Are all physical hosting companies and service providers (small to large) expected to have a physical office address?

Personally, I believe it isn't necessary. Especially not for the new, start-up, and smaller providers and companies. Why? Simply because there isn't much of a need to have an "office" or building nor would it be reasonable to lease office space when you're relatively new into the business.

What do you think?

Depends on your client's views, I see no problem with small business home offices. That's just $500-$1000+ per month you have available to make your services better. As long as they are hosted out of a real data center it should be a non-issue.

I believe it shouldn't be a problem, and as MikeTrike said "As long as they are hosted out of a real data center it should be a non-issue."

Should not be a problem. Many small business run from home offices.

It is however necessary to be organized and keep personal matters away from business.

An office is important if you ever plan on employing people. It also presents a more professional view of the company.

Our office works out to around $1800 a month but it's worth it in terms of productivity.

It hasn't been a problem for us. We run out of home offices at the moment and have a P.O. box address that we give our clients and put on WHOIS etc.

Home offices are the way to go, unless you're running a very large operation and need onsite staff in the colo etc. Then an onsite office is just more efficient than working from remote based home offices. But I personally know of some largish hosts (250+ servers) that are based from remote based home offices. It's very doable, especially with mobile technology and stuff. It's also very conducive to a great lifestyle too. :)

We serve mostly local clients and operating from a home office is not an option for us.

I don't think it should! I'm reopening my company soon and i always ran it from my office and my home. By office I mean where ever I had a full time job at ;) ...

Better support that way, I feel most people that run from there home they tend to be online more because if you run a hosting biz you must use the internet and your prob addicted that's one of the reasons why you got into web hosting!

I agree, as long as it's ran anywhere really but you have your racks located in a real "building" that's meant for what your doing then it should be all good!

It is very much ok to run it with a home office.
Just make sure you have a powerful customer service set up for your clients so that they can get in touch with you guys at anytime.

I think it's not necessary especially if you have outsourced the services. Most of the hosting providers nowadays are running from their home office.

I think it's not necessary especially if you have outsourced the services. Most of the hosting providers nowadays are running from their home office.

"Most"? I don't think there are many (any?) serious hosting companies run from a home office. Most companies might start that way but I don't think most companies continue working from the owner's home once they are past a certain size.

"Most"? I don't think there are many (any?) serious hosting companies run from a home office. Most companies might start that way but I don't think most companies continue working from the owner's home once they are past a certain size.

Ive known most of them but I don't want to name names due to confidentiality.

Are all physical hosting companies and service providers (small to large) expected to have a physical office address?

Personally, I believe it isn't necessary. Especially not for the new, start-up, and smaller providers and companies. Why? Simply because there isn't much of a need to have an "office" or building nor would it be reasonable to lease office space when you're relatively new into the business.

What do you think?

I don't think so. As long as I see an address on the website where I can contact them, that's good enough for me. Ultimately, anyone can really get an address and/or office - it's a really low issue on the list of things I consider.

It is not important for a company to have a physical office address. The most important thing for any host is to provide high quality service and effective customer support. Acting in such a way you will earn a good reputation at the market. At the beginning the company always works to have a good reputation, afterwards this reputation will work for you.

We are based in a home office and all of our employees work out of their homes. We have considered getting an office but have always decided against it.

Maybe it is because we work from home but I do not feel a hosting company needs to have an office.

We have a physical Corporate office that staffs our Accounting Team and Support. Our Customer Service Team and sales Team works from their home office in addition; all of our employees have an option to work from their homes 3 days a week.

We are actually considering converting to home offices as it will reduce some overhead, and it is greener.

We are actually considering converting to home offices as it will reduce some overhead, and it is greener.

Just out of interest how do you keep track of if your staff are pulling their weight when they are working at home?

"Most"? I don't think there are many (any?) serious hosting companies run from a home office. Most companies might start that way but I don't think most companies continue working from the owner's home once they are past a certain size.We don't have a physical office. :)

There's lots to say for having a physical office, but there's many advantages to operating a virtual office as well. You just have to weigh the pros and cons and make the best decision for your company.

