What is the difference between co-located servers and dedicated servers?

When it comes to hosting a Web site, many people are torn between whether to use dedicated server or co-located servers. In fact, many people did not know the difference between the two. There are several differences between co-located servers and dedicated servers and the different functions of each may be a more or less attractive option for the Web site developer. There are many companies offering to their customers using either a dedicated or collocated server and there are several advantages and disadvantages of each type of service. Ultimately, the decision rests with the Developer Web site and their needs for the Web site.

The main difference between a colocated care-server and a dedicated server is the property of the server. With a dedicated, the user is provided with exclusive use of a server that belongs to another entity, usually hosting provider. A co-located belongs to the user and is housed in a space of rental with the servers of many other companies and individuals. In other words, with a dedicated server, you rent it and with a server collocated, you rent space to House it. Each option is more cost-effective than buying and housing on your own server, but there are important differences in what you can and cannot do with the equipment.

With a dedicated server, the individual has exclusive access and can place any software, content or applications on what they want. Web sites that use dedicated servers also have superior reliability and can handle traffic more than sites that are hosted on shared servers. With a dedicated server, all the issues with it are the responsibility of the company that the individual is location, which could be a good thing or bad. One of the biggest disadvantages to a dedicated server is that the individual has only the data on the server, not the server itself, so if they are dissatisfied with the service they are provided, they have little recourse to the expiration of their contract.

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Dedicated hosting Linux - What You Need to Know

Why a Linux dedicated hosting? Well, before that, you have an idea on what is a dedicated server. Well, these are servers on the rent. You can hire one and use it. All, it is not only the service space and e-mail; the whole computer with all its software and operating system. Who has need of them? People who want more control over their server!

Now, what happens in reality is, some people some systems such as servers and place it on the rent. If you rent one, you are the temporary owner. Some of them are Windows-based systems, some are Linux, and some are even free BSD or Solaris. The operating system is Linux, if a dedicated Linux hosting.

Now, why would want someone to a dedicated Linux hosting? Simple to save money! Cost is something that requires special concern. Linux and almost all of the software on a Linux operating system are free. And as the server, Linux is more reliable than other operating systems. Even most Super computers, these days, have Linux as operating system, just because of their enormous power and versatility. If you have a windows hosting, probably you have to pay extra for this. And, most likely, you will have to pay for each of the software that you intend to use, unless it is a freeware. But the freeware windows are not good as compared to Linux. Thus, on windows based hosting, you will have to pay for three things; accommodation, the operating system and Server utility software. Last on a dedicated Linux hosting, both are free of charge.

Now, what support? On Linux, support comes from the vast majority of people. It may be professional support service with a cost or a Linux Wizard free or a user like you who face the same problem, or the support of the community. So far, Linux has the largest community of support. Therefore, if you need any support for your dedicated Linux hosting, you can easily get this free or with a cost of any way you want.

Most dedicated Linux hosting comes with the operating system patch and security update plan. So, even you have to take the hassle of upgrading/apply the patch, whenever there is a new security issue discovered. Hosting service gives you this.

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Social Networking 101 - Web 2.0 And Social Networks

The first thing we need to focus on here is that social networking is NOT something new, nor does it define the recent Web 2.0 craze in any way.

In fact the whole concept of what Web 2.0 really means has been so widely distorted that many marketers and web designers are now using it to help promote products and services that have NOTHING to do with what Web 2.0 really means.

Even the ever popular Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as "a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services (such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies) which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users". You'll notice that the term "perceived" is one of first words used, as much of what we have come to believe is reality is based on our perception, but in truth social networking is far more than that.

To show this Wikipedia further goes on to say; "Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform."

Summing up the last two statements from Wikipedia you'll notice that social networking and the social networks and platforms are not anything new. What is new and what does feed in to the Web 2.0 craze that has recently made many of these social networks so popular is the easy to use platforms that allows the end user access to a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) graphic user interface once they sign up and log in to their favorite social networking websites.

Again the concept here is NOT new. Social networks have existed since the early days of the internet with bulletin boards, which later lead to the early days of what we now call blogging and forums. You could post your message to viewers back then, just as you can now. The difference with social networking today when using the new WYSIWYG platform is that you can now easily add your own images, animations, videos, audios, squeeze pages (for lead generation to build an email list) and polls. Depending on which of social networks that you join the possibilities are stammering compared to the "old way" of social networking online.

To show that social networking and the social networks are not new by any means I have done just a little bit of research to reveal how far back many of these websites go.

MySpace - Registered Feb. 22 1996

Friendster - Registered March 22 2002

FaceBook - Registered March 29 1997

MyYearBook - Registered Nov. 01 2000

Hi5 - Registered June 27 1996

Tagged - Registered July 10 1998

Fubar - Registered Oct. 24 1997

Taking this same concept more in to the Web 2.0 era the social networking website have created a multitude of video oriented social networks, but again this is nothing new.

YouTube - Registered Feb. 15 2005

Badoo - Registered May 26 2003

Bebo - Registered July 15 2003

As you can tell YouTube was NOT the first to start the video social networking niche. While I only have two listed below YouTube in my list about there were several other social networks that also came along well before they did. The one thing that the creators of YouTube did better than any of the others that came before them was to actually TAKE ACTION and use the social networking skills that everyone else was trying to claim they were experts at.

I'm sure that what they did was to research their niche, where they probably learned the same things that I did. Most of the social networking website that were trying to establish their own on-site social networks were NOT just registering their own websites for 1 or 2 years. In fact, many of them are registered at least until 2010. Some of them are registered even further out and have their own servers that are dedicated ONLY to their social networking websites to give the various social networks that are developed a better quality of service.

Why are they doing this you may ask? Because the advertising revenue brought in alone for them is so high that they can't turn away from it. With millions upon millions of people world wide going to their websites 24 hours a day they are making money hand over fist, much the same way that the search engines were long before they came along.

This brings us to another point, let us look at the "big three"; Google, Yahoo! and MSN, which laid the foreground for the social networking websites that came after them. There have been social networks since long before the search engines first decided to set up their "groups", but taking people off of bulletin boards and bringing them in to the mainstream where here were literally millions of visitors daily was a no brainer. The transition was easily predictable, but again this goes back to what I've been saying all along. Social networking, social networks and what we have come to know as Web 2.0 are nothing new.

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Moving to dedicated servers

The vast majority of sites you see on the Internet is actually very low in terms of their data. They are also probably very little traffic. Sites that receive many visitors and are of large size are usually hosted on dedicated servers. If you plan to make the move to a dedicated server, remember that the cost is usually a little higher than it is with virtual or shared hosting. In some cases, the installation and maintenance procedures can be much more complex, more, according to the host control panel provides.

