Live Bog: How the Hosting World Prepares for the Small Business Move to the Cloud

The hosting business is going through a shift that could make many providers obsolete or conversely give the smart ones the keys to the kingdom.

It’s very clear why this is the case. Cloud computing is serving as a catalyst for innovation that is just beginning to be felt in all parts of the world. That movement will push deeper as more small businesses see ways to make their work more focused by using services that remove the IT burden from their work.

We’re live blogging this morning from the Parallels Summit, where hosting providers are learning about how to turn their infrastructures into mulit-tenant environments so they may serve this emerging market.

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9:06 a.m. EST: Bloody Mary drinks at the opening keynotes. Yes, Cheers!

That’s a way to get the event started. Jack Zubarev just took the stage. The vice president of marketing for Parallels is reviewing the “technolog sunset curve.”

In 1883, AC v. DC emerged. Today 124 years later, there is a utility ecosystem. In the service vendor world, the ecosytem includes the hardware, infrastructure hosting, Web apps, Web design and resellers.

What’s important. It is not where you are – it is about your core expertise. For example, WordPress is a symbol of excellence in Web apps within the hosting environment. What’s important? The ways the hosting services work with different customers is a matter of how small businesses differ across vertical markets.

9:21 a.m. EST: Zubarev says the short-term priorities for Parallels include:

• Hosted communications
• A broad application and service ecosystem
• The wide variety of infrastructure providers

9:29 a.m. At&T’s Ebrahim Keshavarez is on stage. Keshavarez is responsible for AT&T’s portfolio of small business products.

9:31 a.m. EST: What’s new for Keshavarez is IT-as-a-Service through a multi-tenant face. Other markets he sees as important include communications-as-a-service and infrastructure services.

9:36 a.m. EST: Keshavarez says integrated services will drive adoption. Customers will often seek infrastructure services but they may also want SaaS services, too. That creates a multiplier effect for the hosting providers.

9:40 a.m. EST: The more purchased means more chance to bundle. On top of that, it’s about mobility. AT&T focus is on mobile. He sees two markets. People that want broadband and thoe that also seek additional services from the telcos.

Discuss