White Paper Excerpt: IT Hosting Helps SMBs Compete With Big Business

The Planet announces research showing how an excellent webhost like The Planet can help its SMB customers.

White Paper: How SMBs Can Increase eCommerce Revenue and Decrease IT Costs [July 27, 2007]

In our view, scrimping on the platform will have serious eCommerce revenue implications. Among the most notable to avoid is creating a platform that results in an uninspired shopper. For example, if the functionality does not perform to its potential - through slow responsiveness, jerky video, or voice quality inconsistency - the net result is that shoppers leave the eCommerce site and never return.

To avoid this scenario, companies today must have world-class Internet-connected data center and web servers. To attain world-class, multiple components must be in place. Lacking any one of these jeopardizes eCommerce potential.

• Redundant and highly scalable Web servers—Accommodates all instances of peak visitations and minimizes the risk of server downtime.
  
  
• Physical and cyber security—Protects the eCommerce platform and customers' personal information (e.g., credit card numbers) from disruption and theft, respectively.
  
  
• Wideband and redundant access between the data center and the Internet—Access congestion directly correlates to slow response times and a poor shopping experience. Furthermore, as richer media is added to the site, higher bandwidth levels are essential.
  
  
• Data center utilities—Air conditioning, heating and electrical power are as essential as the web servers themselves. Failures in these systems are catastrophic to the health of any business.
  
  
• Around-the-clock administration—Without flawless operations and expert insight, none of the preceding points are meaningful. This flawless execution is the benchmark of next generation eCommerce and anything less will degrade eCommerce potential and waste the investments in next-generation eCommerce functionality.

The good news is that the cost of these platform components does not have to be a barrier to next generation eCommerce and the benefits it can deliver to the retailer: more revenue and improved customer loyalty. From our analysis, SMBs can reduce their IT costs associated with eCommerce by up to 75% by using a high quality Web Hoster like The Planet versus a do-it-yourself approach of owning and operating these platform components.

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