February was another splendid month for web hosting, but of course the biggest news was reserved for matters not especially hosting related. The big story in February was
Google introducing its Apps Premier Edition -- a service many say may lead them to locking horns with Microsoft - looking forward to that one! Of course, for those involved in the industry, February was a good month which saw HostSearch.com make it easier for hosts to become Support Members! If you are a web host and you still have not considered the benefits of advertising your products and services on HostSearch, now is the time to get on board! Other news if February ... A New Zealand web hosting provider was bold enough to suggest that many Internet systems were insecure -- sticking your neck out that one -- while Microsoft gave us all the means to tighten things up with a hosting-specific certification exam. Nice to have some standards to live up to. You learn something new every day though -- not only is there such a things as an 'Advergame', but for one web hosting provider it was a great success! It is good to see that web hosts continue to consider the environment with Canadian web hosting provider BlueFur.com announcing a carbon neutral program. However, from the dark side, a 'Pharming' attack hit customers of 50 banks - and a very sophisticated attack it was as well!
Good to see web hosts moving up and expanding... The Planet expanded its Dallas and Houston data centers and also announced plans for a new call center, while Hosting.com opened a third data center and Spry Hosting announced new datacenter facilities, as did 1&1 Internet, Inc. Stargate also launched a new co-location facility.
Of course, to keep ahead of the curve plenty of web hosts laid on promotions in February. HostICan announced a new transfer promotion, tutorial provider DemoWolf offered 50% discounts, and Surpass Hosting announced a 'One Love' One Dollar promotion. In addition, AIT launched specials for veterans.
Promotions are good but there is nothing like enhancing your offerings to stay ahead of the curve. Shaw Networks did that announcing a dramatic revamping of its hosting services, so did 2Macs who restructured their Linux hosting plans, while JaguarPC announced plan upgrades, Supanet Hosting launched a Fax2Mail service, and Aplus.Net announced hosting plan enhancements. In addition, Host Gator made Rudy on Rails standard, Applied Innovations announced ASP.NET AJAX Support, Easy CGI announced a website statistics feature upgrade, Gearworx added ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 support, and Webbez.com re-launched enhanced support and plans.
Likewise, many hosts brought in a number of brand new services to stay ahead of the baying mob. Hosting Zoom launched modVPS, while WebFaction added Drupal and Joomla to their one-click installer, GlobalWebBrands added a new hosting plan, Hostmywebsitenow.com launched new services, and Go Daddy launched extended validation certificates. In addition, Future Hosting announced hybrid virtual private server hosting, Server Intellect announced ASP.NET AJAX and a Web 2.0 developer portal, Future Hosting offered "Business Continuance Protection", Host Depot announced next generation dedicated servers for the SMB, VAR and ISV Markets, ServerProgress introduced Linux server management services, The Planet launched a new server targetting SMBs, and Easy CGI added DotNetNuke to its shared hosting plans. Lastly, Hosted Microsoft Exchange Provider 123Together.com released SharePoint services templates.
Good to see web hosts receiving awards in February -- equally heartening some of these awards are not hosting specific. The CEO of HostRocket.com and ViaTalk was in The Business Review's '40 Under Forty' list in February. USONYX.NET Singapore achieved certified partner status, in addition, Verio was recognized in excellence awards. Plenty of activity also in the world of domains, HostMySite.com dropped domain prices, as did Blacknight Solutions, and MyDomain.com. Moniker though introduced a domain name auction, Hostway launched WhoisProtector Lite, Register.com and InfoStreet partnered to launch InstantName, and ailing provider Registerfly filed a suit against its former CEO.
Lots of partnerships took place in February - Hostopia and Hostgator cooperated on website templates, DiscountASP.NET partnered with LearnItFirst.com, SiteGround partnered with Chain Reaction Ecommerce (CRE), Zogmo, LLC chose Righteous Software's continuous data protection software, Web.com and YP Corporation partnered, and Web.com partnered with Vocus to launch a press release service. Plenty of acquisitions also - General Atlantic agreed to purchase Network Solutions, and NetRegistry bought PlanetDomain.
Let's hope March is just as good!
