Slide 1: Develop a Successful Virtual Private Server Profit Model
Platform, Plans, and Pricing
Presented by Lou Honick HostMySite.com CEO
Slide 2: Information Summary
Beginning Considerations VPS Platforms Building a Plan Base Pricing & Associated Costs What to Expect
Slide 3: Why Customers Want VPS
Is VPS right for your customers Increased control vs. shared hosting Complete isolation An alternative to a dedicated server without the cost
Slide 4: Market Strategy
Mass market and volume vs. higher end plans Entry point to dedicated hosting Customer acquisition plans
Market to your own customers vs. Market to prospects
Slide 5: VPS Platforms
Choose your VPS technology A brief review of the more popular platforms:
MS Virtual Server Xen VMware Virtuozzo
Slide 6: VPS Platforms
MS Virtual Server
Migration of VEs cause minor downtime Version 2005 R2 supports Linux guest OS
Image Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/overview/vs2005tech.mspx
Slide 7: VPS Platforms
Xen
Allows for "seamless" migration of VEs Each VE OS must be ported to run with Xen
Image Source: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/SRG/netos/papers/2003-xensosp.pdf
Slide 8: VPS Platforms
VMware ESX Server
Allows for migration of VEs without downtime VMware runs it's own OS – VE OSs are installed over the host OS
Image Source: http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/esx/
Slide 9: VPS Platforms
Virtuozzo
Allows for migration of VEs without service interruption Each VE OS links to the host OS
Image Source: http://www.virtuozzo.com/en/products/virtuozzo/linux/
Slide 10: Market Growth
An example: Virtuozzo
Over 60% of Plesk licenses sold are virtualized as compared to less than 30% 12 months ago Rate of Virtuozzo licenses shipped increased 7x from 12 months ago and 50x from 24 months ago Over 20,000 Virtuozzo partitions were sold in Feb 2006 as compared to 10,000 sold in Feb 2005
Source: Serguei Beloussov, SWsoft
Slide 11: Plan Right for Success
Staffing
Plan for the necessary manpower at each step Identify how much staff training is needed
Infrastructure
Assess the state of your current infrastructure How your internal systems are set up determines your plan capabilities Identify new systems to put in place if any
Slide 12: Plan Right for Success
Budget limitations What are the necessities to offer?
Control Panels Spacing
Beta testing strategies
Slide 13: Configuring Your Plans
How many plans are right?
Having several plans gives customers options Consider upsell opportunities Preparing your infrastructure will determine plan constraints
Be aware of…
Server limitations, staff limitations Customer wants and needs
Slide 14: Identify Costs & Set the Price
Infrastructure
Servers and other hardware White box vs. name brand servers
Requirements
Acquiring initial technology software, licenses Plan configurations determine continual software and license costs Resources to prepare, train, and rollout the solution
Slide 15: Identify Costs & Set the Price
Define the parameters of each plan Identify what the real costs are for those plans Beware of falling into the ‘overselling’ trap
Slide 16: What to Expect
The Good
Current customer conversion New market of prospects
The Bad & The Ugly
Growing pains are inevitable Support staff learning curve
Know what can go wrong
What have you learned from other product rollouts?
Slide 17: Topic Review
Planning thoroughly is key Do your research when selecting a platform Understand what your customers want and make sure you can support it Know what costs to expect and how to control them Be prepared to refine as you go
Slide 18: Thank you for attending!
l.honick@hostmysite.com 302.224.3987
