Agilera: Making E-Business Agile

Agilera's heritage of hosting enterprise solutions goes back to the late 1990's when Ciber Enterprise Outsourcing, a wholly owned Ciber subsidiary, began to manage customer operations, maintenance and support of their ERP systems. Agilera was formed in March 2000 through a joint venture with Ciber, Verio and Centennial Funds. Agilera offers a combination of IT expertise, infrastructure, strategic counsel and e-business fulfillment services to emerging and middle-market companies.

Agilera utilizes Verio's Internet infrastructure, including their data and network control centers and business processing centers, featuring technology from HP, IBM, Compaq, Dell, Cisco, 3Com and Citrix. CIBER offers the resources of 6,000 professionals with successful implementation and integration experience of more than 3,500 enterprise solution projects.

In this joint venture, Verio has invested $30 million and owns 39 percent of the company. Centennial Ventures, a venture capital firm, has invested $15 million and owns 19 percent. CIBER contributed its ASP subsidiary, CIBER Enterprise Outsourcing, representing a 42 percent interest. Agilera is headquartered in Englewood, Colo., which is also home to both CIBER and Verio's worldwide operations.

Agilera has hosting partnerships with vendors of ERP, CRM and e-commerce software, including PeopleSoft/Vantive, Lawson Software, J.D.Edwards, BroadVision, Rightworks, Symix, Frontstep, Commerce One and Ariba. Agilera's knowledge base allows them to provide service solutions and proactive IT counsel. They offer services, such as a "personalized enterprise view" that aggregates in-house and Agilera's hosted applications. Agilera's solutions are delivered via the Internet or virtual private network (VPN). Additional value added services include e-business fulfillment services ranging from distribution and print services, to human resources administration and payroll processing.

The Enterprise View

Agilera offers a browser-based solution that provides a view of each user's applications including enterprise software and legacy systems. The Enterprise View allows users to monitor information within their scope of responsibilities. This browser-based tool (portal) allows users to view personalized data relating to enterprise applications and/or legacy data without launching the actual applications. Should they need to act on the information, they can launch the related application directly from the Enterprise View.

Platform Services

Agilera offers two hosting and application platform services. They are the Extended Enterprise (XE) and Extended Platform (XP) services.

1. Agilera's Extended Enterprise™ (XE)

The Extended Enterprise product offers end-user organizations the ability to extend their current information technology (IT) systems via an ASP model. Customers have the option of sourcing Agilera's menu of enterprise applications along with their existing systems in an integrated interface known as the Enterprise View.

2. Agilera's Extended Platform™ (XP)

Agilera's Extended Platform (XP) offers Independent Software Vendors (ISV), value added resellers (VARS), Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and technology service providers the ability to utilize Agilera's facilities, expertise and network to deliver their applications. The XP product is offered in an OEM, co-branded, and Agilera-branded methods.

Agilera solutions are categorized into four major areas:

1. Global Infrastructure - the core technology components including physical facilities, servers, storage devices.

2. Network Operations - the communications facilities, protocols, processes, and architecture to network both internal and external operations into a seamless computing environment.

3. Application Services - Application solutions such as B2B e-commerce, ERP, CRM, messaging, and other productivity services.

4. The Integration Hub - the Integration Hub provides integration between applications.

Global Infrastructure and Network Operations:

As a joint-venture partner with Verio, Agilera leverages Verio's global network to deliver its enterprise solutions. Verio provides a high capacity national backbone, 24-hour Network Operations Center (NOC) and support services.


Verio offers a Tier One Backbone with over 200 Points of Presence:

The National Network links Agilera's local points of presence to each other and to the key national exchange points - MAE West, MAE East, NY NAP and the Digital Internet Exchange, located in Palo Alto, California. The network features OC12, OC3, and DS3 links, as well as Cisco 12000 series gigabit switch router technology, and Juniper Networks M40 Internet Backbone routers that connect the national exchange points and Agilera access points. Regional networks and carrier class POP facilities connect to one of the access points located in metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Network capacity has been increased to OC12 and OC3 capabilities and additional access points are being added.


Application Hosting Services:

Agilera provides the processing and communication infrastructure required to host applications. This includes data center operations, WAN communications control centers, network operating systems support, hardware and software maintenance (program temporary fixes, bug fixes, release upgrades), and related technical personnel.

