised the correlation between a company’s online presence and its offline reputation. If the former fails, the latter suffers – along with the company’s bottom line. Single points of failure While achieving maximum uptime for web applications is critically important, most in-house systems are not fully redundant and do not provide effective backup. An uninterrupted power supply might keep servers up and running for an hour or two, but many companies remain dangerously exposed to power outages or other unplanned service interruptions. Small to medium businesses in particular often can’t afford to equip their in-house data centres or server rooms with the full spectrum of technologies essential for business continuity, such as backup generators, connections to multiple electricity grids, efficient air conditioning and cooling, and strict security systems. Without these technologies it is difficult to ensure critical business and customer-facing websites stay online in the event of an unforeseen business calamity. Lack of 24/7 support coverage Organisations often struggle to obtain the human resources needed to keep applications operating around the clock. Employing staff with the right mix of skills and who are available to deal with emergencies outside regular office hours is a critical requirement in the online era. Nevertheless, many businesses simply can’t afford – or can’t find – the human resources necessary to meet this challenge.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 3 of 10
Why Have Your Websites Hosted?
The arguments in favour of third-party hosting services are very persuasive. A managed hosting environment offers carrier-grade, shared infrastructure that is resilient and scalable. Meanwhile, trusting a hosting provider site with your customer-facing websites is an effective way to reduce costs while improving performance and ensuring uptime. There are six key reasons why your websites should be hosted by a third party: Change order: 1. Guaranteed uptime with redundant systems One of the key considerations when contemplating selective sourcing of your web services is the cost of efficiently and effectively maintaining them – and the risks you run if this is not done properly. A hosted solution provides high service levels backed by a firm service-level guarantee (SLG). With a managed offering, you get also get a level of reliability that most in-house IT organisations simply cannot match, such as fast access to the spare pools of hardware and on-site experts that can minimise downtime should the worst occur. 2. Increased security When your website is operated in-house, it can be extremely difficult to keep up with continually emerging online threats. Hosted service providers have systems in place to deal with any type of security threat. Macquarie Telecom, for instance, was the first hosting provider in Australia to achieve ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation, which certifies that the company has implemented a system to secure information and has the right policies and procedures in place to ensure this is maintained. This accreditation is audited against a global standard by an independent third party. Macquarie Telecom employs technical specialists and experts who are certified and accredited with industry recognised, international professional qualifications to help you secure your organisation. 3. 24/7 monitoring and visibility Hosted services also include formal monitoring, logging and event management processes to maintain advanced technical support. The hosting provider not only proactively monitors all the equipment, they also provide alerts – defined by the customer according to their particular needs – as well as tools that customers can use to monitor server utilisation, perform analysis and make changes as needed. This monitoring of all mechanical, electrical and other critical systems ensures high availability and timely response to events like peak sales periods, unplanned spikes in business transactions and other variables that can affect use of your website. 4. Improved compliance When you’re selling products online, you need your site to be always open for business. Hosted solutions are supported by an accredited, secure, data hosting facility, which makes them particularly suited the hosting of high-availability transactional online systems and e-commerce applications. It can take months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), which is unfeasible for many growing businesses. Using the services of a PCI compliant web hosting provider enables you to meet the required standards of the PCI DSS without the need for ongoing management and maintenance of your own infrastructure, which saves time, money and resources in the IT team.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd www.macquarietelecom.com Page 4 of 10
5. No more hardware depreciation issues Server components depreciate at the same rate technology advances. Whether it is new chip sets or expensive network upgrades, keeping up with the demands of a growing online presence can result in unplanned and systematic technical refreshes. These increase costs and lengthen the time it takes to achieve return on investment. Offloading the responsibility of owning the hardware shifts the burden of financial depreciation to the hosting provider. 6. Reduced operational and capital costs The costs of implementing and maintaining your own servers can quickly exceed your IT budget. Servers can range from $5,000 for entry-level models to upwards of $100,000 for high-end blade systems, and that’s before you factor in the expense of the staff needed to maintain and manage them. Moving to an outsourced model means you don’t have to buy expensive servers; you can lease them per month and get the added benefits of 24/7 maintenance and management.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 5 of 10
Web hosting checklist: is it right for you?
