Hello everyone,

Ok, you have heard it before, but I would like to raise the question again. What do I need to start up a small hosting company?

As I mentioned, the question has been asked before, there is alot of great info on this site, but at the pace in which the industry is moving, I would like the most up to date information possible.

I have done some research, no where near enough, but my experience so far is that I need:

1. Dedicated servers - I will start out with servers hosted at an already chose`n (wonderfull!!) company. In the mean time I can continue dreaming of my own NOC. hehe

2. A credit card/billing system - This is one of the areas I need help from you guys. Which company is top notch, both regarding prices and reliability?

3. A ticket system - Need help with this too. As cheap as possible, thanks.

Ok, this is where I am in the planning so far. Actually, if I set up all accounts manually, I don`t see anymore requirements. However, I suspect that you will have a couple of opinions regarding what I need, and I would be very happy to hear those views.

Thanks, in advance!

wazup

Creditcard billing system:

Weighing out price and reliability is pretty tough. It really depends on how good you are at programming. A good one is http://www.charge.com. They are an Authorize.net reseller, however their prices are the lowest I've ever seen. However, if your good at either PHP or PERL programming you can go with http://www.echo-inc.com. Their prices are pretty much the lowest in the industry, and it is the company we are using now (though it we are still testing our billing scripts). However, you will have to develop your own software to connect to the server and authorize credit cards. This is a very time-consuming process, however, for us it was worth it.

Ticketing system:
Their are a lot of free ones, we currently use Ticketsmith. But if you want the real meaty ticketing system your only option is wonderdesk (http://www.wonderdesk.com). Wonderdesk is $499, but it's the best. If you don't need a big system, Ticketsmith (http://ticketsmith.solidlinux.com) or WebSupport (http://www.sigh.org/websupport.html) are good options.

And automated billing solution is very nice I have to say. I'd look into it. If you plan on doing the web design yourself then that should get you started.

Thanks for your response.

I might, and I put weight on might, be able to write code for whatever tasks needed. But, at the point I am in learning heavy programming, it would probably take me a month of deep concentration to figure out how to write something like that. Just don`t have that kind of time, so I would like to use services where everything is setup.
Example, I would like to simply use a link to an order form at "x company", people can sign up, and then I can download/read the reports. The customers can either be charged right away by "company x", or more preferable, I can get a list of customers from "company x", setup their accounts, and then in batches charge them via "company x".

As for your suggestions regarding ticket systems, they were "right on the spot". Systems like Ticketsmith is exactly what I am looking for and will be a strong candidate when I make my decision. Thanks!!

Wazup

Justin gave some great advice here. One thing you may want to do is ask the company you are getting the dedicated server from for additional help. I am sure they will be more than happy to help you out as well.

Totally agree, Justin`s help was great.

Regarding the host I will use, I really don`t feel like pushing them on this topic as I feel it is outside the scope of their support. Although, with their great support, I have no doubt that they would help me out, just feel I would be "taking advatage" of the.

By the way, anyone use Instabill?
Saw they keep 10% of the charge, but if they are good they might be worth it?

Thanks for your input.

Wazup

Credit Card Processor.com, at http://www.creditcardprocessor.com/InfoForm01.asp , seems to have better rates than Charge.com. Does anyone have more info or any experience with them?

If you want to go with the Instabill.com type procesing. I DEFINATELY suggest revecom.com, MUCH better rates, with a low startup fee.