On May 17, 2000 Agilera announced the opening of a new, Eastern Operations Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Agilera has plans to open two additional operations centers within the next twelve months. The newest center has direct connectivity to the Verio data centers, allowing Agilera to monitor the service delivery from the application infrastructure across the network into the data center.

Agilera's operations centers combine data center, co-location, network operations, BPO and customer care.


Application Hosting Categories:

* Business-to-Business e-Commerce(B2B)

* Business-to-Consumer e-Commerce (B2C)

* Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

* Supply Chain Management (SCM)

* Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

* Messaging / E-Mail

* Productivity

The Integration Hub:

Agilera has designed its Integration Hub to provide flexibility for client operations. The Hub allows the integration of legacy systems and applications from other vendors. Using the Hub, combined with client customized scripts, an Agilera solution is delivered as an interface on a client's desktop, showing critical views into systems operation. It provides clients with one "clickable" view of the business, based on an individual viewer's job responsibilities.

More Infrastructure Support for CyberCarriers

On May 31, 2000, Lucent Technologies' NetworkCare Professional Services and IBM Global Services announced an alliance to help an emerging group of service providers, called CyberCarriers, deliver next-generation network-based services to enterprises and consumers.

The alliance, combines IBM's expertise in integrated technology solutions, especially data center planning, design, integration and technical support, with Lucent's expertise in planning, design, integration and technical support of complex, carrier-grade network infrastructures.

The announcement is the first step in a CyberCarrier initiative by Lucent Technologies to help ensure design and delivery of end-to-end network and Internet data center solutions for CyberCarriers.

CyberCarriers are service providers who offer a combination of high speed networking and data center services, including servers, storage and network transport, to Application Service Providers, Internet Service Providers, web hosting companies and others. Those companies in turn sell services, such as hosted e-mail or e-commerce to enterprise and residential customers.

Lucent has also developed a CyberCarrier Reference Architecture which defines the network and data center elements required to deliver services. The architecture, a blueprint for building end-to-end CyberCarrier networks, is the framework for the services alliance.

The alliance will draw on the CyberCarrier Reference Architecture in developing customer solutions. The companies will take advantage of multi-vendor products to fulfill customer requirements. Offerings will include these solution areas:

Business Planning Solutions: develop business and technology strategic road maps that help CyberCarriers enter and expand into new businesses, and grow revenues

Platform and Application Management: develop and support platforms and applications that help ensure rapid expansion of markets such as e-commerce, unified messaging and hosting

Engineering Solutions: best practices for selecting and deploying high-performance, high availability solutions in networking hardware, software and transport services in order to speed network applications to market

Security Solutions: security for continuous e-commerce applications, as well as threat monitoring, intrusion detection, and firewall management through 7 x 24 remote security operations

Performance Solutions: desktop-to-server performance assessment services and instrumentation tools to tune data centers and networks to meet Quality of Service (QoS) metrics, service level and application level commitments

Site Operations and Facilities: build, operate and manage CyberCarrier network operations centers, data centers, network facilities and local or remote network maintenance centers to keep a network running at peak performance

Solution Integration: prime contractor project management covering all components of a multi-vendor CyberCarrier solution

Market Impact

Booz Allen & Hamilton, the management and technology consulting firm, estimates CyberCarriers could spend $133 billion on data center and network infrastructure improvements during the next three years, about half of that for professional services.

The IBM and Lucent alliance confirms the Telecom industry's endorsement of the Application Service Provider model. The move to establish infrastructure mechanisms to support data center and network offerings is not new. In February, AT&T announced their "Ecosystem" (see our article: "AT&T's Ecosystem") which offers companies a suite of solutions from AT&T, Cisco, Sun, Hewlett-Packard, EMC and others. In May, MCI announced their "generation d" initiative to help companies develop and enable their "e-capabilities." (see our article: "MCIWorldcom: It's not an age, it's an attitude"). With Lucent, AT&T and MCI offering infrastructure initiatives CyberCarriers have more choices in this evolving market.

Lilly Software Visualizes Its eBusiness Offering, NOW

On October 16, Lilly Software Associates (LSA) (www.lillysoftware.com), a privately held enterprise applications provider for small and medium sized manufacturing and distribution enterprises, announced VISUAL eBusiness version 3.0, the latest release of its online solution designed to help businesses streamline processes, improve productivity and increase efficiencies through the use of Internet technologies.