We don't have a physical office. :)

There's lots to say for having a physical office, but there's many advantages to operating a virtual office as well. You just have to weigh the pros and cons and make the best decision for your company.

Wow, I'm surprised. ;o As a larger company without a physical office, how do you feel that affects staff camaraderie etc? Do you run regular "team building" events etc so that people still feel part of a unit? Genuine question. :)

I hear ya Darren.

I actually find I can organise my day better around going into the office. I don't think I have the discipline to get the most out of working from home, too distracting for me. Separate home / work life suits me to a tea.

As for whether it's expected? No, not at all. Each to their own. What works for some just might not work for others, doesn't mean the company is any less viable.

Wow, I'm surprised. ;o As a larger company without a physical office, how do you feel that affects staff camaraderie etc? Do you run regular "team building" events etc so that people still feel part of a unit? Genuine question. :)That's a great question. We have not (yet) gotten the majority of staff together -- for shear logistical reasons being that we have staff members from all over the world -- in addition to the obvious.. who'll hold down the fort?! ;)

We utilize jabber for IM communications throughout shifts. While we realize the purpose we're at work for, we do have fun! If we're not trash talking about our fantasy football league (http://www.site5.com/blog/s5/all-work-and-some-play/20090915/), we're arguing the on-going battle of OS X's superiority over Windows, etc.

I think it goes back to corporate culture. :)

Just out of interest how do you keep track of if your staff are pulling their weight when they are working at home?

Hi Hydro,

We have a weekly video conference that is required; quarterly bonus trips with their Team Leaders, we also have an annual company meeting for our employees and their spouse, a 3 day retreat of just fun.

Constant communication I think is the key; when working from a home office having that connection with others via telephone (extension) chat or such helps keep the feeling of being alone minimized.

That's a great question. We have not (yet) gotten the majority of staff together -- for shear logistical reasons being that we have staff members from all over the world -- in addition to the obvious.. who'll hold down the fort?! ;)

We utilize jabber for IM communications throughout shifts. While we realize the purpose we're at work for, we do have fun! If we're not trash talking about our fantasy football league (http://www.site5.com/blog/s5/all-work-and-some-play/20090915/), we're arguing the on-going battle of OS X's superiority over Windows, etc.

I think it goes back to corporate culture. :)

Certainly an eye-opener - I didn't realise there were companies in the industry as large as yours operating in that way. It must take strong leadership to make sure everyone is pulling their weight :p (or at least, you/your interviewers must be good judges of character so that you don't employ anyone that is going to take liberties) :)

Greetings Jonathan:

"Are all physical hosting companies and service providers (small to large) expected to have a physical office address?"

If you are legal, not engaging in criminal activities, and are an honest business person, yes. There's nothing to hide unless there is fear of discovery.

Thank you.

Greetings Jonathan:

"Are all physical hosting companies and service providers (small to large) expected to have a physical office address?"

If you are legal, not engaging in criminal activities, and are an honest business person, yes. There's nothing to hide unless there is fear of discovery.

Thank you.

What does being legal and not a criminal have to do with having a physical office. What's wrong with a home office? Why spend $1,000/Mo on an office + utilities when a small company (who does not have a big staff to house) can use that $1,000/Mo to improve upon, enhance and offer new features.

What exactly is being hidden?

BTW Jesus had no place to lay his head, and people trusted him apparently. Or am I wrong and Jesus was a criminal and a liar?

Greetings:

If you have a home office, then you have an office.

The key is that if there's nothing to hide, lie about, be deceptive about, then publish the physical address.

Thank you.

Greetings:

If you have a home office, then you have an office.

The key is that if there's nothing to hide, lie about, be deceptive about, then publish the physical address.

Thank you.

I guess we both deciphered the original post differently. I assume physical office meant an office building (be it a private building or a suite in a business complex), not zero office at all. Hence my mention of not wasting $1,000/Mo when it can be used to improve your services.

I list my home office address, if somebody shows up in a hostile fashion, they can meet Mr. Bullets.

