Hi there,

Alot of people uses Hosting services because they are most cost effective, thus outsourcing hosting.

Since Data is the life line of an Internet based business and because the hosting is outsourced thus data residing on someone else's property. Can you still declare that the Data is your asset?

I am asking this because i am confused on how are you going to count the Data as an intangible asset when you outsourced it to someone else's data center?

Regards
Mian

I believe most standard DCs do not allow you to outsource your data, as they can't always guarantee against failures. You will pay a LOT more by outsourcing your data, and its not a very good idea either, as if you have a fallout between your provider and you, they own your data.

How can you outsource hosting and not the data?

Whenever a user sign up through your website, the data are always stored locally in the database. Thus all data are actually stored offsite. Even if you remote backup all your data from the DC, the most up-to-date data will still reside in the server that is hosting your site which is in the DC.

Can you actually seperate the Data from the Hosting? Whenever a user register, the server remotely connect back to your own server and save the data? That's insanely time consuming, defeats the point of outsourcing hosting.

Regards
Mian

The data is logically your asset. How you will convert it to a monetary value, is a big discussion. In either case, the data "sure" is your Intellectual Property (I would assume that to be the case).

When you are outsourcing your hosting, you did not actually outsource your data. The data simply is being held in proxy until you pick it up. It should be the fudiciary duty of the hosting provider to provide the data back to you when you terminate a contract, and it should be your practise/right to pick the data up at all times.

In other words, backup often. hehehe =P

This another issue. What if your data consist of private information? Can you still outsource hosting? Since you don't control the server, you can never guarantee the safety and security of your data. Customer won't be able to trust you completely either.

When you outsource, the privacy elements are dictated by your contract between yourself, and the service provider. As if that was not complex enough, you have to embed these elements into a contract between your users and yourself (the website).

Unless you are taking adequate steps to encrypt the data stored, etc. etc. (which most likely would not be the case), the information residing on your computer is accessible to the DC should they wish to intervene.

I think the conversation can very easily get side-tracked if you bring the issue of outsourcing/data-privacy - it really depends on your unique scenario and your objectives. "What" are you trying to achieve? Once that is determined, then design and implement an execution plan for outsourcing around it - perhaps not the other way around.

Yes, I am a strong advocate of back-ups and logs! One can never have enough back-ups and logs! :)

Just wrote the User Agreement. Basically its You can't sue us for anything. You will defend us and pay for everything if some 3rd party sue us because you did something. We can terminate your account and change the agreement anytime.

It can be sumarized as that but don't know why all the TOS are super long and detail. I need to get a lawyer to go through the TOS that i wrote.

Check other people's TOS for example?

Yeah but i can't "copy" and i know the basic information to be included.