04 Nov 2008

Hosting makes sense, expert says

It now makes sense for smaller firms to adopt hosted IT solutions, an expert has suggested.

James Gaskin, writing in his blog at ITWorld, noted how email is already lending itself well to hosted solutions, with competition in the market growing as IBM focuses on Linux and is pushing the Lotes Notus programme towards the cloud - seemingly to try and undermine Microsoft's role in the market.

On the overall benefits of hosted solutions, he said they free up time and resources spent on work which would otherwise require up to a few dozen employees.

Firms who adopt hosted IT systems can rely on experts to handle security patches and manage the costs of both hardware and software.

"Hosted services make great sense for smaller businesses. Anything you can do, especially today, to save hassle and save money should be examined carefully," Mr Gaskin added.

Research by the Radicati Group found that companies with onsite email solutions experience between 30 and 60 minutes of unscheduled downtime and an additional 36 to 90 minutes of planned downtime on average each month.