Dec 13, 2002 : The webhost industry: week review

📅 December 13, 2002 - Among the most significant stories to come out of the Web hosting industry this week were several announcements by some of the business's biggest players, as well as an entry into the hosting business by one of the Internet's biggest operators.
On Tuesday, Cable & Wireless announced that it hadmade a number of changes to the senior management lineup of its Global division. Starting immediately, C&W Global CEO Don Reed will be based out of the US, where he will support C&W CEO Graham Wallace in dealing with government, regulatory and corporate matters. In addition, director of group strategy and corporate development, Adrian Chamberlain, will take on responsibility for C&W Global, CFO of C&W America Simon Cunningham will report directly to Wallace and CFO Global Donald Muir will report to group finance director David Prince.
And on Thursday, Web hosting leader Interland announced that it would further its mass-market growth strategy with the acquisition of Web site building software company Trellix. The transaction, says Interland, involves $9.75 million in cash and stock plus warrants. The deal furthers a plan announced earlier in the year by Interland to develop a strategy for approaching the underserved small business market.
While some of the largest organizations in hosting made big announcements this week, one of the largest Internet business announced its entry into the hosting business.
On Monday, Yahoo! announced the launch of Yahoo! Web Hosting, designed to meet the needs of small businesses. Using years of experience gained providing services to small businesses and hosting the Internet's most trafficked site, Yahoo! is offering a set of tools and services designed specifically to meet the needs of small businesses. The service is available in three levels, including the Business Starter, Business Standard and Business Professional.
Along with the major business positioning that took place this week among hosting companies, several businesses made big announcements related to financing.
On Tuesday, communications carrier Broadwing announced that it has secured $200 million in financing from investment funds managed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. Taking the form of senior subordinated discount notes due 2009, the funding is contingent on the successful renegotiation of Broadwing's current bank credit facility and other conditions. The company expects to close the deal in the first quarter of 2003.
Also on Tuesday, Web hosting provider Digex Incorporated announced that it had launched Digex Financial Services, an equipment leasing program intended to provide customers with the best hardware terms and financing options. Digex says DFS will provide customers with flexible terms, lower up-front costs, greater capital availability and competitive interest rates.
In addition to the news from Web hosting companies in particular, this week also saw several important announcements from some of the leaders in the hosting automation space.
On Monday, Ensim announced that it has appointed Kanwal Rekhi to the position of chief executive officer. An Internet pioneer, says Ensim, Rekhi helped pioneer the commercialization of the TCP/IP protocol in the 80s. During the 90s, he led Novell's acquisition of the UNIX operating system and served as a board member of Exodus Communications during its rise to prominence.
Also on Monday, Plesk announced that it had introduced a turnkey virtual private server package, combining a 10-domain version of its PSA 5.0 automation platform with the open source Vserver VPS technology for $1,000. Combined with the PSA 5.0 Master, which can manage up to 50 PSA servers, says Plesk, the package is capable of providing functionality comparable to that of considerably more expensive proprietary solutions.
While Cable & Wireless continues to reorganize its operations, a circumstance that will ultimately lead to the availability of a large number of substantial-sized hosting customers in North America, some of the continent's most significant hosting organizations, including Interland and now Yahoo!, continue to tailor their services to serve the seemingly limitless market of small and medium-sized businesses.