Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 76
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976

    Is SoftLayer losing customers post IBM acquisition ?

    Just found this and wondering if the IBM acquisition is affecting business at SoftLayer

    http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/http%3...m#trafficstats
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    1,274
    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    Just found this and wondering if the IBM acquisition is affecting business at SoftLayer

    http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/http%3...m#trafficstats
    I can't imagine IBM buying them out would do anything other than bolster than claim in the market as IBM is a brand most everyone will stand behind.

    They may be impacting their search engine ranking a bit however with all of their rebranding, but in general I wouldn't think that would impact as much as Alexia seems to show it does.

    SL is posed to do a few laps around the world this year with new locations coming online and with that happening I highly doubt they will be doing anything but gaining clients.

    The loss of website traffic has little to nothing to do with sales and/or cancellations.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    Quote Originally Posted by leckley View Post
    I can't imagine IBM buying them out would do anything other than bolster than claim in the market as IBM is a brand most everyone will stand behind.

    They may be impacting their search engine ranking a bit however with all of their rebranding, but in general I wouldn't think that would impact as much as Alexia seems to show it does.

    SL is posed to do a few laps around the world this year with new locations coming online and with that happening I highly doubt they will be doing anything but gaining clients.

    The loss of website traffic has little to nothing to do with sales and/or cancellations.

    They may not say everything, obviously...but they do tell something no matter how small...its all about comparisons
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Datacenter
    Posts
    4,414
    I don't think it's something they are going to share
    Most take overs have a result for a potential loss in customers, there's no way around that.

    I am sure it won't affect them too much
    » www.InstantDedicated.com - Online in no time
    » Dedicated Servers in [EU] Netherlands + Belgium with DAILY support, also on weekends
    » 3.2 Tbit/s Network AS49453 with only 100 Gbit/s uplink backbone
    » 1G/10G/40G/100 Gbit ports available | 99,99% Network Uptime goal

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Belgium
    Posts
    657
    A site rank drop doesn't really equal a drop in clients. IT's a factor of many things.
    AssetGateway
    █ Skype da_arco

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    To be sincere with you..i believe the high pricing and non-competitive pricing model of SoftLayer is the issue here. The Hosting industry is changing with more and more awesome opensource softwares and several price effective solutions/services, and more beefier and beefier hardware products from processor to RAM capacity...so many SMBs are finding that they can just hire a SysAdmin and just design their own setups(colocate) which is several times more cost effective.
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    NY
    Posts
    11,863
    Quote Originally Posted by AG-Arco View Post
    A site rank drop doesn't really equal a drop in clients. IT's a factor of many things.
    IBM could be moving people who are already their clients onto their networks inside of having them go directly to their website to order. My guess is they have sales teams in offices cutting deals with people they do consulting work for.

    We will help develop this application for you & then you can host it on our technologies for $XXX,XXX/year.
    Doug
    Finance, Operations, and Business Executive

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Belgium
    Posts
    657
    Quote Originally Posted by Techy View Post
    IBM could be moving people who are already their clients onto their networks inside of having them go directly to their website to order. My guess is they have sales teams in offices cutting deals with people they do consulting work for.

    We will help develop this application for you & then you can host it on our technologies for $XXX,XXX/year.
    Make that $X,XXX,XXX/year.

    Buy I agree with you.
    AssetGateway
    █ Skype da_arco

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Jacksonville, Florida
    Posts
    698
    Originally Posted by Techy

    IBM could be moving people who are already their clients onto their networks inside of having them go directly to their website to order. My guess is they have sales teams in offices cutting deals with people they do consulting work for.

    We will help develop this application for you & then you can host it on our technologies for $XXX,XXX/year.
    I agree 100% with this but they probably ask a heck of allot more than $XXX,XXX/year
    Last edited by ALN2015; 01-10-2014 at 11:50 AM. Reason: changed content

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    NY
    Posts
    11,863
    Quote Originally Posted by AG-Arco View Post
    Make that $X,XXX,XXX/year.