Simultaneously, Lilly also released VISUAL eBusiness NOW, a new application service provider (ASP) option that should deliver speed, flexibility, and affordability through Web hosting. Version 3.0 supports business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions for both make-to-stock (MTS) and make-to-order (MTO) environments. It is an extension of Lilly's ERP and warehouse management system (WMS) products, allowing manufacturers and distributors to post catalogs and pricing information on the Web. The self-service features of the application allow customers and distribution partners to view pricing, order status, product features, and product availability.

Lilly believes that, with the opportunity to implement the application either through an integrated module within the VISUAL product suite or via Lilly's new ASP option, manufacturers and distributors can easily get started with their e-business initiatives.

This is Part Two of a two-part note discussing Lilly Software's recent announcements. Part One covered the announcements, this part discusses the Market Impact and makes User Recommendations.

Market Impact

For the near future Lilly Software (LSA) will leverage its job shop manufacturing domain expertise, the latest technology and object-oriented architecture, and an established distribution channel to pursue mid-sized manufacturers, distributors and distribution-oriented manufacturers.

In the medium-to-long run, LSA will be broadening its offering out to manufacturers and distributors with mixed mode and make-to-stock (MTS) strategies, and mid market enterprises looking for interoperability with other enterprise applications. To that end, the Lilly has struck an alliance with Viewlocity to facilitate interoperability with other ERP systems.

From the technology standpoint, the company has long supported Microsoft's technologies (COM/DNA, ODBC and Office 2000), with a recent embracing and move to Microsoft .NET architecture framework. Its products support almost all relevant databases (SQL Server, Oracle, and IBM DB2/400) and operational systems (NT, Unix and OS/400) platforms.

Earlier this year, the company launched its portal product, called LSAGateway.com. The offering provides access to the Knowledge Center, a customer-support portal; Education Center, for information on education and training opportunities; Market Place, a place to identify other Lilly users as potential customers, vendors, and business partners; and Collaboration Center, for on-line design collaboration. Therefore, with VISUAL eBusiness as part of its solution, and with ASP/ hosting and integration services, Lilly rounds up an impressive arsenal for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The real strength of VISUAL is its integration across all the functions of a manufacturing enterprise from design, via sell, make, distribute, to after-sales service. The fact that virtually all of LSA's applications have been developed in-house, instead of through multiple acquisitions, might be a significant differentiator in the areas of product consistency and integration. Another reason of Lilly's success is its distribution model, which is based solely on an indirect channel. The channel is comprised of over 500 companies and individuals that sell only Lilly's VISUAL product suite.

Challenges

Nevertheless, Lilly Software will have to address certain challenges in order to continue to thrive in this cutthroat competitive environment and to move up-market. Its market awareness and global presence are still insignificant in spite of the recent international expansion like, e.g., in the UK and the Latin America.

Furthermore, the product shows inferior functionality in realms outside of job-shop manufacturing functionality on the plant level and of distribution, like the 'ivory tower' corporate level financial and human resources capability. Moreover, the product does not currently offer the ability to control repetitive production with rate-based scheduling techniques.

Creating and managing individual work orders is still a requirement; hence, it is not well suited for lean manufacturing/pure repetitive environments. Further, it offers only a limited standard costing method, cost simulation and planning tools compared to what most cost accountants are expecting in a "standard cost" system.

While VISUAL's multi-site and multi-national capabilities have been improving (the product currently supports 8 languages), it still has some limitations in handling distributed manufacturing entities - it requires either a completely centralized set of activities for manufacturing and accounting or a completely decentralized one. As an example, there is no ability to perform some functions like production control on a decentralized basis and then to have centralized order entry and accounts receivable. The product also still requires a single database per one manufacturing entity, and it has not been designed for high transaction volume environments.

On the technology front, while Lilly has embraced the above-mentioned trendy Microsoft technology that promises a building-block approach to application development, and XML-based interconnectivity, its vast majority of customers still run on a fat client two-tier client/server architecture. Migrating these onto new, more advanced product releases and/or continued concurrent support of diverse product architectures will demand duplicated R&D resources.

It is also somewhat intriguing that the company neither has multiple prominent functional and technology partners nor ready-made applications programming interfaces (APIs) to other prominent products, which may indicate insufficient product interconnectivity. The mitigating factor though is the company's decent approach towards not overselling its offering and declining to compete in instances where it does not seem its products fit. However, the company's need to re-deploy the product on a new technology and to deliver the needed functionality for its new desired markets, will demand the continued hefty R&D investment, which may put a significant strain on the company's resources in the long run, particularly if the top line remains flat or possibly even declines.

