Choosing the Right Hosting Firm

Author: Adam Singleton
When it comes to big businesses, the more finely-oiled the machine, the better things run. It's as simple as that - and the same for any business, no matter what size. It's because of this need for smooth running, however, that many businesses won't want to mess around when it comes to choosing their hosting provider.

Many companies find the idea of outsourcing something of a necessary evil. When you can't do the job yourself, get someone else to do it - a concept that is fine with most managers, but it's the thought of handing over some of the control to an external company that can make them hesitate.

Many IT decision-makers like to believe they're in full control of their departments and oversee every operation, therefore are able to catch any possible slip-ups and mistakes hopefully before they happen. By handing such responsibilities over to a hosting company, that control is lost and managers are left feeling a little helpless.

However, if outsourcing is a necessary evil, then it's important to choose a company that you feel you can trust when it comes to finding the perfect hosting firm for your needs. This rings especially true if you are a large business that has a lot that it will need to be processed by the hosting company: when a great deal of data, apps and software is on the table then it's crucial to trust the company that is dealing with it.

It stands to reason that most companies who you look at will want your business and therefore are most likely to say they deliver the things you need – uptime, support, expertise etc - but how do you see past the sales talk and find out if they really will deliver on their promises? There are a few simple things you can do to find out. Simply talk to their existing customers, research forums, perhaps look and see if they’ve won awards for service or expertise and finally call them up out of hours and see what response times you get – you’ll be surprised.

Whilst no company is perfect, it will certainly help to see the reality of working with them and decide if it’s the type of company you’d like to partner with.

Once your business is up and running with a trusted hosting company, you may even discover that outsourcing turns out not to be a necessary evil but an excellent way to save money and time.