    Buy I agree with you.
    Quote Originally Posted by sjr2004 View Post
    I agree 100% with this but they probably ask a heck of allot more than $XXX,XXX/year
    I meant month, my apologies.
    Doug
    Finance, Operations, and Business Executive

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,822
    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    To be sincere with you..i believe the high pricing and non-competitive pricing model of SoftLayer is the issue here.
    I agree that they charge a bit on the high side for their aged server line, however all in all (all over their server lines, including the recent ones) there is really nothing wrong with their pricing model.
    Decent margins create financial stability, stability means good reliability, high uptime, trustworthiness and fast support and this leads to happy customers.
    If you are going to lose a lot of money for every minute/hour your applications or sites are down, then you better choose a business provider with decent margins and a good SLA.

    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    The Hosting industry is changing with more and more awesome opensource softwares and several price effective solutions/services
    I am not certain what Opensource has to do in this context (Platform as a Service) as with Opensource applications (like any other applications), you will still need a reliable platform to host it on. Most applications do not et handle loadbalancing and scaling well (however, that is the future) so a reliable and stable platform is still an important key to success.

    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    many SMBs are finding that they can just hire a SysAdmin and just design their own setups(colocate) which is several times more cost effective.
    Softlayer is primarily a unmanaged provider afaik, so not certain what the system administrator aspect is doing in this story, care to elaborate?
    Colocation only makes sense if you have a full rack or more of servers (1) or an extremely specialized platform (2) and even then its debatable if you really will safe money over time. Colocation can cause a lot of trouble and organisation, overhead on spare parts, tying up of capital and as a model, really ties you to your supplier (unlike dedicated servers, where month to month is the norm).
    Swiftway.net Your Business deserves our Quality - Experts on Hand since 2005. Europe & US locations, we operate our own network AS35017 Support response time <15 minutes 24/7
    Introducing our new Entry level server line ! Support response time <15 minutes 24/7. Technology Fast 50 & Fast 500 award winning for multiple years, Your Business deserves Swiftway Quality.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    Quote Originally Posted by swiftnoc View Post
    I am not certain what Opensource has to do in this content (Platform as a Service) as even with OPensource application, you still need a reliable platform to host it on. Most applications do not yet handle loadbalancing and scaling well (however, that is the future) so a reliable and stable platform is still an important key to success.
    Like having a software that can do x times better with 1/x times smaller hardware requirements? Therefore not needing as many servers and therefore knowing you can even setup and colocate the infrastructure yourself and save money your business is loosing to hosting? quick example nginx?

    Also you talk about SoftLayer...i mean you rent servers from them..maybe i am wrong here..so please correct me if thats the case...softlayer is not a managed hosting provider so i am not sure what 100% network uptime will be when if hardware fails or some misconfiguration can still create downtime. What am saying here is softlayer's SLA is not same as a managed hosting provider's SLA...if you mention Firehost then i can understand why they can charge very high...but softlayer is no different from any other colocation provider only their network and i guess infrastructure is more reliable..anything else still same...and downtime can still happen very well...customer's fault or not

    Just don't get it when people mention softlayer this softlayer that like its an area51 zone where anything hosted on their facility will be 100% uptime
    Last edited by nokia3310; 01-10-2014 at 12:55 PM.
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lake Geneva, WI.
    Posts
    1,370
    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    Just found this and wondering if the IBM acquisition is affecting business at SoftLayer

    http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/http%3...m#trafficstats
    Using Alexa as a metric to gauge the well being of a company on the Internet is like using the Stock Market to gauge the performance and well being of the economy.

    Jeremy Kinsey (jer@mia.net) - 262-248-6759
    Dedicated Servers - Web Hosting - Colocation HostDrive.Com
    Since 1997

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    Quote Originally Posted by rasputin View Post
    Using Alexa as a metric to gauge the well being of a company on the Internet is like using the Stock Market to gauge the performance and well being of the economy.