Dedicated server is that houses only those whole site resources are dedicated to the needs of this web site. These servers are also those that the client has the most control on. Most often, these servers are bare-bones and you will be offered the option to put in place however best suits your needs. For some people, it is liberating. For others, it has enough complexity that they cannot handle the task themselves. A huge factor how this meets, this is what type of accommodation you choose.

Linux hosting and Windows hosting are the two most common options that you will find at the web hosters. Linux is an open-source server and the desktop operating system computer with a lot of free programs available for it. It is a very common and established choice for web servers. Windows is the well known operating system which led most of the computers in Office and servers in the world. It has a multitude of products and support. Most of these products, however, costs money, unlike those used on the system Linux, which is mainly free to use, distribute and modify as you like.

When you are hunting around a cheap accommodation, keep in mind the cost of the operating system that you choose to use. In some cases, Linux can save money because of the availability of free software. If you have a very experienced staff for Windows, however, it can save money to keep the software server as familiar to them as possible. In both cases, you can save even more money by going to a host that offers excellent tech support and which offers you lots of bandwidth for your site. These costs can be significant in cases where the service is missing.

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Difference Between Web Application and Website

Websites are usually referred to as a group of all files in a meticulous folder and sub folders. Files like word documents, text files, images etc are the elements of the website that are stored in a detailed folder. You will not find any project file produced routinely. It is required to supervise all the accessible files incorporating source files to the server. During the run time, these files have to be compiled dynamically. You also require to know that in order to generate a website, it is a must to develop the menu File > New > Website. Other than that, you will also be offered with an option to choose either file System, Http or FTP.

The first option facilitates the person to opt for a folder to store all the files, but the other substitute lets one to choose a virtual directory in order to put the files. The concluding favorite is to select an ftp location. Even the visual studio will maintain all the files in one folder that is dedicated to a website, due to which no single assembly will be shaped. There will also be no "Bin" folder. It is actually advantageous as there is no need to have a project file or virtual directory while breach a project. This model is actually practical throughout the time of sharing or downloading code from the net. All that you require to do is copy the downloaded code into a folder. Microsoft came up with this concept thinking that it will be useful for the development team.

Coming to web application, originally the development community did not give connotation to numerous accessible web based applications that enabled the individuals to contentedly access the "project" based application. The reason at the back of the failure of the model was because many unnecessary files were put in frequent web applications under the website folder. As the demand for the newer version was needed, Microsoft introduced "Visual Studio 2005 Web Application Projects" on April 7, 2006. It was an Add-On to Visual Studio 2005 that helped people to create and operate web applications in a manner that was used in the Visual Studio 2003.

There is no major difference in the Visual Studio 2005 Web Application Project and the Visual Studio.NET 2003 Web Project because the previous model makes use of the same project, assemble and compilation method as that of the latter model. Later, the code files that are produced during the project are collected in a single assembly, which is created and copied in the Bin directory. Finally, these files are classified in a project file because if the files are accessible within the web's file-system root are not distinct in the project file, then they are not regarded as a part of the web project.

Web applications are popular due to the seeming to be of web browsers, and the expediency of using a web browser as a client, sometimes called a thin client. The capability to update and preserve web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers is a key reason for their popularity, as is the inbuilt support for cross-platform compatibility. Common web applications contain webmail, online retail sales, online auctions, wikis and many other functions.

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VPS Hosting

A virtual private server (VPS) is a method of splitting a server. Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting is the future of web hosting. Each virtual server can run its own operating system in its own right, and each server can be rebooted independently.The practice of partitioning a single server so that it appears that multiple servers has long been common practice in mainframe computers, but has seen resurgence lately with the development of virtualization software and technologies for other architectures. Virtual private servers bridge the gap between web hosting services and dedicated shared hosting, giving independence from other customers of the VPS service in software terms but at less cost than a physical dedicated server. As a VPS runs its own copy of its operating system, customers have superuser-level access for this instance of the operating system and can install almost any software that runs on the operating system. Virtual Private Servers are ideal for those seeking total control of their server in a secure environment. The nodes of powerful features quad core, the whole root / administrator access, equipped with all FFMpeg & Red5 Modules, powered by cPanel & centos linux.

ServerGuard Security is a security suite and optimization of powerful exclusive with five main objectives - to harden and increase server security, prevent spam and intrusions, increase availability and reliability of the server, improve and optimize server performance and improve the overall health system.

cPanel WHM panel is a management tool complete server. With cPanel WHM, you will be able to do anything for the management of disk quota and bandwidth of your account, set up email, mysql databases and security installation and other software.cPanel allows you to easily manage your server and customize it to your exact needs. It has the complete administration interface server. It is fully customizable & scalable. It also includes separate server administrator, dealer and owner of the domain of interfaces. A user can host unlimited domains per server. Automatic updates to the server is also a functionality. Domain management, email, databases, backups are essential features that are included in VPS hosting. A user can set quota limits for disk space and bandwidth. A user is provided with free analytics stats, virus scanner and game servers Free Webmail, FTP and DNS are also certain characteristics.

Fantastico is the software auto-installer leader in the lodging industry. Fantastico integrates with cPanel and gives you the ability to install multiple instances of a script, you and your clients web hosting. One-Click installation of Blogs, forums, galleries, wiki, CMS and much more is available in fantastico. A user can update and manage blogs, forums, galleries and much more with a click. A user can install multiple instances dozens of scripts where ever and whenever.

Virtuozzo Power Panel is another management tool specially designed easy to use for your virtual dedicated server. You now have an additional way to control your virtual dedicated server, even when offline. If it's down, manage resources and view logs of your server, you can restart your server. Features include - start, stop, or restart your virtual dedicated server, for the current resource consumption and resource use of alerts, view system alerts and be notified on site and change the root password & view logs of server.

Red5 & Flash Modules are installed on demand for all our servers. Red5 hosting is a free implementation of a Flash Media Server based on protocol engineering. It supports streaming and audio / video recording, publishing workflow, live and Flash remoting and you can start your own website video streaming live. Features include - FFmpeg, Mplayer, mencoder, FFmpeg-PHP flvtool2 and all preinstalled, fully compatible with clipshare, PHPmotion, and other VideoShare Clones youtube, instant installation & installation of PHPmotion & Red5 Modules exclusively at HostV, php4 & php5 preinstalled with libogg, libvorbis and lame mp3 encoder, setup script video (VSI) included, Red5 is an open source Java implementation of a free Flash Media Server and Red5 supports streaming and recording of audio / video, live stream publishing and Flash remoting.

