The hosting market has undergone severe consolidation over the past few years, with the major companies now accounting for the bulk of the business. Over the years, several larger companies have entered the space, including hardware manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM, and major carriers such as ATT, MCI, and also Sprint, which announced in mid-2003 that it would exit the business again. The large companies are wielding their strong brands and established customer bases to expand their share of this market. Their goal, of course, is to leverage their cache with the much more profitable corporate clients. But as barriers to entry are not that high in this segment—setting up a hosting operation requires only a few servers and fast connections to the Internet backbone—this market is seeing a constant ebb and flow of smaller companies, engaged in a cut-throat competition for the less profitable small business and personal Web site market. Critical success factors for large hosting companies include the ability to form profitable relations with those organizations that need to host content, and the ability to compete with small contenders on price. WASPs must forge alliances with application developers whose packages are likely to emerge as the winners in a still-evolving marketplace.

Technology Enablers
The second orbit around the end-user at the center of the Wireless Value Web contains the segment we call technology enablers. Technology enablers, as illustrated in Figure 6.5, provide the products and services that enable, facilitate, or enhance customers accessing content via wireless networks. In contrast to the hardware and software providers mentioned within the first orbit of the web, the companies covered in this segment contribute offerings to the network that are not directly handled by the consumer, but instead operate out of sight and out of touch.

Taken From : Enterprise Guide to Gaining Business Value from Mobile Technologies

Filed under: Generate Money

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