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View Full Version : What is the point of a web hoster having an office?


sloth
12-07-2003, 04:51
As above.

I know most of the web hosting companies advertise having an office. But how exactly does an office benefit a webhosting business unless the servers are hosted there. What value added is there to have an office? It is not as if they need an office to meet up with clients.

Sure, some of you might say that having staff in office help with the dispensing of support. But wait, that can be done without an office! On top of that, office hours are essentially 8 - 5 in Singapore. So anyone needing service after that will have to wait for the next day. Or horrors of horrors, wait over a weekend!

Let's compare this with those using home offices. Home offices have the flexibility of admin staff being there virtually all the time. It is after all home. And moreover, they do not need to pay extra for an office space.

So why would a provider with an office be seen as more appetising as compared to a home office provider translating all his savings (rent) into REAL discounts for the enduser?

That goes for virtual offices too. Instead of trying to dishonestly enhance its own image, why dont they take the savings (albeit little) and give it to consumers they claim to care so much about.

NeutralWeb-Al
12-07-2003, 10:31
There are enough corporate clients out there who will absolutely require to give the company a telephone call when things go wrong. So, it would also depend on your target market.


Regards,

Duskette
12-07-2003, 12:09
it projects a much more established image, imo.

DoorKeeper
12-07-2003, 12:58
No doubt the web hosting trade presents the best reasons for not having a real office. Some of the reasons most bigger players still have them:

- Web hosting is not their only business. Some are software houses as well, some are graphics or advertising companies that diversified into web hosting to make use of their IT resources

- Web hosting ++. That is, some do not stop at simple web hosting as we know it. Big boys do a fair bit of systems and software integration, across platforms and different operating systems. So even if they do not host the actual servers in house, they do have labs and development teams within their premises.

Hostings
14-07-2003, 14:22
(1) Home offices might show end-user that there's a possibility of a "one-man-show" company which alot of users fear,
(2) Home offices has a limit in number of directors/staff working, while real offices practically can contain as many people as there can be, in the environment
(3) If you were to discuss some business with a client, if you stay indoors, it's not going to be nice to see clothes and beds around. Offices will at least give you some motivation that you're working, rather than when you're home, sleep and do any other things whenever you like, as you're feeling comfortable.

Marcus Lau
24-07-2003, 07:55
Simple and straight forward, you look more stable and professional. Customers are more secure doing business with you.