Instant Server is a backup solution for enterprise data protection technology to R1Soft Continuous Data. Instant backup server automatically each server & hosting relies entirely on a daily basis with multiple restore points. The backups are then compressed, encrypted and securely stored on servers in physically separate backup storage. Features - daily full backups & incremental backups up to two weeks, multiple restore points for previous 7 days, restore any file, email, database or even to complete your account at any time by contacting us, RAID protectedservers, data storage enterprise, High Performance - Server snapshot results in minimal impact on performance during daily backups, bare-metal disaster recovery: Restore servers directly from backup disqueCryptage end-to-end backups.Backups are compressed and stored securely on servers in physically separate backup storage.

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Eve online tips

EVE Online is a great game, with hundreds of thousands of players and more than thirty thousand of them connected to the same server (the tranquility or serenity) at the same time. The knowledge base accumulated EVE player community is enormous, with hundreds of articles of advice.

One of the best places to seek the advice of EVE Online is on the Wiki of EVE Online. This source of advice has more than 2,000 articles on EVE written by players for players, at all levels of jurisdiction, with some articles written by individuals in beta testing on Singularity test server. This means that it is one of the best sources out there for the upcoming changes to the game.

To enjoy maximum your Eve councils, just like in the other MMOS, to join a group. If it is a group of collection, or a dedicated company (the equivalent of eve of a Guild in World of Warcraft), a group of old hands can walk you through many helpful tips, such as, where at the mine, where to find pirates hunt for this mission, the best places in market for goods manufactured or processed ores, or even how to clean after the battles for things that owners earlier do need more.

In the search for tips and guides the day before, don't forget to search those from trustworthy sources and make sure you check that they correspond to the current situation of the client (which is the Trinity). Old tricks of EVE Online may be simply inaccurate, and more than a few are flatly contradictory with the way the game is played by the client of the Trinity.

Most of the advice of EVE Online that can be had to focus on the progression of skills, or generation of wealth. Advice of generation of talent will almost always lead you to EVEmon, the guardian of skills. EVE skills accumulate even when you are not playing, but choose the skills to take in which order (based on what you want to be good in the game) is a difficult choice, and there are a lot of tips for people who want to be munchkins combat; There are also helpful advice of EVE Online for those who want to go beyond flight single vessels of whole fleets, turn or whole companies.

The second type of EVE Online tips are on the generation of wealth; most of them spoke of how run mining missions and to make a profit. Missions of mining, except if you are interrupted by a pirate, are boring like all the heck. What makes the automation of exploration (with macro) first missions forage for EVE Online guides useful.

Derek Smithson has written articles on EVE Online ships and free EVE Online which is available, and a number of guides of EVE Online.

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SharePoint Consulting in the development of Sharepoint Server

Need for information is all corners of life. There are left in the corner where the transformation of information is not necessary. So how can think to do business without having a dependency on information? Collection of information contributes to the strategy for the development of enterprise it.

So with this reference, business peak of Microsoft software has launched its language pack to manage the needs of the programming undertaking. Some of these well packaged server languages are:-.

o Office Sharepoint Server 2007

o Windows Sharepoint Services

o Windows Sharepoint Designer 2007

But with the growing number of users of windows platforms, there is a need of a tool that allows to manage the need for the collection of information. This Offshore provider provides the installation of share consulting at a reasonable price and that too in a defined time period. Point of sharing consulting services includes the following:-.

o design Sharepoint Server

o SharePoint Server deployment

o management of Sharepoint Server

Office share point server provides a platform that combines together all data to a location which in fact can be shared, searched, accessed (business documents) and by people who work in the same organization. It is therefore need for the business object that enables the growth of a company in good health.

SharePoint consulting service promising service for the provision of services of high standards and solutions according to the needs of different businesses through the development of a share point. Office SharePoint server 2007, Windows SharePoint Designer 2007 and Windows share point Services are very closely related and constitute the platform very well for share sites.

Office Share point Server 2007 combine together all the people who work in the same organization by the use of blogs and wikis and therefore enabling them to access and share the same information of the company.

Can now be whether the services provided by the share consulting point which plays a vital role for any company or organization irrespective of the size of the organization.

Offshore providers are obsessed with wealth and highly qualified technocrats. If they can be the first choice of any type of business.

Not only the highly dedicated and skilled programmers server, share point, consulting services helps make an impact on the market.

Offshore providers with Consulting services are for deployment, design and management "Office SharePoint server 2007".

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Definition and functions of dedicated servers

The use of a dedicated server is exclusively to the rental and the use of a computer. This includes the use of a web server, related software process, internet connection for suppliers of the company web site. In this case, the main work of the server is to control the amount of traffic. This can be achieved by the host configuration and operation in distance, but the business of the customer. Web companies prefer to using a host on their premises, it saves the internet, security system and network administration costs.

However, there is a server rental options. In this case, the business of the customer may use a specific computer or a specific choice in the various systems available. For this reason, some service providers can enable their customers to buy and install applications in their personal computers, but in the premises of the host. However, this process is known as colocation.

A typical dedicated server will be committed to provide particular memory, hard disk and strips of width space. In this case, what is important, is the number of gigabytes delivered on a monthly basis. In this regard, a few companies offering the application also allows the tenant to do virtual hosting. This aspect to rent equipment to third parties for their own Web sites. This includes the domain name system, e-mail and file transfer protocols, which are the features included in some societies. This is essential in providing easy to use interfaces.

This application works in the basic steps, which includes the client and the service provider. In this case, the use of browsers is take part using the address of the Protocol. The domain name is translated by the domain name server, to form an IP address. The browser is then used on the Protocol in making a decision on how to access the data. The signal will be sent for the information of the particular host. He then later back to the client as a web page in the browser.

Apart from working on the requests made by users to get the data, the host is also the main factor in some cases. In this case, a host will also differentiate various types of files, data and information storage. They are held in ways which may be easily accessible, among many other jobs. The primary determinant of employment is how fast the hosts can sort on the following account.

This aspect can be used to enable complete control of the server. Sharing space on the other hand will be exceeded due to bandwidth. For this reason, most of the websites offers free internet pages.

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The Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing Transaction Systems

Cloud Computing continues to mystify and challenge even the greatest of technically savvy people. Often times when I discuss Cloud Computing with my clients they say "What is a cloud and why would I want to connect to one?"

If you read Wikipedia, I thoroughly enjoyed its attempt to explain "Cloud Computing": "The Cloud Computing Manifesto is a manifesto containing a "public declaration of principles and intentions" for cloud computing providers and vendors."

