Jul 25, 2003 : The webhost industry: week review

📅 July 25, 2003 - After a number of weeks leaning heavily in the direction of one type of news or another, this week's Web hosting industry news offered an interesting mix of ideas, including several acquisition-related announcements, several new hosting promotions and news of several hosting companies deploying some of the more prominent hosting automation platforms.
On Monday, NetNation announced that it had finalized a price of US $1.65 per share for its planned merger with Hostway Corporation. According to the terms of the deal, NetNation shareholders were set to receive the $1.65 per share, plus or minus $0.025 per share for each full US $152,000 change in NetNation's cash from March 31, 2003 to June 30, 2003. As of June 30, NetNation's cash position had not changed by the full $152,000, and the final consideration remained the same.
On Tuesday, InDigiNet Inc. announced that it had issued a letter of intent to purchase Web site design and hosting company C2C Exchange Inc. through a merger for restricted stock. The companies have been in negotiation for several weeks. InDigiNet says the acquisition is an important one for the company, expanding its resources for serving the SME marketplace.
And on Wednesday, Keynote Systems announced that it had acquired Streamcheck, a Toronto-based provider of streaming media quality measurement. Keynote says the Streamcheck service will be integrated into Keynote's family of measurement services and re-launched this fall as Streaming Perspective 3.0. The companies will also integrate their measurement infrastructure in order to further extend global coverage.
In addition to the acquisitions news, several companies providing popular automation software platforms to the hosting business announced that new hosting companies had standardized on their platforms.
On Tuesday, Sphera announced that VIA Net.WORKS USA had deployed Sphera's HostingBusiness Suite and migrated its customer base to the Sphera platform. VIA USA, which provides shared and dedicated server environments in both Windows and Linux platforms, also said it will use Sphera's ResellerDirector module to provide value-added services to its community of reseller partners.
And on Thursday, Ensim Corporation announced on Wednesday that dedicated hosting provider HostMySite.com has standardized on Ensim control panels for the Linux platform and is now exclusively offering Ensim's WEBppliance Pro and WEBppliance Basic to its customers. HostMySite says that, while its dedicated server customers have access to install any control panel they choose, the company picked WEBppliance Pro and WEBppliance Basic because both products offer superior functionality, scalability and ease of use.
Finally, along with the acquisitions and new automation platform deployments, several hosting companies announced this week that they had introduced new customer promotions, many of which have popped up in the wake of some high-profile departures from the hosting business.
On Thursday, ServerVault announced that it had introduced its Security Blanket promotion, a special offer designed for companies looking to relocate their managed hosting services from distressed providers. Through the promotion, says ServerVault, customers will receive system and network migration consulting and project management services to ensure a smooth transition to ServerVault's facility. A temporary hosting platform will be set up to eliminate service interruptions during the migration process.
Also on Thursday, NaviSite announced that it had launched a new promotional pricing structure designed for companies looking to relocate to its 11,380 square-foot data center in San Francisco. The promotion applies until July 31, 2003, and bundles a number of services, including an Ethernet Internet connection, DNS for one domain, IP addresses as required, 24/7 customer access and monitoring through a customer portal. The San Francisco announcement follows similar NaviSite promotions in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Important news from the Web hosting industry this week was both widespread and widely varied. Unlike in some recent weeks, when matters such as acquisition have driven squarely to the forefront, this week's news provided a more balanced overview of the hosting business, and an interesting insight into several areas of activity.