CIOs Need to Be Held Accountable for Security

While law enforcement agencies chase their tails in an international hacker hunt, hosting providers and eCommerce CIOs have surprisingly escaped the wrath of accountability. Stockholders of Internet companies should be asking who inside their investment holding is responsible and is being held accountable for security. If no one is held accountable, you can be assured that security will continue to be a low priority.

All too often in Internet companies, security is an afterthought. The executive management team chooses not to take enough measures to protect its customers and systems until after a security incident of considerable magnitude has taken place. This consistent pattern of locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen has been going on in Internet companies for years. In fact, it is incredible that many large-scale corporations have experienced significant security violations and have managed to keep these violations from reaching the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Some hosting providers knowingly expose customers on insecure backend networks simply because internally security is not given a high-enough priority. Typically, getting new customers up and running has a lot higher priority than securing old customers. When it comes to provisioning new customers, hosting providers often become neglectful after the honeymoon period is over.

If an Internet company is outsourcing its web hosting to a service provider, a member of the executive management team needs to be held responsible for making sure its service provider has taken due security precautions. If your service provider claims your site is secure, they should not have any qualms about their customers performing audits on them.

For publicly traded companies, when a site goes down due to a security attack, this affects the bottom line.

Fig. 1 Amazon.com Share Valuation Drops after Site Outage due to Security Attack.

Amazon.com has seen steady declines in the valuation of its stock since its site suffered a pro-longed outage due to a Distributed Denial of Service Attack on February 9th. According to the Yankee Group, eBay, Buy.com, E*Trade, and Amazon cumulatively suffered losses in excess of $1 billion in the second week in February when they were hit with what is known as a Distributed Denial of Service attack.

Attorney General, Janet Reno, testifying before a Senate panel, called the challenge of averting cyber-crime "one of the most critical issues that law enforcement has ever faced," the Associated Press reported. Among security professionals, time spent chasing hackers has long been regarded as something that typically never proves worthwhile.

CIOs Need to Be Held Accountable for Security

While law enforcement agencies chase their tails in an international hacker hunt, hosting providers and eCommerce CIOs have surprisingly escaped the wrath of accountability. Stockholders of Internet companies should be asking who inside their investment holding is responsible and is being held accountable for security. If no one is held accountable, you can be assured that security will continue to be a low priority.

All too often in Internet companies, security is an afterthought. The executive management team chooses not to take enough measures to protect its customers and systems until after a security incident of considerable magnitude has taken place. This consistent pattern of locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen has been going on in Internet companies for years. In fact, it is incredible that many large-scale corporations have experienced significant security violations and have managed to keep these violations from reaching the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Some hosting providers knowingly expose customers on insecure backend networks simply because internally security is not given a high-enough priority. Typically, getting new customers up and running has a lot higher priority than securing old customers. When it comes to provisioning new customers, hosting providers often become neglectful after the honeymoon period is over.

If an Internet company is outsourcing its web hosting to a service provider, a member of the executive management team needs to be held responsible for making sure its service provider has taken due security precautions. If your service provider claims your site is secure, they should not have any qualms about their customers performing audits on them.

Fighting Cybercrime on the Internet

This note is based on a presentation on cybercrime by Laura Taylor, TEC Director of Security Research for the E-Gov 2000 Conference sponsored by SAIC on July 10, 2000 at the Washington Convention Center.

Note: Portions of this note are excerpted from the presentation, other parts are explanatory text to relate this information to the Technology community serviced by the TEC web site. Information that was not taken directly from the presentation is in blue.

I am from a company called TEC, or TechnologyEvaluation.Com, a hybrid online destination site and research consulting company in Woburn, Massachusetts and Montreal, Canada. I have been working in the capacity of Director of Security Research at TEC for almost a year. Prior to TEC, I worked as Director of Information Security for CMGi's flagship webhosting company known as Navisite. Prior to that I founded a consulting company called Relevant Technologies, which still exists, and currently I maintain a position on the board. Before that, I was CIO of Schafer Corporation.