Although vendors love the term "Cloud Computing" the term itself actually gives us a way to easily explain to smaller and medium size companies that you no longer have to do everything yourself. Some larger companies still believe they can do it better internally than outsourcing to "The Cloud." However, bigger corporations will be forced to look at this as an option to reduce costs.

There are three main events that have occurred over the last two years that have created a type of "Perfect Storm" to causing the explosion of "Cloud Computing":

1) The Economy - which of course has affected almost all Information Technology departments. Some of the larger Fortune 500 companies have already downsized and lost some of their employees with higher salaries and tenure, as a result they also lost Subject Matter Expertise (SMEs) on their core revenue generating applications and systems. This has forced IT Managers responsible for availability of those systems, to survive by leveraging current employees, making them work longer and harder hours to keep the proverbial "lights on". To add to this problem of retaining SMEs, many businesses are very cautious about re-hiring and therefore have opted to take advantage of the mass of people currently looking for work. Many of these businesses are reaping the benefits of lower costs by accepting lower IT contractor rates. Contractor rates have dropped anywhere from 20% to 30% over the last three years, as the unemployed accept lower salaries and rates. This situation has worsened because the unemployed are promised work on three to six months contracts with the promise to be hired. Many companies are using this to their advantage by promising to hire with no intention of doing so. This is called "Try and Buy" in many staffing organizations. This creates greater turnover in many departments and thus less "Subject Matter Expertise."

2) Server Virtualization - The second and probably more important is Server Virtualization. Defined as multiple server environments or "virtual servers" housed on a single piece of physical hardware. Companies like VMwarehave revolutionized the industry and spent the last four to five years explaining ways they can use this technology to reduce start up costs in new application development by virtualizing many of the common server activities, such as email, file and print. Many companies have already completed this cost saving initiative by migrating many of their common platforms to virtualized environments. There are many advantages to server virtualization, but most important, as good as private companies have become at virtualizing, hosting providers have become even better. Cloud computing services now include virtualization, dedicated VMware expertise and the option for "Fully Managed, "Partially Managed" or "Dedicated Virtual" environments for servers and network devices. This allows businesses the flexibility of speed without having to grow the size of their own data center foot prints and IT staff.

3) Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) - In this new economy, there is the need for many businesses with fewer resources to understand how to transact at a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), with ongoing savings. These organizations need to be able to respond fast enough to their customers by still being flexible enough to provide vital and necessary "On Demand" solutions. This has led to greater effort being spent on application development and less on commodity based Infrastructure needs. Areas of Information Technology such as desktop support, help desk, installation of software on computers and network can be automated and outsourced and these are usually the first areas a CIO looks to cut costs.

Cloud computing therefore represents a paradigm shift for business and IT management with two primary attractions:

a) Moving IT off the capital expenditures budget and reclassifying it as a reoccurring monthly operating expense, like a utility. Many offerings come with the ability to price by user and this is often cost justified by reduced IT Infrastructure salaries.

b) Providing small and mid-sized companies with access to the sophisticated, state-of-the-art technology. Small and medium size companies, who are just hearing about virtualization and arriving somewhat late to the game, can now benefit from the lower costs and best practices that have been developed by many providers.

This has opened the door for hosting providers who in the past had to choose whether they offered managed services or just rack space and power. Now the hosting provider can "spin up" standard configurations much faster and more cost effectively. The good ones have already created well scripted methodology and procedures to creating virtualized modular servers, which now can be hosted in "The Cloud". This has created more vendors to offer this as a service.

"The Cloud" therefore simplifies the access to the hosting centers. This represents the connectivity that connects back to employees and potential customers. This can be the Internet, private line (something called MPLS) or site to site Virtual Private Networks (also known as VPN). This was born from the traditional private networks used internally by private organizations and now extends this connectivity to a company's preferred hosted environment. This is now represented as a cloud or the "virtual cloud" because it no longer matters where your user is connected. This connection however needs to be highly available depending on your business needs.

Moving an application to the cloud can be a complex decision which may have significant positive (or negative) impact on your organization. Many providers will list the pros and cons and work with your IT resources to help make sure that your internal infrastructure can either consider or even support the change. While this is a technology implementation, it is more of a business decision about what best fits your organization today and will in the future.

Benefits (Pro's)

There can be many benefits to using "The Cloud" based upon your organizational needs:

If you are Sharing Large Amounts of Data - between several offices, having the data on a virtual server might be beneficial. Web-based applications that can be used seamlessly by people traveling without having to connect back to the office over a virtual private network (VPN) can save a lot of time and frustration. Reduced costs - often "The Cloud" can save you a lot of money, but in order to compare costs you have to be able to understand your own cost per user. The hosting provider will be able to provide you with a cost per user and you will need to understand your staffing costs in the same "units of measure" in order to compare "apples to apples" costs. This means you will need to understand what your costs per user are to say provide an email mailbox. Once this analysis is understood, comparisons can be easily made. Lowered risk to service interruptions with 24/7 monitored systems - since many operations with small staffs cannot watch all applications and devices on a 7 x 24 x 365 basis, cloud hosting centers can provide better monitoring and escalate back to the company for critical events. Faster access to technology solutionswith reduced business risk - the hosting company will be dealing with many different business and can therefore offer great advise on technology solutions that can enhance your business. Access to skilled technical experts across multiple technologies. Single point of accountabilityfor technology infrastructure management & support.

Disadvantages (Con's)

Managing the "Beast" of an Application - in some organizations managing an application with a tremendous amount of data or high input in to the cloud requiring a large amount of output back out to the client or desktop needs to be examined very closely. Remember you still have to pay the price for bandwidth going in and out of the hosting provider to make it cost effective to use. Agility- Some businesses need to take a careful look at the speed of which the chosen hosting provider can turn around an application. For retail companies seasonal peaks always need to be looked at very closely, so that technical staff can be available quickly. An example is "Black Friday" the day after Thanksgiving. The Bigger You are The Harder You Fall - hosting providers offer that unique opportunity to "blame the other guy." As a result, smaller IT staffs and their IT Managers need to work closely with the hosting provider on Service Level Agreements (SLAs). If an IT manager is leaning to heavily on a hosting provider to provide all of their services and in-house talent than they have to negotiate very tight SLAs and be ready to take responsible when the hosting provider cannot turn around service as quickly as possible. In House Technical Talent - Obvious, but needs to said. In-house talent is the corner stone to any great IT organization. Cloud solutions are still very complicated and you need to have at least one person in your organization who knows more about your application than the hosting provider does. Often times this is forgotten, and when you get comfortable with the hosting provider than it is easy to rely on them too much for your core business.

