A common question we hear from clients, particularly software development clients who have a large IT staff, is “Should we host our website internally?” This is a very valid question and is often based on strategic goals and legitimate concerns.
Why would a company want to host their website internally?
There are a number of reasons a company may want to host their B2B website internally, including:
- Availability of experienced IT resources, such as a technology firm or a software firm
- Concerns over security and threat of security breaches
- A desire to keep strict control over the website and who has access to the website
There are likely other reasons to consider hosting a website internally, but these are the most common reasons we hear from clients.
Recommendations from B2B Website Experts
While the reasons for wanting to host internally are valid, our response and the response of other experts in the field is always “No.” We do not recommend hosting a B2B website internally for a slew of reasons, many of which support the strategic goals of our clients and alleviate their concerns about the website. Let me explain.
Maximize Internal Resources
If you are looking to capitalize on your internal IT resources, we recommend launching new projects related to your service or product offerings rather than branching out into web hosting. Web hosting, while a related field, is specialized and requires a certain expertise. It also takes a significant investment of time, more time than your IT team likely has to spare. Their time is better spent supporting your customer’s needs than your internal team’s needs.
Hosting Security Experts
Although it seems that the best way to secure a website is to host it internally, this is often not the case. By using a reputable hosting company, like Pantheon, you can rest assured that your B2B website is secure and uses the latest best practices and alerts. Additionally, your website will be monitored 24/7 by a team of experts who can quickly address issues or perform required maintenance to avoid security holes. If you were to manage internally, you’d need to set up a system to monitor and respond to issues as fast as possible. Is your IT team prepared to be on call 24/7 to address any website issues in real time?
Maintain Control & Access
Handing over the reins to a web hosting provider does not mean you are handing over access to your B2B website. In reality, you still maintain full control of your website and can restrict access to it as you see fit. The additional benefit of working with a reputable hosting provider is that you can better control updates to the website and can perform testing easily. This is done by setting up a testing site through the hosting provider. All updates, changes, and enhancements are performed on the test site to ensure the functionality isn’t lost, then rolled out to the live site once it is confirmed there won’t be any issues.
Still Not Convinced?
Still not entirely convinced you should work with an external hosting provider for your website? Check out our infographic on Common IT Concerns About New B2B Websites
