What's the fastest way to get a reliable, high-quality Web site? And the cheapest when all costs are considered? Often, the answer is to outsource your site to a professional Web hosting firm. You continue to create the content, but the hosting service handles the server(s), the backups, the network connections, the 24x7 technical support and the rest of the oh-so-necessary infrastructure.

Outsourcing is the rage, as I pointed out recently in PC Week (see link at justify). But there's a dark side, because many first "marriages" end in divorce. The Internet is so new companies don't know how to find a reliable partner. They get hitched to a dubious supplier and then have to go through the pain, expense and delay of leaving that partner for a new one.

Uncle Jesse to the rescue. Finding the right partner is simply a matter of creating specifications in advance, then finding a service that matches your needs. To get you started, I've listed six questions that should be part of every company's criteria:

1. Disaster recovery: Ask to see the firm's written disaster plan. The single best way to tell if you've found a professional operation.

2. Reporting: The ability to provide sophisticated site statistics is a measure of an outsourcer's finesse.

3. Operational excellence: You don't care how nice the toilet seat feels if the plumbing doesn't work. Ask about: a) hookups to Internet backbone connection points, b) DNS servers, c) hosting farms and d) 24x7 monitoring and technical support.

4. Scalability: Can the service expand immediately if needed?

5. Software options: Can the company support a variety of server suites and SQL databases?

6. Advanced services: Can the company help you with such things as security, multimedia, personalization/customization, electronic commerce or "push" broadcasting?

You'll notice these questions have nothing to do with glitzy graphics or fancy animations or any of the other surface things that often distract first-time Internet publishers. When it comes to Web hosting, you don't care about looks. You can always fix that later. You care about the infrastructure, about safety, reliability and technical expertise-the qualities that guarantee a service will be there when you need it.

So don't hook up with the first Web hosting service that comes along. Create specifications you can use to measure services against each other. It's the only way to find a partner who is truly compatible with your needs.

P.S. Course you don't have to hook up with a Web hosting service. You can stay single. However, it's a tough job to create a truly reliable, commercial-grade site. For those of you who want help with this difficult undertaking, I'll be back in a few days with a roundup of tools, techniques and tips on how to run a superior site.

(by HostShowcase.com)