Cloud Computing will continue to mystify even the greatest of senior level executives but what is important to determine before talking with the service providers is how I can reduce costs while adding availability. To do this go in with a plan of what you do well and probe your providers on hosting best practices. Make sure the hosting providers also own their processes and they are not offering it as third party service.

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Wikipedia Page Creation Service

Wikipedia page creation service and a Wikipedia page writing company is a service that is offered to individuals to help them create a wiki page. There are three different types of pages that this service helps with, those are: personal, group, and advanced. The personal and group wiki are free of any fees and are quite simple to get started. Many may ask what a wiki is, it is an online site that allows one to create a page with information that they have collected about whatever topic of their choosing. This site and information is available to anyone who searches and uses the internet.

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that can be edited by any user - although this is a good source of information, a backup reliable source is suggested. Wikipedia page creation service and a Wikipedia page writing company helps build rank for your company or personal information being uploaded on the decided topic and this allows back-links to be created. This is an important step when trying to build up a company or spread knowledge on the internet.

Google has essentially made Wikipedia one of the most popular sites - not only because of the ease of creating a page for the encyclopedia, but this can happen in a very timely fashion as well. Most other encyclopedias may take up to a year to publish the information being input while with a wiki page it is only a matter of inputting the information, then it is ready for use by everyone.

The difficulty level in creating a wiki page is easy, it does not require much time and anyone can do it really. Wikipedia page creation service and Wikipedia page writing company allow this to happen. Planning everything out first is most important. This would entail deciding what sort of features your wiki page will have. The next step would be to choose how you would want to host your wiki page.

You may consider getting your very own server that is dedicated to the wiki page. There are numerous free wiki hosting sites available. Most require something such as apache, php and mysql

Now this is where the Wikipedia page creation service and Wikipedia page writing company really come into play! There are a couple options; this greatly depends on the type of wiki page being created. Wiki engine would need to be downloaded if using one. Next the software and configuration would need to occur. Configuration is an important step and the instructions should be followed very closely. The final step would be to upload any files that you want to be accessed on the wiki page. If the individual does not have an account, one can be created, it is the same as creating an email address.

Next step would be to search for the article or subject you would like to write about. If nothing comes up then wiki does not have anything, one would just enter in the information. If in fact, there is information on the topic, then one can adjust or add to the information that is there. There are a number of articles that are related to this topic that may aid in one creating their own wiki page.

Suggestions for search are, wikis in a nutshell, how to get started with wikis, what is a wiki? - These are all topics that can be easily search to aide in creation. As one can see, wiki page creation service and Wikipedia page writing companies are available to any person who is trying to start a wiki page. It is a helpful and useful tool that should not be looked over.

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Web Hosting Providers and Disk Space

Exactly what is meant when web hosting providers advertise unlimited disk space?

The amount of disk space you have when you host your site or blog should not be taken for granted. Every image, HTML file, database, email message and log file that makes up your website will be calculated as part of your total disk space. As you may have discovered, many hosting companies offer unlimited plans that end up being very inexpensive. You could be wondering how they are able to offer so much for so little. The solution lies in the fact that they are not calculating the actual space you are taking up, but by what number of inodes that you are using. Remember all the images, HTML files, databases, and emails? Every one of them count as 1 inode. That may possibly seem like a draw back, but those files can be of any size.

Just what is an Inode?

From Wikipedia: "Inodes store details about files and folders, which can include file ownership, access mode (read, write, execute permissions), and file type." In other words, it is a lot like the meta-data which is usually associated with photographs. For the benefit of keeping this article short, I will not go into detail about inodes. If you would like to learn more about inodes, I have provided a direct link to the wikipedia page. The link can be found at the end of this article.

Precisely what is my inode limit?

Every website hosting company gives you a maximum number of inodes that can be used. It might vary from as little as 50,000 inodes on up to 300,000 or more inodes per account. This is usually more than you'll ever need. For anyone who is hosting a small to mid sized blog, you should never have to worry about running out of disk space. For all those in search of business web hosting, you'll want to be careful. What most people don't realize is that the inode allocation is applied for everything, including email. If you're a company possessing a relatively small website, but you have lots of email accounts, pay attention to just how many emails you have. If ever you go over your inode limit, you might receive a nasty gram or worse. Typically, the best hosting solution for medium or large sites with lots of email, would be to stick with either the dedicated server or VPS (virtual private server) route. Here you possess more control over the amount of files you can have. Hint: You are only limited by the amount of disk space you pay for.

Going Over Your Hosting Inode Limit

Going over your inode limit may well be a nasty experience. Some web site hosting companies will send an email/letter warning you that you are near to using up your inode limit. For those who fail to act, you could have your account suspended or worse. Others start limiting certain services when you reach a given threshold. Still others will just suspend your account without warning until you remove files. Since I'm sure no one wants their site to go down, this is one thing you do not want happening.

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Hosted SharePoint Services - Key Features and Benefits

Hosted SharePoint services or Microsoft SharePoint Online is essentially an online collaborative tool for businesses to share knowledge, work on documents and to manage important information. Utilising cloud functionality, it creates a single point at which company employees can collaborate on projects, access resources and share ideas, ultimately helping to improve productivity and the output of the workforce.

One of the major benefits of SharePoint is that it is usable by practically everyone in the company. This could be colleagues located in separate departments or even those posted around the world meaning that access to all of the company's resources is always readily available. Equally, the flexibility of SharePoint allows businesses to quickly create satellite offices or incorporate new acquisitions. By avoiding the time and cost of purchasing and implementing servers or deployments, businesses can effectively respond to any new opportunities, no matter where they are in the world.

As with many of the Microsoft products, SharePoint is easily implemented into the majority of business environments as workers are typically used to and comfortable with the Microsoft user experience. Subsequently the amount of time dedicated to training is kept to a minimum.

SharePoint Online allows users to create and manage multiple sites all focused toward different projects, ensuring that only those that require access receive it. These sites act as the repository for all documentation regarding that project, allowing workers to collaboratively undertake the tasks in hand efficiently.

Some of the most useful features for project manager include shared online work spaces, extensive document libraries, standard blog and wiki templates as well as integration with Microsoft Office software. When this is combined with email alerts for document changes and additions, managers can effectively monitor and assess the progress of a project instantly, allowing them to make considered decisions in real time that will benefit the project and more widely, the business.