    Comparison my friend...as long as the constant is alexa...if you use alexa for the sites you comparing...and YES we know its not 100% or probably not even close...like i said its all about comparisons
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    Example of reason for moving away from softlayer(high cost) http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1336396
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,822
    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    Like having a software that can do x times better with 1/x times smaller hardware requirements? Therefore not needing as many servers and therefore knowing you can even setup and colocate the infrastructure yourself and save money your business is loosing to hosting? quick example nginx?
    If you need less hardware, then you actually reduce the likeliness that colocation is a viable solution. Colocation makes sense if you do very large scale deployments or have extremely specialized requirements. Small scale colocation is generally not a good idea, it costs way more then renting a few dedicated servers (1) ties down liquidity (2) makes you more dependent of a supplier (3) and ties you into longer term agreements (4).
    If you need < 40 servers in one physical location, then renting dedicated servers from a trusted source will generally be cheaper and provide you more flexibility and reliability then colocating the gear.

    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    Also you talk about SoftLayer...i mean you rent servers from them..maybe i am wrong here..so please correct me if thats the case...softlayer is not a managed hosting provider so i am not sure what 100% network uptime will be when if hardware fails or some misconfiguration can still create downtime.
    SLA does not only cover network uptime.
    SLA include response times for support, uptime guarantees for network as well as power and a guaranteed resolution time in case of hardware failures. Obviously, if you rent a unmanaged Platform-as-a-Service you have to provide your own system administration team and will be responsible for that aspect.
    In some cases contracting full managed providers makes a lot of sense, in other cases it does not make sense at all. It really depends on the clients requirements.

    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    softlayer is no different from any other colocation provider only their network and i guess infrastructure is more reliable..anything else still same...and downtime can still happen very well...customer's fault or not
    Softlayer does not offer colocation services, maybe best to do first some research before opening topics?

    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    Just don't get it when people mention softlayer this softlayer that like its an area51 zone where anything hosted on their facility will be 100% uptime
    As far as Platform-as-a-service providers go, Softlayer is playing in the absolute top division of that market segment. They tailor their services to meet demanding customers requirements and are good at what they do. Downtimes and mistakeshappen everywhere, its what happens next that makes the big difference between providers. Its not just a matter of up or downtime: reliability, support response, support quality, network quality, resolution times - this is all important for customers that chose a business provider.
    Swiftway.net Your Business deserves our Quality - Experts on Hand since 2005. Europe & US locations, we operate our own network AS35017 Support response time <15 minutes 24/7
    Introducing our new Entry level server line ! Support response time <15 minutes 24/7. Technology Fast 50 & Fast 500 award winning for multiple years, Your Business deserves Swiftway Quality.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    Quote Originally Posted by swiftnoc View Post
    If you need less hardware, then you actually reduce the likeliness that colocation is a viable solution. Colocation makes sense if you do very large scale deployments or have extremely specialized requirements. Small scale colocation is generally not a good idea, it costs way more then renting a few dedicated servers (1) ties down liquidity (2) makes you more dependent of a supplier (3) and ties you into longer term agreements (4).
    Well i am referring to ability to reduce number of servers...doesnt mean one only needs 1 server

    If you need < 40 servers in one physical location, then renting dedicated servers from a trusted source will generally be cheaper and provide you more flexibility and reliability then colocating the gear.
    I strongly disagree with you here. I can setup a 10U that will outperform a whole 48U rack...you must have missed the high density computing market. 40 servers for some is like 4 servers for others in this day and age. Also check out this http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1336396 >> http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showpo...2&postcount=33 and i am sure you will see a real life experience here and not some hypothetical stuff

    Also colocation offers the greatest flexibility and control. Imagine telling softlayer to get your firewall and setup some extra hardware..how much you will be paying per month? With colocation you can get any server you want, any processor you want and almost anything you want. Softlayer and any other IaaS/PaaS can never be that flexible else you will empty your bank account with them!
    Last edited by nokia3310; 01-10-2014 at 01:19 PM.
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,822
    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    Also check out this http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1336396 and i am sure you will see a real life experience here and not some hypothetical stuff
    I saw this thread, i also believe this topicstarter will create for himself a lot of trouble. He did not factor in shipping charges, insurance, leasing/capital cost, remote hands, spares, offsite backup and also did not seem to factor in that he needs an emergency plan in case his cluster goes down.
    Configuring the switch infrastructure, hiring competent 24x7 staff to fix the switches if things go wrong as well as service contracts from suppliers will fast dwindle the amount he now feels he can 'safe' by making the switch from dedicated to colocated.