• • • • • • • • • • • Your business is web-based and requires high-availability, online, transaction environments Your online applications need guaranteed uptime, reliability and scalability You conduct either business to business (B2B) or business to customer (B2C) e-commerce You need to operate sites that facilitate collaboration with partners, suppliers and other stakeholders of your business You need to launch temporary sites for special projects, such as microsites for new products or a short-term site for an event You do not have the time or resources to manage your security needs You prefer not to manage your own server environment and infrastructure Infrastructure management and skills are becoming a problem in your business You need the flexibility of scalability on demand You want to be able to extend the economic life of your existing IT infrastructure through consolidation You have limited in-house IT skills.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 6 of 10
Introducing Macquarie Telecom Business Web Hosting
Organisations are looking for providers that can take the cost out of running business-critical websites; however, they also need to be assured that this is not done at the expense of maintaining efficient and effective performance. Macquarie Telecom offers customised, secure, flexible, reliable, cost-effective business hosting solutions that scale as your business grows. Macquarie Telecom Dedicated Hosting services ensure that your business-critical applications are always up and running. Your applications reside on servers in a world-class data centre, which is managed by a highly skilled and certified team. A business generating revenue online requires 24/7 uptime. Macquarie Telecom’s secure online data centre guarantees the systems that run your websites are secure and operational at all times. Our solutions include: • • • • Secure managed web and online application business hosting Hosting of high-availability transactional online e-commerce systems Business email hosting Managed co-location services (where we provide the managed infrastructure and you manage your servers).
What we provide Dedicated servers and hosting As a dedicated server hosting provider, we have the resources to ensure world-class security for your business. Our Dedicated Server Hosting solutions deliver secure and flexible support for mission-critical web applications, data and application hosting, and e-commerce web hosting. Macquarie Telecom can provide, install and manage the hardware, security and operating environment for your dedicated servers. We provide your business with: • • • • • • Dedicated servers for Windows hosting Dedicated servers for Linux hosting Access to skilled professionals Improved security Increased flexibility Guaranteed service levels
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 7 of 10
Bandwidth with high performance Macquarie Telecom’s high-speed Tier 1 backbone internet connection provides significant advantages in speed and throughput, delivering the highest quality bandwidth. We also offer highbandwidth internet traffic plans to cope with peak periods and spikes in usage. Guarantee uptime A team of specialists provide technical support around the clock. Our service includes 24/7 phone support and dedicated account managers. We monitor your servers for problems, use redundant backup systems for your files and provide service level agreements (SLAs) that guarantee uptime. These SLAs are available to suit your choice of server support and budget. If a server fails, we will guarantee that it is fixed – we don’t just provide a guarantee that an engineer with spare parts will be available onsite, as many other vendors offer. Three types of SLAs for uptime are available: First Class For businesses requiring the highest level of uptime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Business Class For businesses requiring the highest level of uptime during business hours, usually between 8am and 6pm AEST. Entry Class For businesses that can afford some downtime and may only require next business-day repairs. Security and stability Macquarie Telecom’s data centre facilities feature multi-level security, including video surveillance, interlocking “mantrap” doors, 24/7 security guards and cameras. We also use purpose-built management tools that provide complete visibility of your managed hosting and data network infrastructure. The basic management reporting service is included, with a premium service available for extensive reporting and alerts. Our hosting service supports managed servers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, internet performance and more, enabling you to see real-time service status across the entirety of your managed service elements. Getting on with business When your online presence is the lifeblood of your business, you simply cannot afford any downtime. Put your trust in a hosted service provider and get on with the business of acquiring customers and increasing your revenues online. For more information about Macquarie Telecom’s web hosting services, go to www.macquarietelecom.com/hosting.
Macquarie Telecom Pty Ltd
www.macquarietelecom.com Page 8 of 10
About Macquarie Telecom
Founded in 1992, Macquarie Telecom is Australia’s only business-specific hosting and telecommunications company. Working with and supporting some of Australia’s best-known organisations including SBS, Cricket Australia, Webjet and the Australian Rugby Union, Macquarie Telecom provides data network services, mission critical hosting facilities and telecommunication services underpinned by industry-leading customer service.
Head Office Level 20, 2 Market Street Sydney, NSW 2000 Call 1800 676 272 Fax 1800 676 373
Web www.macquarietelecom.com
MacquarieHUB 1800 789 999
MELBOURNE Level 1, 441 St Kilda Road Melbourne, VIC 3004 Call 03 9206 6800 Fax 03 9206 6888 CANBERRA Level 7, 54 Marcus Clarke St (Cnr Rudd St), Civic ACT 2600 Call 02 6257 6277
BRISBANE Level 10, 26 Wharf Street Brisbane, QLD 4000 Call 07 3874 2300 Fax 07 3874 2388 PERTH Level 10, 251 Adelaide Terrace Perth, WA 6000 Call 08 9229 0000 Fax 08 9229 0088
ADELAIDE 297 Pirie St, Adelaide, SA 5000 Call 88 8363 9700 Fax 08 8363 9788 HOBART 49 Davey Street Hobart, TAS 7000 Call 03 6214 0000 Fax 03 6214 0088
