Market research suggests that 45 per cent of companies running transactional websites don’t actually know where their data and website files are stored, raising concerns about the security of sensitive customer information.
The survey, which samples the views of 164 IT buyers in retail, leisure and hospitality, entertainment, financial services and public sector, also found that 27pc of respondents do not know who their web hosting provider is, whilst 53pc of companies could not give a reason why they had chosen their current provider. Some 16pc of respondents said that the company’s web hosting provider was recommended by their web design agency, whilst 11pc took a recommendation from a colleague.
Furthermore, the research suggested that system downtime and speed of performance are still issues affecting businesses. Indeed, 18pc of respondents had experienced a major outage in the last 12 months, whilst 33pc had found their website to be too slow. Only 11pc of companies had actually changed their hosting provider in the last two years, yet significantly only 35pc of companies said that they are happy with the service from their existing provider. Respondents cited a whole host of reasons as to why they had decided to not change provider in the last two years, such as: provider reduced the cost (4pc); fear of downtime whilst migrating (5pc); fear of permanent data loss (4pc); provider made it too difficult to move (5pc); better the devil you know (6pc); didn’t have time to investigate other providers (6pc). When asked what would be the most important factor if they were considering a change of provider, 62pc of respondents said security of data, 26pc cited cost, whilst 10pc said fast, reactive customer service.
Raj Sukkersudha, Managing Director at Q3 Internet Services, said of the survey: “The research results demonstrate that the average organisation is surprisingly blasé about their choice of web hosting provider – until there is a problem. A significant percentage of companies running transactional websites don’t even know where their data is hosted. Given the sensitivity of much of that data, this is quite alarming. Often the selection process when choosing a hosting partner, particularly for small businesses, comes down to cost; little thought is given to whether the resulting service is appropriate and geared to the company’s specific needs. Alternatively the web hosting service may have been recommended or even brokered by the company’s web design agency, lulling the organisation into a sense of security that may not be warranted.”
According to Sukkersudha, the risk is that a poorly thought-out web hosting decision can cause all sorts of problems down the line, as a business becomes more reliant on its online presence for new leads, or to provide support to its customers. He added: “If the website doesn’t function well, is plagued with performance issues and/or is difficult to update readily, this will reflect badly on the business and have an impact on the customer experience, harming sales. A company’s web presence today is no longer a nice-to-have, it is core to an organisation’s brand and as a result companies cannot leave their web hosting choices to chance.”
For a full copy of the research results, visit: http://go.q3internet.co.uk/q3-research
About Q3 Internet Services
Birmingham based Q3 Internet Services specialises in providing customers with a of internet-based products and services including web hosting, domain names and SSL certificates.For further information, visit – http://www.q3internet.co.uk