At TEC I manage the research of security technologies and vendors, identifying and qualifying key criteria necessary to assist high-level IT decision makers in making best-choice infrastructure investments. As well, I report and analyze current security news events, pointing out how these events affect you, your network, and your organization. As businesses continue putting their web-enabled e-commerce sites, and the jewels of their infrastructure online, the importance of security and privacy is becoming increasingly critical. What I plan on talking about today is "Fighting Cybercrime on the Internet."

My research is supported by 17 years of industry experience in the Information Technology field. There are three primary aspects of cybercrime that I will be talking about today: cyberpedophilia, keeping digital evidence pure, and mitigating white collar cybercrime. The other various security topics that I will touch on will have to do with how processes and procedures can support the management of these three important Information Age Law Enforcement and Public Safety concerns. The various security processes worth understanding include, "What are the basics for managing security in an organization? What security policies do you need? And who should you call to assist you in investigating and reporting cybercrime?"

Lilly Software Visualizes Its eBusiness Offering, NOW

On October 16, Lilly Software Associates (LSA) (www.lillysoftware.com), a privately held enterprise applications provider for small and medium sized manufacturing and distribution enterprises, announced VISUAL eBusiness™ version 3.0, the latest release of its online solution designed to help businesses streamline processes, improve productivity and increase efficiencies through the use of Internet technologies.

Simultaneously, Lilly also released VISUAL eBusiness NOW, a new application service provider (ASP) option that should deliver speed, flexibility, and affordability through Web hosting. Version 3.0 supports business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions for both make-to-stock (MTS) and make-to-order (MTO) environments. It is an extension of Lilly's ERP and warehouse management system (WMS) products, allowing manufacturers and distributors to post catalogs and pricing information on the Web. The self-service features of the application allow customers and distribution partners to view pricing, order status, product features, and product availability.

Lilly believes that, with the opportunity to implement the application either through an integrated module within the VISUAL product suite or via Lilly's new ASP option, manufacturers and distributors can easily get started with their e-business initiatives.

This is Part One of a two-part note discussing Lilly Software's recent announcements. Part Two will discuss the Market Impact of the announcements and make User Recommendations.

Product Details

Lilly Software is offering both a Foundation and an Extended Edition option for VISUAL eBusiness version 3.0. Lilly includes the foundation module with its core functionality in the VISUAL Enterprise product suite. This module provides VISUAL users with the essential features to quickly set up storefronts and allow their customers access to product listings by category, product searches, product pricing, detailed parts specifications and part availability, as well as lists of substitute and cross-selling items.

For manufacturers and distributors who want more advanced features, Lilly Software encourages its users to purchase VISUAL eBusiness Entended Edition. This package complements the Foundation capabilities, allowing companies to further customize their sites and post customer-specific promotional items, identify top-selling items, assign shopping carts and personalize shopping experiences to individual preferences. Other features include enhanced searching capabilities, shipment tracking capability, increased security and an account management option. Extended Edition enables online customers to create multiple wish lists of items, request for quotations (RFQs) and estimates, and provides options for a configurable view and express entry. These features should empower customers by allowing them to control their shopping experience.

With VISUAL eBusiness NOW, companies reportedly receive: (1) the latest release of VISUAL eBusiness software, (2) ASP Web hosting from Lilly Software for their integrated VISUAL eBusiness solution, and (3) bundled consulting services to help them configure the site to their needs. Lilly Software claims to provide the software, the hosting and the consulting for an affordable monthly fee, enabling VISUAL users to jumpstart their e-business strategy at low risk and low cost. VISUAL eBusiness NOW may allow companies to focus on their business while having Lilly Software manage the Web-based application. Manufacturers and distributors have a variety of other hosting options available to them with the VISUAL eBusiness software, including:

* ASP hosting by a Lilly Software Sales Associate Organization

* ASP hosting by an external Internet Service Provider (ISP)

* Internal hosting within their own company site

Lilly cites that by selecting its hosting services, companies should take advantage of secure communications, fully automated virus protection, tape backup procedure, remote file storage, monthly site statistical reporting, usage trend reports and 24/7/365 system support. From its center, Lilly's expert technology staff will maintain company sites, keeping information confidential and safeguarded. The data center pledges to provide high performance server solutions, security detection via redundant, load-balanced firewalls, backup CAT generators with unlimited fuel capacity, strict physical security and reliable environmental controls.