A clear benefit is that Microsoft takes control of all of the ongoing maintenance and upgrades to the infrastructure. The result being less time and money devoted to infrastructure within the business, and more time spent on achieving company goals and targets.

The adoption of SharePoint in a business brings numerous benefits; increased productivity and effective collaboration are certainly two of the major advantages, whilst reduced infrastructure costs and enhanced project efficiency are also considerable gains.

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Differences Between Linux And Windows

This article will discuss the differences between the Linux and Windows operating software's; we discuss some of the pro's and con's of each system.

Let us first start out with a general overview of the Linux operating system. Linux at its most basic form is a computer kernel. The Kernel is the underlying computer code, used to communicate with hardware, and other system software, it also runs all of the basic functions of the computer.

The Linux Kernel is an operating system, which runs on a wide variety of hardware and for a variety of purposes. Linux is capable of running on devices as simple as a wrist watch, or a cell phone, but it can also run on a home computer using, for example Intel, or AMD processors, and its even capable of running on high end servers using Sun Sparc CPU's or IBM power PC processors. Some Linux distro's can only run one processor, while others can run many at once.

Common uses for Linux include that of a home desktop computing system, or more commonly for a server application, such as use as a web server, or mail server. You can even use Linux as a dedicated firewall to help protect other machines that are on the same network.

A programmer student named Linus Torvalds first made Linux as a variant of the Unix operating system in 1991. Linus Torvalds made Linux open source with the GNU (GPL) (General Public License), so other programmers could download the source code free of charge and alter it any way they see fit. Thousands of coders throughout the world began downloading and altering the source code of Linux, applying patches, and bug fixes, and other improvements, to make the OS better and better. Over the years Linux has gone from a simple text based clone of Unix, to a powerful operating software, with full-featured desktop environments, and unprecedented portability, and a variety of uses. Most of the original Unix code has also been gradually written out of Linux over the years.

As a result of Linux being open source software, there is no one version of Linux; instead there are many different versions or distributions of Linux, that are suited for a variety of different users and task. Some Distributions of Linux include Gentoo, and Slackware, which due to the lack of a complete graphical environment is best, suited for Linux experts, programmers, and other users that know their way around a command prompt. Distributions that lack a graphical environment are best suited for older computers lacking the processing power necessary to process graphics, or for computers performing processor intensive task, where it is desirable to have all of the system resources focused on the task at hand, rather than wasting resources by processing graphics. Other Linux distributions aim at making the computing experience as easy as possible. Distributions such as Ubuntu, or Linspire make Linux far easier to use, by offering full-featured graphical environments that help eliminate the need for a command prompt. Of course the downside of ease of use is less configurability, and wasted system resources on graphics processing. Other distributions such as Suse try to find a common ground between ease of use and configurability.

"Linux has two parts, they include the Kernel mentioned previously, and in most circumstances it will also include a graphical user interface, which runs atop the Kernel" reference #3. In most cases the user will communicate with the computer via the graphical user interface. (ref #6) Some of the more common graphical environments that can run on Linux include the following. The KDE GUI (Graphical user interface). Matthias Ettrich developed KDE in 1996. He wanted a GUI for the Unix desktop that would make all of the applications look and feel alike. He also wanted a desktop environment for Unix that would be easier to use than the ones available at the time. KDE is a free open source project, with millions of coders working on it throughout the world, but it also has some commercial support from companies such as Novell, Troltech, and Mandriva. KDE aims to make an easy to use desktop environment without sacrificing configurability. Windows users might note that KDE has a similar look to Windows. Another popular GUI is (ref #7) GNOME. GNOME puts a heavy emphasis on simplicity, and user ability. Much like KDE GNOME is open source and is free to download. One notable feature of GNOME is the fact that it supports many different languages; GNOME supports over 100 different languages. Gnome is license under the LGPL license (lesser general public license). The license allows applications written for GNOME to use a much wider set of licenses, including some commercial applications. The name GNOME stands for GNU Network object model environment. GNOME's look and feel is similar to that of other desktop environments. Fluxbox is another example of a Linux GUI. With less of an emphasis on ease of use and eye candy, Fluxbox aims to be a very lightweight, and a more efficient user of system resources. The interface has only a taskbar and a menu bar, which is accessed by right clicking over the desktop. Fluxbox is most popular for use with older computers that have a limited abundance of system resources.

Although most Linux distributions offer a graphical environment, to simplify the user experience, they all also offer a way for more technically involved users to directly communicate with the Kernel via a shell or command line. The command line allows you to run the computer without a GUI, by executing commands from a text-based interface. An advantage of using the command prompt is it uses less system resources and enables your computer to focus more of its energy on the task at hand. Examples of commands include the cd command for changing your directory, or the halt command for shutting down your system, or the reboot command for restarting the computer etc.

Now that we are more familiar with the Linux operating system, we can note the many ways in which Linux differs from the worlds most popular OS, Microsoft Windows. From this point forward we will discuss some of the more prominent ways in which Linux deferrers from Windows.

For starters there is only one company that releases a Windows operating system, and that company is Microsoft. All versions of Windows, weather Windows XP Home, Business, or Vista, all updates, security patches, and service patches for Windows comes from Microsoft. With Linux on the other hand there is not one company that releases it. Linux has millions of coders and companies throughout the world, volunteering their time to work on patches, updates, newer versions, and software applications. Although some companies, charge for TECH support, and others charge for their distribution of Linux, by packaging it with non-free software, you will always be able to get the Linux Kernel for free, and you can get full-featured Linux desktops with all the necessary applications for general use, for free as well. The vendors that charge money for their distribution of Linux are also required to release a free version in order to comply with the GPL License agreement. With Microsoft Windows on the other hand you have to pay Microsoft for the software, and you will also have to pay for most of the applications that you will use.

Windows and Linux also differ on TECH support issues. Windows is backed by the Microsoft Corporation, which means that if you have an issue with any of their products the company should resolve it. For example if Microsoft Windows is not working right, then you should be able to call Microsoft and make use of their TECH support to fix the issue. TECH support is usually included with the purchase of the product for a certain amount of time, maybe a two year period, and from there on you may be charged for the service. Although IBM backs their Linux products, for the most part if you use Linux you are on your own. If you have a problem with Ubuntu Linux you cannot call Ubuntu and expect any help. Despite the lack of professional help, you can however receive good TECH advice, from the thousands or millions of Linux forums that are on the web. You ca also get great help from social networking sites such as Myspace, by posting questions in the many Linux groups. You can usually receive responses for your questions in a matter of hours form many qualified people.

