WEB-HOSTING COMPANY SMARTYHOST completed tests of a remote computing facility in March in what is something of a milestone for the global web-hosting industry.

   The facility allows computer technicians to commission and disable data centres - used to house critical computer systems - in real time over the internet without the intervention of a customer service representative.

   What makes the platform unique is that it is fully automated and operates in real time. Technicians can set up using a standard web connection – and soon using a mobile phone – no matter how much data storage capacity, computing power and memory they need, as well as overlaying their choice of operating software.

   The software required to operate it cost $1.5 million over three years to develop, according to SmartyHost managing director Anoosh Manzoori.

   “If we meet out target of 5000 customers within 12 to 18 months, we'll probably spend north of $6 million just on hardware,” he says.
   SmartyHost has paired technical flexibility with a price structure that forges lock in contracts and is cheap compared with rival web hosting plans, Manzoori claims.

   His goal is to tap the corporate sector that needs to scale up and scale down computing capacity depending on temporary peaks and troughs in data traffic – for example, the huge amount of trading that saw the Commonwealth Bank's CommSec website almost grind to a halt on March 1 when overnight falls on the United States and Chinese sharemarkets spooked investors.

   SmartyHost can't claim all the credit for the invention. Its software is laid over the top of virtualisation technology developed by US software firm, VM Ware. The popularity of the technology stems form its ability to increase the average utilization rate of data storage servers form a measly 6 per cent of total capacity to 100 per cent. “There is a huge ecosystem setting up around VM Ware” the managing director of VM Ware Australia , Paul Harapin, says. “We expect to see a lot of activity in the managed services space.”

   This leaves a relatively small window of opportunity for SmatyHost to capatalise on. Asked if he harboured concerns about rivals copying his model, Manzoori says this is unlikely to occur immediately.
”There are two problems for a competitive [web hosting outfit] trying to mimic us. One is the time and risk involved in developing the technology; the other is the erosion and cannibalisation of their traditional revenue line.”

   SmartyHost is still exploring the possibility of an initial public offering this year, a prospect that has been on the cards since late 2005.

   Manzoori founded SmartyHost in 1999 at the age 0f 22, straight out of university. Today, the firm has 20 staff, with plans to hire another six before the end of April. The business has been increasing its customer base by about 15 per cent a year, Manzoori says, thanks largely to a $1 million annual investment in search advertising with Google.