Company Strengths

Although not achieving the growth of the golden late 90s lately, Lilly remains profitable and without a long-term debt, while investing heavily in R&D (33% of revenue) and consequently rounding up a compelling product portfolio for its target market. After almost a decade of serving the small-to-medium end of the discrete manufacturing and distribution market with one of the first Windows-based manufacturing software solution with a graphical metaphor, Lilly has a good handle on what these companies are looking for - a reasonable pricing, software solutions that return results quickly, and rapid implementation timeframes.

Lilly Software's financial success and double-digit revenue growth until recently have been attributable to the understanding of the requirements of SMEs that wish to acquire most of their business applications from a single source. Also positively impacting the sales of its flagship product suite, VISUAL, has been its intuitive graphical user interface (GUI).

LSA's VISUAL Manufacturing suite is a shop floor oriented ERP system with embedded finite scheduling and constraints management in mind. Its advanced planning and scheduling (APS), which is based on concurrent scheduling of materials and capacity, has been patented with the US Patents. Focused on make-to-order (MTO) manufacturing, the product also features strong built-in manufacturing execution system (MES) capabilities.

Another notable difference with VISUAL is the ability to use metrics and tools not found in almost any other ERP system to manage throughput in an orderly way to increase customer service and profit on a period-by-period basis. Consequently, with its intuitive and easy-to-use graphical nature, the VISUAL suite enables companies to capture accurate, real-time data about their plant-level business processes using ERP, E-Business, finite scheduling, MES, Quality Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and WMS capabilities.

The big recent license driver has been VISUAL CRM, part of the VISUAL Manufacturing suite. The product supports marketing campaigns, sales force automation (SFA) tools, product configurator, call center, and customer service functions, and it is fully integrated with the rest of the VISUAL product components. While one can refer to those as basic CRM functions, the SME market should appreciate the native integration. As a result, field service can, e.g., be scheduled from within the core ERP system, which is able to display availability of field service resources and repair parts.

At the beginning of 2001, Lilly introduced VISUAL Jobshop, an integrated manufacturing solution for small, entrepreneurial companies. While the company has been reaching down-market with Jobshop, it has also been attempting to expand up-market by adding capabilities to support multi-site manufacturing and distribution customers. To that end, Lilly features the software that supports the needs of distribution companies with its VISUAL Distribution product. While many peer ERP products support picking and putting away requirements, a vast majority of them do not have the ability to manage an order that might require kitting, assembly, or light manufacturing in the distribution center.

Recently, the company also released VISUAL DCMS, a radio frequency (RF)-enabled warehouse management system (WMS). The primary enhancements focused on expanding lot, serial number, and expiration date tracking capabilities. New functionality also includes support for third-party logistics (3PL) providers.

Another notable new offering is VISUAL TMS (transportation management system), designed to facilitate the shipping process - by bidding rates from multiple carriers, it may significantly reduce the freight cost. Also, customers can track orders' status in an end-to-end fashion - from order management, via the factory plant, to the transportation. The stand-alone nature of the Distribution and WMS products expands the company's opportunity well beyond its manufacturing stronghold.

Hosting Horrors

The development team has spent 3 months night and day to get a beta version of your product ready for testing. The COO wants to know when the customer will be able to see the product. The Venture Capitalist wants to see results for the $3 million they've invested. You just want to get everyone off of your back for 10 minutes. This is not the time to hastily pick a Web Hosting Company.

As an ASP your application is not a standard off the shelf product. Months and possibly years have been spent perfecting how your application operates. ASPs are creating applications that a few years ago would only be found in a LAN environment. These applications have similar components to their LAN brethren, and operate in a similar fashion to their LAN counterparts. It's this uniqueness that can cause problems at the hosting level.

Know what your needs are!

As simple as this statement is, you might be surprised by what actually goes into your application. Think about your needs: server capacity, storage space, multiple NICs and TCP/IP addresses, Firewalls, etc. Think about your application at the processes level and how the different components interact, look at how the different servers work together. Then draw the whole server farm out and document everything. This map and specification sheet will be your guide to the hosting company and a reference for everyone when things go wrong.

The map will also come in handy at the office. I posted a copy on the wall outside my office; it's amazing who refers to it. I knew development would use this map, but a few days ago I caught our Director of Marketing using the diagram to explain our product to someone.