If your business is big enough, then have a office where your customer can meet you up. For start up, people will see the trust you can give to them as the priority first than where your office located.
Just my two cents. :)

Certainly an eye-opener - I didn't realise there were companies in the industry as large as yours operating in that way. It must take strong leadership to make sure everyone is pulling their weight :p (or at least, you/your interviewers must be good judges of character so that you don't employ anyone that is going to take liberties) :)Yep its a lot of good interview process and training, along with good tools we use to monitor peoples work, work ethic, quality of work, and so on.

We are actually about to launch a custom support desk internally that will aide us a lot more on this too.

Thanks, Ben

I think every company should have a address, We have always had a postal address however visited clients in a near by hotel. So having a suitable office isn't an issue.

So i think physical office address is a must have!

I've been at Site5 about 2.5 years, here are a few of my thoughts about telecommuting:

1. At my previous job, I had to drive 1/2 hour each way, now I get 1 hour of my life back each work day, that's about 260 hours per year in my case. I no longer have to spend all that money on gas plus wear and tear on my car. This is both good for the environment and my wallet. I can save the gas plus wear and tear for driving places I want to go instead of for a daily commute, or I can choose to not drive anywhere at all. The only energy I use to do my job is the ~80 watts that powers my computer setup and whatever it takes to send my packets along the wire.

2. Freedom, I can work from anywhere I have an internet connection. I am not at the mercy of my employers choice of office location, no need to worry about "will my car get stolen tonight" or "will I get mugged on the way to the parking lot", no more being accosted by crackhead sparechangers begging for "coffee money". I spend the winters in Florida because I'm allergic to snow. I can visit relatives that I otherwise could not without great inconvenience.

3. Office politics are virtually nonexistant. It may just be the quality of people I work for/with or it may be the "virtual enviroment" having a catalytic effect on office harmony, it doesn't matter, I'm happy. I can set up my work area the way I want it without it getting disturbed/used by co-workers. I have easier access to co-workers if I have questions about something that happened on a previous shift than I ever did in a brick and mortar office environment.

4. Sick days, some may see this as a disadvantage, but I am able to work if I'm ill without worrying about infecting the whole office. If you have to work while you're sick, wouldn't you rather do it from the comfort of home? Lost work days can only have a negative impact on a company.

@unixorn

Those are some of the best things ever! Definitely a great business model to be a part of. :)

If you are looking for real clients then you must be real somewhere on the globe.

If you are serious in business then you must do it.

Greetings Unixorn:

When we first started out, almost 15-years ago, it was from a home office. When we started hiring extremely local (i.e. within 15 to 30 minutes) employees, we did find the need for a regular office.

Several years ago, we restructured and down sized to where we are back in a very small office environment and staff works from home; though they do come into the office once a week or every other week (not an absolute requirement, but it is nice to get together face to face).

We've found telecommuting does not work for everyone; we've had staff that once they went from working in an office environment to working at home ended up following their own direction as if they were a contractor rather than an employee.

However, our current staff find themselves very similar to what you've expressed. They often work when sick even though they can be off (we are a family comes first, always, company). They often put in more hours, and are more reliable.

Thank you.

BTW Jesus had no place to lay his head, and people trusted him apparently. Or am I wrong and Jesus was a criminal and a liar?Well he was a criminal, in the eyes of the Romans.

The larger and more germane question though, is would you buy hosting from him? I would not, and here's why:

- Flaky: you would never know if he was going to show up or be out curing lepers.
- Not good managing money.
- No experience in hosting (suppers don't count).
- Radical ideas could lead to loss of servers to Romans.
- Does not respect the "personal space" boundaries of others.
- Kind of a hippie: might give the company away on a whim.
- Too many enemies.
- No BBB rating (that I can find, anyway).
- Serious overseller.

Well he was a criminal, in the eyes of the Romans.

