Atlanta-based VIA USA has an ambitious goal: to be the top Web hosting firm for small and medium-sized businesses. That's quite a target in such a competitive field, but managing director Patrick Gaul is taking aim. He talks about outsourcing, self-service, and liking the taste of bread and butter.
Why do you think there's a need for the services that VIA USA provides?
Industrialization of the Internet into an economy in and of itself has created the strong demand for reliable and economic Web hosting services. For a lot of our clients, our services are a critical element of their business plans--where e-commerce is the driving force for revenues. Customers need a service provider that they can trust and rely on.
From smaller Web hosting resellers, to major international pharmaceutical companies, our customers trust us to keep their revenue-critical sites operational all the time. In addition, for most businesses it doesn't make sense to build their own in-house datacenters, where they would have to hire staff and purchase technology; it is a better business decision to outsource to a qualified expert.
Why does the company choose to target the small business market?
There are more small businesses out there than any other kind of business. Small businesses represent huge growth potential for VIA USA. While many of these businesses are small from a revenue standpoint today, they make up for it in volume. In addition, many of these small businesses will outgrow their current Web hosting needs within a year. By attracting customers at the beginning of their business evolution, we hope they will stay with us as their needs grow. The short answer is that we like working with small businesses, they're our bread and butter.
How does the company distinguish itself in such a competitive marketplace?
No matter how you market it, Web hosting is storage space on a server, which is a commodity. If you're just selling the space, you can't be competitive. We only use the best hardware in our datacenter and provide customers with the latest software tools for both Windows and Linux environments. We empower customers to take control of their accounts with self-service account automation and even allow some customers to operate as virtual Web hosting companies through our reseller programs.
What are the largest challenges that you see in providing your services?
Web hosting is a competitive business. We are constantly faced with challenges of providing more cost-effective solutions for our customers, while maintaining our high level of quality and support for these services. Striking a balance between cost and services is an ongoing challenge to continue our reputation for being the answer for Web hosting needs for companies small and large.
At the end of the day, we need to run a profitable business as well--this is an ongoing challenge for any business, especially Web hosting. By offering new services, packaged as comprehensive solutions that are all-inclusive, we hope to enjoy continued growth of our customer base and revenue opportunities.
Do you have anything in the works for the future?
We continue to transform our service offering on a monthly basis. We recently moved our datacenter to a new world class datacenter, giving our customers access to the highest level of reliability available today. We have recently implemented a new hosting platform as well, which has resulted in customers having more control over the way their accounts are managed and giving them easy access to all the tools and support available.
We are empowering our customers with more self-service, improving their customer experience while reducing our support costs. In the future, we will continue to expand our service offerings for all of our customers, giving them access to the latest technologies when they are available and ensuring that their investment with VIA USA is protected.
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