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Outsourcing Web Services: Is It Right For You?
By Don Sussis
May 23, 1999

Post-production involves decisions about keeping your site current and how it will be hosted. As sites scale up, hosting becomes more complicated. Issues such as load balancing (distributing access across servers), redundancy (protection from outages that will put you temporarily out of business), and adding new functionality need to be taken into account. Intel, for example has recently announced that they are starting a new business division which will include several hundred "1000 unit server farms" around the country to host Web sites. Likewise, Sun Microsystems has recently announced that it will go into the "application service business" to help business cope with the constant change necessary to be current.

Today, Web sites must be constantly refreshed. Most people don''t go to the Web for old news and information. They want to see the latest information available in "real time." And they return more often when the contents are up to the minute. This means that your site is never really finished; it constantly needs updating and refreshing. So, this aspect, as it relates to in-house staffing versus outsourced providers, needs to be taken into consideration, too.

Finally, you may want to have your site "metered" so that you can keep track of unique visits, specific "hot areas"(where visits and click throughs are high) versus "dead areas" (where there is little traffic and little return on your investment). Having the correct numbers and, even, an authenticated report from a neutral third party auditor will effect your ability to sell advertising and the rates that you can charge. This is an ideal area for outsourcing, but, of course, there are tools that enable you to do this in-house.

Making the Decision
The amount of outsourcing you decide to do will probably depend on your ambition and the goals you set for your site. There are lots of "do-it yourself" packages on the market to create e-stores. Many of them will meet your needs. However, the more you want to customize your e-business and the more functionality that you want, the more you should consider outsourcing as a sensible way to get the job done. You should not become dependent upon an outsourcer for critical functions, though. For example, if rapid customer support is strategic to your future, you probably want to control that function in-house. In this example, you may decide to test the outsourcing waters by contracting for a site that provides a small, less critical piece of your customer support. If the trial is successful and the Web site proves to be effective, you can then expand it and bring it in-house.

Above all, remember that outsourcing does not relieve you of the responsibility to manage your Web interests as effectively as you would any other. It is your business, not the service provider''s. And choosing to have many of your site''s features outsourced does not mean that you won''t be able to exercise your creativity, skills, imagination and judgment. It just means that instead of making music as a violin virtuoso, you will be acting as the conductor of a grand orchestra.

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