The Benefits of Managed Hosting for Businesses

April 17, 2013 by Staff Writer

Although much of the web hosting industry's attention has been focused on enterprises migrating to the cloud recently, a lot of businesses want firm control over their data and employ more traditional types of web hosting. Although they want control, this does not mean they are prepared to invest huge sums in dedicated IT departments or IT staff. For these companies, Managed Hosting still offers a range of benefits.

Simply put, Managed Hosting is a form of Dedicated Hosting where a provider (web host or ISP) owns servers which are leased to, and utilized by, a single customer. Whereas with Dedicated Hosting users are responsible for full server management, with Managed Hosting, providers manage hardware, operating system and application management on behalf of their customers. Companies can still utilize root or admin access to a server, but usually just concentrate on maintaining their websites and supporting their business activities rather than wasting time on IT.

So what are the benefits of Managed Hosting?

1. Cost Savings and Scalability Possibly the biggest advantage is cost. Although more expensive than cloud hosting, not owning servers or having dedicated IT staff means cost savings for most companies. Dealing with a provider who can accurately assess and address your IT needs means that with Managed Hosting you only get the resources your company needs. Should your needs change, your provider can cater to your scalability requirements by changing the service it provides.

2. Fixed Costs Businesses also benefit from knowing what they will have to pay on a monthly basis. Managed Hosting costs are usually fixed monthly fees, so costs are highly predictable, meaning company's can successfully predict issues like cash flow.

3. Time Savings As a business, with Managed Hosting your effort is not directed on fixing machines, updating software, and backing up data - your attention is directed towards your core competencies, something that is likely to save your company time and improve your bottom line. In addition, IT is notorious for equipment that is simply difficult to master, even for IT specialists. Not owning the equipment means companies do not have to waste their time mastering technology and tweaking networks. In addition, rather than wasting time finding the solutions to IT issues, Managed Hosting partners have qualified Technical Support teams that you can contact to do the heavy lifting for you.

4. Due Diligence - Partner Evaluation When a company manages its own IT, it often has to engage a number of partners for a number of different purposes. With Managed Hosting, a company engages a single partner, meaning a business can save time evaluating a string of partners, and can put more effort into finding a single partner that will meet all its needs. Due diligence requires a lot of work - you have to visit forums and websites like HostSearch.com to get end users' perspectives. But the effort definitely pays dividends.

5. Guaranteed Uptime With a provider on board, it is no longer a company's responsibility to fight against a range of issues to ensure system uptime - it is the provider's responsibility to ensure your company has the uptime it needs as part of a Service Level Agreement (SLA). Good providers manage advanced Internet network connections meaning alongside uptime, they offer the network speed a company needs.

6. Security As with uptime, a good provider guarantees uptime, speed and security. Managed Hosting partners limit access to physical servers using a range of sophisticated technology including biometrics, retina scans and fingerprint scans alongside traditional security such as onsite security guards. In addition, they secure data when it is being accessed or transferred using SSH and RDP protocols.

If you aren't interested in the cloud, but want IT to support your business, rather than the other way round, Managed Hosting just might be the option you are looking for. Check out Managed Hosting and other options at HostSearch.com.