Second Annual Hosting Summit Draws Large Crowd
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Tier 1 Research put on its Second Annual Hosting Transformation Summit on September 19 and 20 this year at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada, the same site as the first convention held in November last year. But it seemed as if that was one of the few things that stayed the same. Keep reading to find out some of what changed.
One of the biggest changes was the number of attendees. Last year’s convention attracted about 100 members interested in learning more about web hosting. This year’s attendee list was 200 strong. Some came from as far away as Japan (Hitachi) and New Zealand (Caledonian Investments). Tier 1 Research expects to do even better next year; it’s planning to attract 500 attendees to its third web hosting convention.
If the convention had a slightly different feel from last year’s, though, it may have been due as much to the growth of the industry represented as to the growth of the event. Indeed, the convention’s growth surely reflects the growth of the web hosting industry. When a major provider like Savvis can make $750 million in revenues in a single year, how can anyone doubt that web hosting has arrived as a significant force on the economic landscape?
I was unable to attend the convention myself, but judging from the busy agenda most of those who made it enjoyed two very full days. The activities actually started on the 18th, the evening before the first full day of panels. There was a networking reception from 6 PM to 8 PM, and a discussion by two analysts on the topic of Net neutrality (more on that in a bit). The agenda on day one covered such topics as hosting in the age of Web 2.0, software as a service (SaaS) hosting, and “How to succeed in e-commerce hosting if you aren’t eBay.” Day two covered hosting success strategies for today and tomorrow, the importance of partnerships in the current hosting environment, and the merger and acquisition climate for web hosting companies.
Next: Net Neutrality and All That >>
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