thx to dotcom crazyness...everyone are aware of website/email and thx to big companies moving a lot of their operation online like Dell. Dell basically take order from online now. even their business partners use Dell intranet to place order or check supplies.

i think the slump that IT have been in is about to be over. 2005 look to be a very good year for IT.

and thank to hype of dotcom...every business is getting a website whether it will help their business or not. i have a example...my friend run his family biz...they make tofu, soybean milk...etc He doesn't really need a website because it just doesn't relate to what they do and they get sales by traditional method of good salesman and go knock on every supermarket door. to my supprise he buought a domain and hire desgin firm to build his site for about $3k (he should talk to me :D ) and host on Yahoo. ( that's not kool consider i'll hook him up for free )

it seem like any biz will need a website no matter what because email/website seem to be like a biz card now. they need it and can't avoid it.

my question is 1. do you feel every biz need a website no matter what industry they are in and 2. how do you compete with bigger guy like yahoo who offer merchant account, search engine submitance and yahoo store it seem like that's one of reason my friend go with yahoo because they can have a yahoo store. ( i don't know what other perks yahoo offer but i'm going to research yahoo hosting now )

Competing with the big companies is no problem. They are expensive and most of them have crappy support. I am more concerned about the mid size companies who offer stuff like 10 GB space, 200 GB traffic for 4 bucks. That is ridiculous. Every user on such a server can take it down just by using the assigned bandwidth (imagine one person causing 200 GB on a single day !!). A serious company does not offer such plans but still has to compete with these companies. Customers don't see the problems caused by such plans so why should they order your 500MB/10GB for 5 Dollar plan if they can have like a dedicated server for 4 bucks (at least that is how it looks to them - in fact they just get crap).

Originally posted by thomas.smith
Competing with the big companies is no problem. They are expensive and most of them have crappy support. I am more concerned about the mid size companies who offer stuff like 10 GB space, 200 GB traffic for 4 bucks. That is ridiculous. Every user on such a server can take it down just by using the assigned bandwidth (imagine one person causing 200 GB on a single day !!). A serious company does not offer such plans but still has to compete with these companies. Customers don't see the problems caused by such plans so why should they order your 500MB/10GB for 5 Dollar plan if they can have like a dedicated server for 4 bucks (at least that is how it looks to them - in fact they just get crap).

Ditto.

not only the web hosting golden time is here, it is here to stay for a while :)

I'm not quite sure if you're correct regarding the dotcom boom. While it may have increased awareness about the Internet and eCommerce, I believe that it was and still is responsible for suspicion that many people have about buying things online and trusting websites.

Sound eCommerce businesses existed since the very beginning. Dotcom bust only affected those that didn't keep track of their cashflow in/out and were relying on ridiculous investments from venture capitalists.

As for web hosting, I think the "golden age" was about 4-5 years ago. Granted, fewer people knew about the benefits of having a website, but finding customers - good paying customers - was so much easier and the competition was much, much lower.

Boris

Webhosting used to be $100/mth...
and domain registration & administration were considered rocket science.
Back then only Networksolutions offered that service.

And business was much easier when you don't have to compete with kiddie hosts(if there was any) back then.

Do you guys think an all in one solution is the way to go or still specialise in invidiudal services e.g. hosting and design as two seperate things.

Well...

I'm pretty new to hosting but ive been doing web design/applications for around 5 years now... and 3d design for about 8 years... I decided to connect the 3 together and see what happens... I'm taking a leap on it but I'm starting out with a reseller account so I dont have much overhead... If it works it does, if not well sucky.. I think alot of places will start to go to multi service companies in the hosting, design fields anyways... why use multiple companies when you can use one?

*edit

I remember my first domain I got... It was a few years back... If i remember correctly I was paying $14.95 for 100mb space and like 10 - 20 gigs of transfer... now I see places that have a better package for like $1.00/mo lol

- Buddy

I recommend that you all shut down your companies... That would make it much easier and better ;)

Originally posted by thomas.smith
I recommend that you all shut down your companies... That would make it much easier and better ;)

LOL shut it down before it even starts up... amazing :eek: :D

I'm very much into the multiple services model.. I started out as a web design firm and the next logical step was to start up a web hosting business. That takes you out of the loop of the thousands of other small startups who 'just do hosting'.. You don't have to compete with them :).

-Jonathan

I'm not quite sure if you're correct regarding the dotcom boom. While it may have increased awareness about the Internet and eCommerce, I believe that it was and still is responsible for suspicion that many people have about buying things online and trusting websites.

hvoice-boris is quite right. Only E-commerce can bring golden age.

Otherwise web will become a media for gathering information and advertisement.

Originally posted by sharpnose


Otherwise web will become a media for gathering information and advertisement.

if you compare it to tv and radio - the internet is growing at the unreal rate. it take tv/radio even longer for people to catch on, on media, infos gathering and advertisement.

Can you believe a search engine like Google can be as big as they are if Google is in tv or radio? the cost of starting another tv network/program is more than a website.

I think that mass adoption is still a few years away. With only 50% of the US population with an Internet Connection and less then 5% of the US population with a website (which requires hosting) there is lots of room for the 'golden age' to grow.

Originally posted by jt2377
Can you believe a search engine like Google can be as big as they are if Google is in tv or radio? Well... yes. Three words: Clear Channel Communications.

But that's another topic. :)

Originally posted by JayC
Well... yes. Three words: Clear Channel Communications.

But that's another topic. :)

how did Clear Channel Communications get big without a lot of investment first? if i'm not mistaken...Google started with a server in school campus and a very good search Algorithm developed by founders.

isn't tv/radio startup cost more than internet/website cost?

Originally posted by jt2377
how did Clear Channel Communications get big without a lot of investment first? if i'm not mistaken...Google started with a server in school campus and a very good search Algorithm developed by founders. Google started with $25 million in venture capital investments from sources such as Stanford University and some of the principal owners of companies like Sun, Cisco, and Junglee (which by then had been purchased by Amazon).

Sure, having a sound idea on which to build a business was important, but Google didn't make its initial splash without "a lot of investment first."