The larger and more germane question though, is would you buy hosting from him? I would not, and here's why:

- Flaky: you would never know if he was going to show up or be out curing lepers.
- Not good managing money.
- No experience in hosting (suppers don't count).
- Radical ideas could lead to loss of servers to Romans.
- Does not respect the "personal space" boundaries of others.
- Kind of a hippie: might give the company away on a whim.
- Too many enemies.
- No BBB rating (that I can find, anyway).
- Serious overseller.
The otherside of the Roman Coin:

Jesus of Nazerath :rolleyes:

There are also legal implications in this. For a registered company in the United Kingdom, by law, the company needs to have an office or PO Box it can receive mail at, it also needs to display that information on it's site.

Well he was a criminal, in the eyes of the Romans.

The larger and more germane question though, is would you buy hosting from him? I would not, and here's why:

- Flaky: you would never know if he was going to show up or be out curing lepers.
- Not good managing money.
- No experience in hosting (suppers don't count).
- Radical ideas could lead to loss of servers to Romans.
- Does not respect the "personal space" boundaries of others.
- Kind of a hippie: might give the company away on a whim.
- Too many enemies.
- No BBB rating (that I can find, anyway).
- Serious overseller.

You sir, have just won.

If you know them personally, you can go ahead with them. Just keep the legalities in place. Other point is the cost, which would be lesser in terms of a company which would have to bear the overhead expenses as well.

Hosting companies website are already their best office. I don't think it is a "must" that a hosting company need to have a physical address especially for starters. Customers are more concern if one company able to provide a great after sales service like customer service & technical support.

Well he was a criminal, in the eyes of the Romans.

The larger and more germane question though, is would you buy hosting from him? I would not, and here's why:

- Flaky: you would never know if he was going to show up or be out curing lepers.
- Not good managing money.
- No experience in hosting (suppers don't count).
- Radical ideas could lead to loss of servers to Romans.
- Does not respect the "personal space" boundaries of others.
- Kind of a hippie: might give the company away on a whim.
- Too many enemies.
- No BBB rating (that I can find, anyway).
- Serious overseller.

Also:

- He was talking in riddles too much. Think of a support reply like this: "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."
- He didn't seem to technical to me, also he was always relying on his dad to do things for him
- I don't think he would do much adult content
- He was the ultimate spammer. Spammed christianity all over the place!

In case of multi located offices, the connectivity has to be the best. You would need them to monitor the servers round the clock.

Most countries have rules on how to use PoBox addresses, like you can't use them for Invoicing, or utility bills etc where a physical address is required by law.

But in terms of "virtual" offices/addresses, office bureaus, postal forwarding to physical addresses, there generally isn't any problem with that providing it isn't evasive or fraudulent...

For any business, having a physical address adds credibility with some clients. One of our clients asked to come to our offices to see us. Strange to me cause if she bought hosting online she wouldn't have gone to their office.

I guess once you dealing locally, clients will have different expectations. There is nothing wrong with having a home office to start with and expanding if the need arises.

I agree, but with the work from home option, you also save on the overheads, which indirectly means lesser financial load on your end users. This would keep them happy as well. Alternatively you can set up one place which can be used to gather once a week or something. Somehow, I love the concept!

Anyone in support of the work-from-home culture?

Anyone in support of the work-from-home culture?

I am. I find that it is much more productive. You do need a great interview process.

Some clients feel it's more professional and you can trust the company more if they have an actually office although I see no problem with a home office as it saves you money that could be going towards your company.

I would not go for a work from home culture simply due to lack of professionalism. A disadvantage with work from home is that there could be a lot of distractions at home which might hinder productivity.

I would not go for a work from home culture simply due to lack of professionalism. A disadvantage with work from home is that there could be a lot of distractions at home which might hinder productivity.

That's extremely true unless you live by yourself in the middle of no where which could be kinda creepy. D:> Some clients feel that way which is why they prefer a company with an actual office.

ppl are doing virtual businesses , evey thing going virtual, I dont think
single physicall office requirements. you can hire staff virtually unless you need in house staff

we can spend more time in support and other matters of the company by working from home..

we can spend more time in support and other matters of the company by working from home...

Are All Hosting Companies Expected To Have an Physical Office Address?Yes, and that has nothing to do with having a physical office.