Configurability is another key difference between the two operating software's. Although Windows offers its control panel to help users configure the computer to their liking, it does not match the configuring options that Linux provides especially if you are a real TECH savvy user. In Linux the Kernel is open source, so if you have the know how, you can modify it in virtually any way that you see fit. Also Linux offers a variety of Graphical environments to further suit your needs. As mentioned earlier Linux is capable of running full-featured graphical environments like KDE, or more lightweight and resource friendly GUI's like Fluxbox, or Blackbox, to suit users with older computers. There are also versions of Linux that are designed to emulate the Windows look and feel as closely as possible. Distributions such as Linspire are best suited for users that are migrating over from the Windows world. There are also distributions that include no graphical environment at all to better suit users that need to squeeze out all of the computing power that they can get for various computing activities, and for users that are more advanced than others. All of this configurability can be problematic sometimes, as you will have to make a decision on which desktop is right for you, and to make things easier on yourself you will need to only install applications that are native to your distribution and graphical environment.

(ref #1) The cost effectiveness of Linux is another way it separates itself from Windows. For home use Linux is cheap and in most cases completely free, while Windows varies in cost depending on which version you buy. With Linux most of the applications will also be free, however for Windows in the majority of cases you are suppose to pay for the applications. For most cases, with Linux there is no need to enter a product activation key when performing an installation, you are free to install it on as many computers as you'd like. With Windows you are only allowed to install it on one computer and Microsoft uses product activation software to enforce this rule. When installing Window's you must enter a product activation key, which will expire after so many uses. If you wish too, you can purchase Linux from a variety of vendors, which will include a boxed set of CDs, Manuals, and TECH support for around 40-130$. Of course If you purchase a high-end version of Linux used for servers it may cost any where from 400$- 2000$. "In 2002 computer world magazine quoted the chief technology architect at Merrill Lynch in New York, as saying "the cost of running Linux is typically a tenth of the cost of running Unix or Windows alternatively." (ref#1)

(ref #1) Installation of Windows is generally easier, than installing Linux. "With Windows XP there are three main ways to install. There is a clean install, in which you install Windows on a blank hard drive. There is also an upgrade install, in which you start with an older version of Windows and "upgrade" to a newer one. An advantage of upgrading is that all of the files on the older system should remain intact throughout the process. You can also perform a repair install, in which case you are installing the same version of Windows on top of itself in order to fix a damaged version of Windows. There is also a recovery, which Technically is not an install; it is used to restore a copy of Windows back to its factory settings. The disadvantage of recovering Windows is the fact that you will loose all of your data, which resides on the damaged copy of Windows." (ref#1) Also with Windows you can rest assured that your hardware will most likely be supported by the operating software, although this is not much of a problem with Linux you cant be sure if Linux will support all of your hardware. With Linux installation varies greatly from Distro to Distro. You may be presented with a graphical installer or it may be a text-based installer, these variations make Linux a bit more difficult and unpredictable to install than is Windows, (although the difficulty is disappearing). You may perform a clean install of Linux or dual boot it, to co-exist with another operation software. With Linux rather than having to buy an upgrade Cd, you can install updates by downloading and then installing them while your desktop is running. With Linux it is also not necessary to reboot your computer after most upgrades, It is only necessary to reboot after an upgrade to the kernel. It is also possible to run Linux without ever needing to install it on a hard drive; there are many distributions of Linux that will allow you to run it straight off of a live cd. The advantage of this is that you do not need to alter your system in order to try Linux. You can run Linux off of the CD so you do not have to damage your Windows partition. Other advantages include the ability to rescue a broken Linux system. If your Linux computer will not boot, then you may insert a live cd and boot off it, so you can repair the damaged version of Linux. Also you may use a Linux live cd to recover files from a damaged Windows computer that will no longer boot up. Since Linux is capable of reading NTFS files you may copy files form a Windows computer to a USB flash drive or floppy drive etc.

Another major difference between Linux and Windows is the applications that you will use with either OS. Windows includes a much wider abundance of commercially backed applications than does Linux. It is much easier to find the software that you are looking for with Windows than it is with Linux, because so many software vendors make their products compatible with Windows only. With Linux you will for the most part be forced to let go of the familiar applications that you have grown accustomed to with Windows, in favor of lesser-known open source apps that are made for Linux. Applications such as Microsoft office, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Adobe Creative suite, and chat clients such as MSN messenger, do not work natively with Linux. Although with Linux you can get Microsoft office and Adobe creative suite to work using software from codeWeavers called cross Over Office. Instead of using these applications you will need to use Linux apps such as open office, The Gimp Image Editor, The ThunderBird email client, Instead of the MSN messenger you can use the GAIM messenger, and you can use Firefox as your web browser. Also with Linux it can be difficult to install software even if it is made for Linux. This is due to the fact that Linux has so many different versions. Software that is made to install on one version probably will require some configuration in order to install on another version. An example would be if you were trying to install software that was made for the KDE graphical environment, on the GNOME GUI, This app would not easily install on the GNOME GUI, and would require some configuring on your part to successfully install it.

The type of hard ware that Linux and windows runs on also causes them to differ. Linux will run on many different hardware platforms, from Intel and AMD chips, to computers running IBM power Pc processors. Linux will run on the slowest 386 machines to the biggest mainframes on the planet, newer versions of Windows will not run on the same amount of hardware as Linux. Linux can even be configured to run on apples, Ipod's, or smart phones. A disadvantage of Linux is when it comes to using hardware devices such as Printers, Scanners, or Digital camera's. Where as the driver software for these devices will often be easily available for Windows, with Linux you are for the most part left on your own to find drivers for these devices. Most Linux users will find comfort in the fact that drivers for the latest hardware are constantly being written by coders throughout the world and are usually very quickly made available.

