Web Hosting News

The January 2008 issue arrived at the WHIR office from the printers today (we sent the files over last week), and while I'm not explicitly, technically there, my understanding is that the new issues are looking good and ready to go. They ought to be arriving in the mailboxes of subscribers shortly, and with this issue it's particularly worth understanding in advance what to expect. As you may already be aware, the January issue is the first of what we intend to be an annual exercise, the Hottest Hosts guide to Web hosting services. Of course the notion of gathering Web hosts or similar service providers is nothing new. I can think of at least one very relevant online example. This particular directory is, to the best of my knowledge, unique to the printed medium, and an interesting extension of the hosting directory ecosystem into a new format. We'll be going to great lengths to put this issue in the hands of new users, particularly those who might be unfamiliar with theWHIR's work. This will be our largest print run ever, and we'll be distributing the issue at events and conferences throughout 2008. As I see it, there are several distinct groups of people for whom the issue is of particular value: Hosting customers or potential hosting customers: Web hosting consumers will find a long list of hosting providers, arranged into a broad set of categories that make finding the solution to a specific need a simple process. Hosting providers, or similar service providers: For hosting providers, the guide provides the obvious vehicle for reaching those readers through their listings. But it puts them on the other side of that transaction, listing many categories of vendor services for Web hosting providers. And it inherently provides a thorough, if not completely exhaustive, portrait of the competition in some of the key areas of the hosting business. Vendors serving Web hosts: They have similar access to a venue for reaching customers in the hosting space, as well as a lengthy listing of possible partners. Companies looking to partner with Web hosts: People seeking to develop business relationships with providers in the hosting space can look to this guide for cues on where and how to contact important providers in the business. While on the one hand, we hope the guide will help introduce some new readers to theWHIR, we hope our existing users will find it a useful tool as well.