Anyone in support of the work-from-home culture?
I am... This is my 5th year of doing it.
I started off work from home for another company before starting my own and i tell you, that took some discipline. I think your more likely to do work and not doss about if its own company, and ironically, the poor quality of day time TV actually makes you do some work..

One thing i will say though is, you need a good size space to work in, away from all distractions in the home. And if you ever need to bring clients back, always keep a tidy and fully stocked house.

I'm lucky that my house is fairly large and modern, so even with the noise of kids, I still have my space to work in where I can get my work done in peace.

Here's my favourite sketch about working from home.. So true..!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY

The drawback to home offices is collaboration, but to be frank -- keep overhead low, find innovative ways to collaborate and you're golden. :)

Technology helps with the communication factor .. Applications like skype, webex are examples. What needs to be ensured is the bandwidth that you would need to be working from home. and power backups in case of incidents

Are all physical hosting companies and service providers (small to large) expected to have a physical office address?

Personally, I believe it isn't necessary. Especially not for the new, start-up, and smaller providers and companies. Why? Simply because there isn't much of a need to have an "office" or building nor would it be reasonable to lease office space when you're relatively new into the business.

What do you think?

That's an excellent question, there is nothing wrong with working from home, keeping overheads to a minimum is a sure fire way for capital growth. Once you get a few loyal clients, the word spreads, nobody need know your hosting from anywhere other than offices, since servers are located in there respectful providers anyway.

If you want to look professional, there's things out there that can provide you with a forwarding contact address, or telephone number for instance, from free to premium queue services. Search google and find out more

Anyone in support of the work-from-home culture?

I guess it depends on the person. I did it for several years but the moment we moved into a proper office space, my productivity skyrocketed. Working from home was way too distracting!

I guess it depends on the person. I did it for several years but the moment we moved into a proper office space, my productivity skyrocketed. Working from home was way too distracting!

Humm, the distraction is a worrying factor. Alternatively, I have seen people having office spaces within their own residences. They work as if they are in their own offices keeping all homely things out of that place.

Humm, the distraction is a worrying factor. Alternatively, I have seen people having office spaces within their own residences. They work as if they are in their own offices keeping all homely things out of that place.

When I worked at home I was putting in more hours (since I couldn't separate my work from my personal life) but getting less done. Now that we have an office, I've become much more efficient, and so I can leave work at work when I come home at night and have guilt-free fun with family/friends. I also found that, in an office environment, having other people around who were also working motivated me to keep going and take half as many breaks.

humm, that's right as well. An office does get in the professionalism into work

The best idea would be to have an office with flexible timings.

Depends on your client's views, I see no problem with small business home offices. That's just $500-$1000+ per month you have available to make your services better. As long as they are hosted out of a real data center it should be a non-issue.

I agree, just give ur client confidence that you are a genuine service provider and give them quality support, that it. They will always trust you no matter where ur offfice is.

I think its important, to build trust

Physical Address is a must for any genuine & serious business. And most importantly there are plenty of scammers & fly by night companies in our industry. So, Having a physical address is a must & it will surly improve your Local sales performance as well.

In Asia alot of customers prefer to sign-up with a host with a physical office rather than a home office. And also you will need a office for onsite sales and support staff that the reason why we setup 6 physical office run 24/7 by 2 team of staffs available 24/7 in 6 country where we have most clients in.

In Asia alot of customers prefer to sign-up with a host with a physical office rather than a home office.

thats ironic seeming most of the fraudulent signups come from asia.!

I came from an office downtown back to the home office, and I've never looked back. This is the dream, working from your home office, working your own hours, wherever you want, and never having to deal with clients face to face. :gthumb:

I came from an office downtown back to the home office, and I've never looked back. This is the dream, working from your home office, working your own hours, wherever you want, and never having to deal with clients face to face. :gthumb:

Ditto that.. But I find I do allot more hours by not being able to go home at the end of the day. lol

home office is okay for start ups.. if you are growing into large corporation with number of employees should opt for a office space