Some advice for providers

One of my providers here asked me for some feedback, I decided to post my suggestions for everyone's benefit.

My qualifications? A few decades in IT (including hosting, consulting, coding, etc). As it turns out, it appears I have domain names older than some LET members.

And since joining LET a couple of years ago I have had up to almost 40 VPS's simultaneously.

I don't like "shaming" providers (check my post history), though I may name/tag some specifically, it is constructive feedback/criticism, not shaming.

Anyway, here goes; I hope this is received in the spirit intended: to help!

• Don't get sucked in to the "race to the bottom" - charge more for *quality* services if *your* market will sustain it


• Make sure you have the CAPACITY to DEPLOY and SUPPORT in a TIMELY fashion, the offers you make!


• Treat your existing customers just as well as you treat new/prospective customers.


• Keep your services SECURE (Control Panel, Billing System, Data, etc):


• Stay on top of the remedies to vulnerabilities and exploits for the systems you use


• Treat your customers' data as securely as you treat your own


• Don't ask for photocopies of credit cards


• Encrypt data in transit AND data at rest


• Utilize two factor authentication wherever possible


• Utilize lengthy keys or passphrases when possible


• Utilize one-time use/temporary keys when possible


• Don't send login credentials via email


• IPMI should only be available via VPN or control panel, not the general internet

Have a Business Continuity Plan:

• Make routine, SECURE, offsite backups of your data


• Have redundant sites (diverse providers, networks, geographies)


• Consider whether it is really a good idea to host your own website on your own network


• Have hot spares that aren't normally exposed to the internet that you can fire up within minutes

Fix existing problems before posting new offers! As you go about acquiring and absorbing other hosts, fix existing problems before posting new offers! When things go wrong the only posting you should be doing in online forums is communication, status updates, ETA regarding the existing problem rDNS self-service is a double edged sword: Customers *love* this; and so do spammers Focus on monetizing what you do well:

• BlueVM: Feathur


• ChicagoVPS: Your acquistion kung fu is quite good; make your services after the sale (support, uptime) match


• Kihi: KVM in a unique location at a competitive price. Perfect it, market it.


• etc.

It is OK to be a "one man band," just make sure you have coverage when you go on vacation. Read, listen to, and incorporate feedback you receive Be patient: Have a plan. If you are a new business, plan to have enough for 6 to 12 months without any profit. If things aren't working, adjust your strategy within a timely fashion, test, analyze, repeat. Be nice: Not everyone is an expert, some need more help than others; you decided to offer services to the market. If you don't like your clientele, change your offering ....... and your attitude. Also, don't tell everyone to take a hike, declare you are done with LET, and then come back posting offers. If you are going to end the business, plan ahead: give your customers 30, 60, 90 days notice. Do it with class. Your customers deserve at least that. Always, always, always remember in this industry, what goes around comes around; don't burn bridges

Any others?

geekalot

http://ift.tt/1dvHQ0Z