No web host supplier does it all

Analyst Gartner has picked out AT&T, IBM and BT as top choices for web host suppliers in its Pan-European Web Hosting 2003 report.

Nearly every large original equipment manufacturer and telco makes an appearance in the analyst's 'Magic Quadrant' study, covering firms offering co-location of servers, simple shared and fully managed web hosting.

But Gartner warned that anyone looking to outsource web hosting would probably not find all the necessary components on offer from one single supplier.

AT&T, together with both BT's and IBM's global services divisions, leads the way in vision and ability to execute, with Hewlett Packard Services and Atos Origin bringing up the rear.

Gartner said that AT&T's "investment in management, monitoring and automation systems is reaping rewards" in Europe as well as the US. And despite AT&T's inflexibility on a local scale, its pricing and restructuring make it a persuasive proposition for global clients, the report added.

Superior brand recognition, local market penetration and extending beyond managed web hosting are strong factors for BT Global Services.

But Gartner recommended that clients of the telco "need to negotiate terms and keep BTGS to them".

The same problem was not as relevant to IBM's equivalent division, which scored highest on its ability to execute. But the analyst warned that IBM needs to improve its sales and client support to move ahead.

Gartner criticised challenger Equant for inadequate service level agreements, and EDS, Siemens Business Services and T-Systems, the IT services and global network division of Deutsche Telekom, for their above-average pricing structures.

The report picked out Cable & Wireless, Colt Telecom, MCI and Digex as setting the pace, but said that they lacked scaling-up capabilities and brand definition.

Players like Computer Sciences Corporation, HP, NTT/Verio and Atos Origin lack a complete strategic approach, either because delivery is fragmented by technology or geography or because of an uneven concentration of resources on either smaller or large clients, Gartner said.