    I have seen many similar situations:
    It starts with:
    "I will spend $xx xxx,- less / month by going colo" WOW

    After a few months it becomes
    "I actually spend $x xxx,- less / month by going colo" still not bad!

    And after 12 months it's usually
    "I actually spend $x xx,- MORE/month by going colo" I did not expect that!

    And over the long haul, its generally a money sink, a lot of hassle and extra headache and time spend on the Platform that could have been better invested in the core product or service of the company.
    Swiftway.net Your Business deserves our Quality - Experts on Hand since 2005. Europe & US locations, we operate our own network AS35017 Support response time <15 minutes 24/7
    Introducing our new Entry level server line ! Support response time <15 minutes 24/7. Technology Fast 50 & Fast 500 award winning for multiple years, Your Business deserves Swiftway Quality.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,822
    Quote Originally Posted by nokia3310 View Post
    I strongly disagree with you here. I can setup a 10U that will outperform a whole 48U rack...you must have missed the high density computing market.
    I like the challenge. Please let me know how you will outperform with 10U of space a full rack with 180 x Xeon E3-1270v3 nodes.
    Swiftway.net Your Business deserves our Quality - Experts on Hand since 2005. Europe & US locations, we operate our own network AS35017 Support response time <15 minutes 24/7
    Introducing our new Entry level server line ! Support response time <15 minutes 24/7. Technology Fast 50 & Fast 500 award winning for multiple years, Your Business deserves Swiftway Quality.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    267
    Well, can I ask SwiftNoc a question. Other than (of course) specialized hardware, when *does* colo make sense?

    On a related note, let's say a customer asks for 50+ servers, but doesn't have a competitive advantage in buying them. Also assume the customer is flexible in terms of locking in a contract 1.5-3 years. Can you still make dedicated servers more competitive to them?

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    127.0.0.1
    Posts
    308
    They have another data center opening in the first quarter of this year in Hong Kong. I think the company is doing just fine.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,822
    Quote Originally Posted by petrushka View Post
    Well, can I ask SwiftNoc a question. Other than (of course) specialized hardware, when *does* colo make sense?
    Large deployments, full rack+ of hardware or deployments in very specialized area's
    It might make sense if a datacenter is very near to your business to deploy there.


    [QUOTE=petrushka;8976101
    On a related note, let's say a customer asks for 50+ servers, but doesn't have a competitive advantage in buying them. Also assume the customer is flexible in terms of locking in a contract 1.5-3 years. Can you still make dedicated servers more competitive to them?[/QUOTE]

    I do not understand the question here. Client brings 50+ servers or wants to somehow rent/buy/lease/RTO them?
    Dedicated servers have a lot of advantages:

    - No unexpected (remote hands) cost
    - No long term leasing agreement
    - No need to store spares onsite (storage costs, costs of stock)
    - RMA can become costly (shipping charges)
    - Insurance is not required
    - No long term supplier agreements
    - If a supplier goes bankrupt, gear is not 'stuck' for a long time
    - Easy to scale up or down (month to month)
    - Makes it easy to upgrade specification when needed, without worrying about HW write-offs
    - No need to hire expensive infrastructure consultants / managers (24x7)
    - No need to get service contracts on hardware or switch infrastructure.
    - Absolutely no worry about power requirements
    - Power redundancy is not an issue (ATS, dual power supplies)

    Many more advantages, this is why most clients rent dedicated servers.
    Swiftway.net Your Business deserves our Quality - Experts on Hand since 2005. Europe & US locations, we operate our own network AS35017 Support response time <15 minutes 24/7
    Introducing our new Entry level server line ! Support response time <15 minutes 24/7. Technology Fast 50 & Fast 500 award winning for multiple years, Your Business deserves Swiftway Quality.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    Quote Originally Posted by swiftnoc View Post
    I like the challenge. Please let me know how you will outperform with 10U of space a full rack with 180 x Xeon E3-1270v3 nodes.
    Well what type of server are you buying such that you will fit 180 x E3-1270 v3 nodes in a full rack? My point earlier is that most hosting providers use 1U rack servers for each 1U rack..and will have 46 server nodes and generally they either run desktop grade processors or low to mid range processors which mostly are years behind. Obviously you trying to do same thing am doing here which is to use multinode servers.

