MCI launches hybrid hosting service

MCI today announced it has begun integrating technology from last year’s acquisition of Digex into its co-location portfolio, creating the first of what MCI said will be many hybrid hosted server-collocation services.

Specifically, MCI launched a managed server monitoring service for customers in its 13 U.S. premium data centers, collocated with its Internet hubs with direct connection into MCI’s IP backbone. While customers will still be in charge of their own equipment and cages, MCI will introduce a software client that monitors any problems on the server, whether hardware or software, and immediately notifies its customers whenever those problems are found. While perhaps not the most significant service MCI has launched since emerging from bankruptcy, MCI officials said it shows that MCI is now fully ready to integrate its and Digex’s separate hosting and collocation platforms.

"MCI’s strategy hasn’t been to balkanize Digex, pushing it off to the side where it would only crave attention," said MCI vice president of hosting services Tom Walton, who came over from Digex. "MCI is integrating the two companies. Digex gains MCI’s reach and footprint while MCI gets Digex’s technology."

Digex still runs its hosting business, now rebranded Enterprise Hosting by Digex, out of its two U.S. smart centers, essentially taking over the application and server management for enterprises and business. MCI found, however, that many of the services Digex offered to fully hosted customers could be applied to MCI’s more bare-boned collocation offering, hence the introduction of server monitoring, Walton said. MCI is now investigating other technologies to migrate over to the collocation side, he added.

While MCI is blurring the distinction between the two, MCI still plans to keep both the collocation and hosting businesses separate, since they target two completely different sets of business customers. MCI projects that hosting will grow from a $6.1 billion market this year to a $10.4 billion market in 2008. With MCI’s global presence, Walton said it could address about 50% of that market.