What a week! The industry was out in full force at HostingCon 2011, and with speaker sessions from Liam Eagle of the WHIR to Stephen Oakes of the FBI, there was a lot to see and hear. The Leaseweb team came back exhausted but excited about everything that was accomplished during the week. With an interest in forging relationships with other hosting providers in the U.S., the team was out to meet potential partners and customers. And while a Starbuck’s coffee stand at our booth was a draw for many event goers, the roving Leaseweb mini-helicopters attracted a lot of attention, too!
During HostingCon 2011, the Leaseweb team was represented both in the Exhibition hall at our booth and in the Conference sessions by our Security Officer, Alex de Joode, who was a panellist during the session ‘Strong Host Security Policies are Good Business’. If you weren’t able to attend, here’s a recap on the session from The WHIR. A video interview with Alex is also set to follow.
So what were the main learning points from the show? Well, for us there were more than a few:
1. In spite of rapid growth in the market, the hosting industry itself is becoming a tighter community. With increased consolidation among hosting providers it means that peers and even business rivals share common interests and concerns.
2. American and European hosters can get a lot accomplished during the day at a convention and at night during a fun party. Thank you to Parallels and cPanel for two terrific parties – we had a lot of fun!
3. Hosts – both dedicated and managed – are expanding their offerings to meet customer demand. There is more pressure than ever on CDNs and bandwidth, while cloud of course occupied much of the discussion.
4. Quality of service remains a major decision-making factor in choosing a hosting provider, and all players are looking for ways to differentiate themselves in that area.
5. Following updates through Twitter with the event hashtag #HostingCon provided a moment by moment opinions and analysis of the presentations and happenings on the floor. We were addicted to our smartphones.
6. Many quality American hosters are at a critical decision point in setting-up their European hosting platform. (Do we need to state the obvious choice here ;) ?)
7. And finally… never order a large coffee in the U.S.! When Americans say “large”, they really mean it!
The benefits of attending HostingCon 2011 are still being felt through our continued discussions with some of the great representatives we met there. It felt like a whirlwind at the time, but now that the dust is settling we’re excited to keep the dialogue going about what the future holds.
Let us know what you thought of this year’s event by Leaving a comment!