    Basically the challenge is you take me to an average softlayer full rack and i will outperform their full rack with a 10U. I will be going to at least 2x Fattwin(8 nodes) or 4 x Supermicro Twin 2(4 nodes)..ad max out everything using E5-2600 v2 and max out the RAM. I mean that is what i call high density at the finest.
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    1,976
    Quote Originally Posted by swiftnoc View Post
    I saw this thread, i also believe this topicstarter will create for himself a lot of trouble. He did not factor in shipping charges, insurance, leasing/capital cost, remote hands, spares, offsite backup and also did not seem to factor in that he needs an emergency plan in case his cluster goes down.
    Configuring the switch infrastructure, hiring competent 24x7 staff to fix the switches if things go wrong as well as service contracts from suppliers will fast dwindle the amount he now feels he can 'safe' by making the switch from dedicated to colocated.

    I have seen many similar situations:
    It starts with:
    "I will spend $xx xxx,- less / month by going colo" WOW

    After a few months it becomes
    "I actually spend $x xxx,- less / month by going colo" still not bad!

    And after 12 months it's usually
    "I actually spend $x xx,- MORE/month by going colo" I did not expect that!

    And over the long haul, its generally a money sink, a lot of hassle and extra headache and time spend on the Platform that could have been better invested in the core product or service of the company.

    Well the thing is he probably has looked at or is currently looking at those factors already. And even if not, well that is that case...doesn't mean it cannot be done in a smart manner.

    I kind of felt same way and like i said in the thread..if i were to have same budget..i will have 1 full rack at 3 different datacenters and countries...giving me peace of mind and not only that ...too much room to grow as well. Signing long term contract is not so much of a problem as long as you have a great partner. Matter of fact that is what most people want except someone that likes to jump around.

    I am not sure how many times i need to stress this..softlayer is not a managed provider...so you are paying for freaking hardware...and you are on your own when it comes to backup and other stuff...most customers of softlayer have dedicated servers..last i checked they can face problems like everyone else.
    Superb Houston/Los Angeles Colocation: LAYERHOST.COM https://www.layerhost.com/colocation
    *not affiliated, just recommendation*

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lake Geneva, WI.
    Posts
    1,370
    The cost realization differences in colo vs. dedicated are recognized only in more proprietary situations where the devices being colo'd are either not standardized gear, or in many cases are comprised of systems that the customer does not want the DC's hands on.

    If you're looking to start up a hosting business and are going to use some off the shelf or custom built server (nothing special) and a common cpanel, you're likely to save money simply buying whatever flavor of the month the provider is offering because its probably no only cheaper but the components they use are going to be stocked and interchangeable should a problem arise.

    Some people just like to buy and build their own stuff. The cost differences are arguably pretty miniscule when you consider the upfront outlay vs. paying that out over time are generally pretty equal more often than not.
    Jeremy Kinsey (jer@mia.net) - 262-248-6759
    Dedicated Servers - Web Hosting - Colocation HostDrive.Com
    Since 1997

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. IBM Closes Acquisition of SoftLayer
    By CloudComputingLV in forum Dedicated Server
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 07-09-2013, 10:52 AM
  2. I'm losing my customers just because of Paypal
    By eqozonline in forum Ecommerce Hosting & Discussion
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 07-27-2007, 07:09 AM
  3. HELP!! I'm losing customers!! Email problems!!
    By bo8482 in forum Hosting Security and Technology
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 06-27-2006, 01:37 PM
  4. I hate losing customers
    By [inx]Olly in forum Running a Web Hosting Business
    Replies: 40
    Last Post: 08-18-2004, 01:47 PM
  5. Attention Hostany Customers -- Atrivo Acquisition
    By Goose in forum Web Hosting Industry Announcements
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 01-22-2004, 09:11 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •