What are 'Hosted Services' and how they can benefit you!

Matthew Lewis
Aug 4, 2015
2 min read

Hosted services are technology services offered to you or your company by a provider that hosts the physical servers running that service somewhere else. Access to the service is usually provided through a direct network connection that may or may not run via the Internet.

This approach enables customers to consolidate and outsource much of their IT needs for a predictable recurring fee.

An increasing number of businesses are looking for more flexible ways to help them keep up with the latest technologies, with the emphasis on usage value rather than ownership. This explains why hosting, which offers the flexibility to maximise the value of equipment over the life of the agreement, is growing in popularity.

The three main elements of hosted services are software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). In combination, the three elements encompass software and network capacity as well as the equipment used to support operations, including storage, hardware, servers and networking components.

Some examples of hosted services are:

Mailbox and Website Hosting
Accounting Packages such as Pastel Partner, Pastel Evolution or SYSPRO
Dedicated Hosted Microsoft Exchange Mail Server
Custom Applications such as Unified Email management
Hosted Desktops for remote users working from diverse geographical locations

Another example would be a hosted virtual server.

Instead of laying out capital for a Server and having the hassle of maintaining it, a company would rent a Server on a monthly basis at a predictable recurring fee.

The Advantages:

High Availability due to redundancy on Internet Connectivity, Power, Server Hardware, Security, Air-conditioning & Fire-Control
Simplified Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity
Easily and securely accessible from anywhere on the Internet, (multiple branches - let all users work off one central server)
Lower insurance costs
Simplified upgrade path of Hardware & Software
Reduced power consumption, (reduce your carbon footprint)