What to look for in a Hosting Company

As critical as it might seem to just get the site up and running, it is best to take your time and research the companies you would like to use. The best place to find out information about Hosting Companies is though their web sites. For obvious reasons, Web Hosting Companies will have plenty of information about their services on tap. The first thing to keep in mind is that this is marketing material; this information should be used as a starting point not as the final place to make your decision.

When you look at the different companies you'll notice similarities. Everyone has secured facilities; they all have backup power sources, and enough bandwidth to play the ultimate game of Half-life with 10,000 of your closest friends. Not to say these are not important issues, but they are so common they should be part of the standard configuration of any hosting facility.

Most hosting companies will have different levels of service depending on your needs. These can range from just rack space and a connection out to the Internet, to where the Hosting Company has full control of the boxes and gives you access on a limited basis.

Consider if you need to get into the box. Does your software need special access to the operating system? If so, then you would want to have root control so that you can make the security setting personally.

Once a box is built, do you need to change anything? If not, then consider using a lower level of service. This is more of a cost savings than anything else; why pay for more service than you need. Check to see if they have specialized products that fit your needs, remember the diagram? Usually if a hosting company has a special service, they are not going to hide it.

As soon as you have a short list of Hosting Companies call them and talk to a sales person. Do they know the company's products? Have they worked with an ASP before? What is their background? Do they work with a project manager? Don't be afraid to ask questions! This person is here for your benefit, not just the Hosting Company.

If the Hosting Company has a facility in your area ask for a tour. During the tour take a good look at the place. Is it well lit, clean; Are the cables in the rack run neatly? Look for consistency in the way the racks are setup. The condition of the facility will tell you a lot about the staff maintaining it. Talk to the system engineers. What are their backgrounds? Do they know your operating system? Are the engineers trained on the latest installation and maintenance procedures?

David vs. Goliath

No, I'm not talking biblical prophecy here. What I mean is do you go with the big established Hosting Company, or the smaller newcomer to the industry? Being a good Web Hosting Company has nothing to do with size. Not to say that the established companies cannot meet your needs.

The best of the Hosting Companies will understand what your needs are, and can provide the resources you need. Remember the ASP industry is only 4 years old. It is still a young industry. We are all trying to figure out how to do things. Don't be afraid to look at what the newer Hosting Companies have to offer. It never hurts to look. You might find exactly what you need from a David.

SLAs and Confidentiality agreements

Service Level Agreements are a way of life for the ASP. We make our customers sign them and we have to sign the Hosting Company's SLA. This is so everyone knows where the boundaries are. But, have you thought about how the hosting Companies SLA would affect your SLA?

I'll give you an example.

In your SLA it says that files can be restored from backup within 4 hours. A major customer calls; the file they downloaded off of your system 3 days ago is corrupt. Your customer has to have this document or it will cost them thousands of dollars. You say sure, not a problem and call the Hosting Company. They say, "Yes Mr. Smith, we will restore that file and we'll let you know as soon as it's done." The time passes and no file, one of your best customers is now threatening to sue. The Hosting Company is saying that the SLA that you signed sates that they will restore a file within 24 hours.

This is just one reason why you should make sure that the Hosting Company's SLA doesn't contradict your SLA. Make sure the Hosting Company can provide the services that you are promising your customers. If they can't, then either look for a Hosting Company that can or think about taking that service out of your SLA.

Make sure you get a signed confidentiality agreement from your Hosting Company. This may seem trivial, but the Intellectual Property could be worth millions. The last thing you want is for some low-level systems engineer to pirate your application and become the next Bill Gates. Your Intellectual Property is the real value of your startup.

What's Next?

Once you've narrowed down your choices. Send a copy of your diagram along with a list of your needs to each sales team. Ask for a detailed breakdown of cost by one-time charges and recurring charges. Your sales person will give your diagram and needs list to a pre-sales engineer to review. Ask how long the turn around time is to receive a quotation.

When you receive all of your quotes, compare them closely. Make sure that each quote covers everything on your list. It seems each hosting company has it's own slang for different items. If there is terminology that you do not understand, ask the sales person to clarify it. It is important to get things figured out now, before anything is installed.

Time to choose

Now for the moment of truth, time for you to pick a hosting company. Ok, you've decided what you need for hosting, and created a diagram. You've visited the sites and received your quotes. If there are differences between the quotes, chart them out and go with the best of the lot. If everything is equal, then flip a coin. Seems simple? Remember, it took me almost two and a half pages to get to this point and I haven't even talked about cost.

Now that you have picked a Hosting Company, it's time to get the financial people involved. Don't kid yourself! A hosted server farm is expensive, One hundred thousand dollars or more to setup and Ten Thousand dollars a month to keep operational. I'm just talking about a small farm of a dozen systems and one location. If you are building a multi-site network with hundreds of boxes, it could cost millions.

Don't panic; remember that it is your job to make sure everything is setup properly. ASP's use cutting edge technology to it's fullest. Unfortunately cutting edge technology costs money. Hopefully lots and lots of customers will share that cost, so that you can make a profit.

After the finance people are through moving bits of paper around you can finally sign the paperwork to install your server farm. Speaking of paperwork, make sure you get a confidentiality agreement signed by the Hosting Company and a copy of the original document signed by all parties involved.

In conclusion

All of this breaks down into the few simple things:

1. Know what your needs are before you start looking.

2. Research Hosting Companies before you make the first call.

3. Ask Questions, it's better to ask a stupid question than to pay to change something later.

4. Eliminate any Hosting Company that doesn't fit your application.

5. Give each Hosting Company a diagram and breakdown of your server farm needs.

6. When the quotes are back compare and question everything.

7. Get copies of all signed documents.

We are a part of a brave new IT world. The applications we are making today will change the way everyone works tomorrow. We are here for the challenges, and with some luck we'll be successful. Good Luck!

Dell Updates Its Appliance Line

Dell Computer Corporation introduced its new line of Dell PowerApp appliance servers as part of Dell's comprehensive Internet infrastructure strategy.

PowerApp appliance servers focus on Web hosting and Internet caching. For Web hosting, PowerApp.web products are dedicated Web servers that include optimized versions of Web hosting software from Microsoft or Red Hat Linux. The PowerApp.web 100 products can be ordered today and will ship in early May.

Optimized Web server software from Microsoft includes Microsoft Windows Powered Web hosting server software, co-developed by Dell and Microsoft, and Microsoft Internet Information Server. Optimized Web server software from Red Hat includes Red Hat Linux and Apache Web server. For Internet caching, PowerApp.cache products are dedicated Internet caching servers that leverage Novell Internet Caching System (ICS) technology. PowerApp.cache 100 and 200 products can be ordered this month and will ship in May 2000.

International Data Corporation, a respected industry consulting firm, forecasts the worldwide appliance server market will grow dramatically, from virtually no market presence in 1998 to an estimated volume of over two million units by 20032.

The 1.75"-high (1U) PowerApp.web 100 for Linux is pre-configured and includes Red Hat Linux 6.2 featuring Apache Web Server 1.3.12, Sendmail, and Piranha load balancer installed. The PowerApp.web 100 for Windows, based on Microsoft's Windows Powered Web hosting server software, includes Internet Information Server 5.0, Microsoft Network Load Balancing Service, and Microsoft Terminal Services for remote administration.

The 1U PowerApp.cache 100 and 2U PowerApp.cache 200 (3.5-inches) appliance servers are pre-configured with Novell's Internet Caching System application stack.

Market Impact

With Dell's new professed focus on Internet infrastructure (II), this announcement comes as no surprise. Dell has been dropping hints about server appliances for months.

Until this point, Dell customers wanting an appliance would have to buy a PowerEdge 1300 with Novell's ICS caching software pre-loaded onto it. Obviously, this was not aimed at Web serving, but at Web users/clients. Although these units functioned adequately, they were clearly not geared toward ISPs or toward companies trying to rackmount a bunch of caching servers. The 1300 was 5U tall, too large for a highly-dense configuration.

Clearly, these products are to be used in trying to gain a major foothold in the non-transactional section of Web infrastructure, with "Transactional" used here to mean the database and "back office" or "back end" of a given Web business. Dell believes that it can translate its success in the general-purpose server market - currently #2 in both U.S. and worldwide (Intel) market share - into a leading II position. Although skills in one area don't necessarily map well into another, we believe Dell's business model combined with its recent alliances give it a better-than-even chance at meeting its goals.

This is also a signal of a more aggressive stance toward Sun Microsystems. Although Dell's offering is not aiming directly at big systems such as Sun's E10000, it believes it can surround the "Big Iron" and bide its time until Windows 2000 is proved to be more robust than Solaris. Of course, we're not holding our breath for that. (Linux is also an option, but Dell is still primarily a Windows shop.)