(ref #1) One of the most notable differences between the two operating software's is Windows legendary problems with malicious code, known as Viruses and Spy ware. Viruses, Spy-ware and a general lack of security are the biggest problems facing the Windows community. Under Windows Viruses and Spy-ware have the ability to execute themselves with little or no input from the user. This makes guarding against them a constant concern for any Windows user. Windows users are forced to employ third party anti virus software to help limit the possibility of the computer being rendered useless by malicious code. Anti virus software often has the negative side effect of hogging system resources, thus slowing down your entire computer, also most anti virus software requires that you pay a subscription service, and that you constantly download updates in order to stay ahead of the intruders. With Linux on the other hand problems with viruses are practically non-existent, and in reality you do not even need virus protection for your Linux machine. One reason why Viruses and Spy-ware are not a problem for Linux is simply due to the fact that there are far fewer being made for Linux. A more important reason is that running a virus on a Linux machine is more difficult and requires a lot more input from the user. With Windows you may accidentally run and execute a virus, by opening an email attachment, or by double clicking on a file that contains malicious code. However with Linux a virus would need to run in the terminal, which requires the user to give the file execute permissions, and then open it in the terminal. And in order to cause any real damage to the system the user would have to log in as root, by typing a user name and password before running the virus. Foe example to run a virus that is embedded in an email attachment the user would have to, open the attachment, then save it, then right click the file and chose properties form the menu, in properties they can give it execute permissions, they would then be able to open the file in the terminal to run the virus. And even then the user would only be able to damage his or her home folder, all other users data will be left untouched, and all root system files would also remain untouched, because Linux would require a root password to make changes to these files. The only way the user can damage the whole computer would be if he or she logged in as root user by providing the root user name and password to the terminal before running the virus. Unlike Windows in Linux an executable file cannot run automatically, It needs to be given execute permissions manually this significantly improves security. In Linux the only realistic reason you would need virus protection is if you share files with Windows users, and that is to protect them not you, so you are not to accidentally pass a virus to the Windows computer that you are sharing files with.

The above was a general over view of some differences between the Windows operating system, and Linux. To recap we started with the fact that Windows has only one vendor that releases the software, while Linux comes from millions of different coders throughout the world. We also commented on the fact that the Linux Kernel and much of the applications used with it are completely free of charge, where as with windows you are forced to pay for most of the software. Unlike Widows Linux is often lacking in professional Tech support, and Linux users are often left on their own to solve Technical issues. Linux users can either pay for Tech support or rely on the many Linux Forums and groups available on the Internet. Due to the fact that the kernel is open source, Linux has a huge advantage over Windows in configurability. You can configure Linux to run almost any way you see fit by manipulating the Kernel. Installing the Windows Operating software and applications is easier due to the fact that it has a universal installer. Also finding applications for Windows is easier because of its popularity most apps are available for Windows only, and are made easily available. Linux will run on a greater variety of hard ware than does Windows, from mainframe super computers running multiple IBM Power PC Chips, to a small laptop running an AMD processor. And of course the biggest difference in this writer's opinion is the fact that Linux does not suffer from an onslaught of Viruses and other malicious code, unlike Windows which is plagued by countless number of malicious code that can easily destroy your system if not properly guarded against.

In conclusion we will conclude that the Linux OS really is the superior software. Other than a few minor nuisances, linux out performs Windows in most categories. The fact that Linux is more secure is the tipping point, that tilts the scales in the favor of Linux. Windows simply suffers from far to many security vulnerabilities for it to be considered the better over all desktop environment.

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Tips on Writing an Effective Social Media Marketing Request For Proposal (RFP)

About a year ago, I wrote an article with guidelines on writing a website design and development Request for Proposal (RFP), which received a great response. Now I think it's high time to do the same thing for those wishing to engage an agency for Social Media Marketing and other Online Marketing and Advertising consultation and implementation.

Below are my suggestions of how to prepare an RFP for social media projects, retainers and campaigns. I also suggest doing research online and viewing other Request for Proposals to see what works best for your organization. Keep in mind that whatever format you choose will determine not only how long the responses are, but also what type of focus you are looking for from the respondents. Each section of the RFP is outlined below, along with some explanation and suggested questions. Have fun!

Information about your organization and project

Introduction

The purpose of this section is to give a brief overview of the company issuing the RFP and the social media project or desired work relationship between the company and the vendor. Provide as much information as you feel is necessary to allow vendors to prepare an accurate proposal. If you feel that there is certain proprietary or other information that you do not wish to make public, require a Non Disclosure Agreement be signed before receiving that information. This may limit the participation of vendors, but it is oftentimes necessary to protect private information.

1. Company Overview

Organizational history Your business objectives Your company's history using social media or reasons why your organization intends to begin to participate in social media

2. Overview of Project

State the project objectives and how they relate to the business objectives stated above. Explain the type of vendor relationship desired i.e. Project-based, Agency of Record, etc. Explain the current involvement your organization has with social media channels and how they relate to both your organization's primary presence and any related campaigns Explain the social media channels you wish the campaign to involve, unless you are looking for suggestions of which to use, then please specify that to the vendors Explain how the project fits into your overall marketing strategy (online and offline) and if there is another vendor involved in other aspects of your Advertising and Marketing initiatives Explain the measurable outcomes you would like to see Explain the duration of the work - is it a temporary campaign, or an ongoing organizational marketing platform?

3. Overview of Audiences and Stakeholders

List primary audiences for the company, i.e. demographics, psychographics, etc List primary information needs of each audience group Identify if any market or audience research will be necessary in the execution of the campaign

4. Overview of Response

Make it clear the type of response you are looking for: Are you looking for a hypothetical approach, or an explanation of the vendor's process of how they will come to create your campaign. Many times a hypothetical approach is not the best way to approach an RFP process simply because a vendor will be missing several key pieces of information that might negatively affect their ability to propose a specific solution. We suggest looking for more general responses and weighing the effectiveness of past client work heavily

Guidelines for Proposal Preparation

In order to give all qualified vendors a level playing field, it's important to set up an easy to follow schedule for both when your RFP is issued, when and to whom questions are allowed, and when and in what format responses are required Specify the date the RFP was issued (Month, Day, Year). If your RFP is publicly listed, it will help those searching for RFPs on Google or by other methods to find relevant Request for Proposals An optional requirement is to specify that all interested vendors register their intent to submit a proposal by a certain date - usually within 1-2 weeks of the RFP issue. This is a good way to limit the potential number of vendors who respond if you anticipate a large volume of proposals and would rather receive a smaller amount We recommend allowing a question and answer period that ends at least 1 week before the proposal is due. It is up to you whether to allow questions by email, conference call or individual phone calls. We do recommend that you share all the questions (and answers) with all interested vendors in order to keep things as equal as possible. Always specify which format -phone call, email, and to whom these questions should be addressed. We recommend identifying a single person in your organization to be the point of contact. Just make sure vacation schedules, etc don't interfere with this process, and if there is any other reason why the primary point of contact might need to be out of town during the process, specify a secondary point of contact Responses from issuer to be sent by 20XX in the following formats (specify whether electronic submissions, hard copies or both must be either emailed, mailed or hand-delivered) On the basis of the replies to the RFP document, a short list of potential vendors will be selected and this group will be asked to present demonstrations of their capabilities and vision for the project. These meetings will be completed by XXth, 20XX Awarding of the contract to selected Vendor by XXth, 20XX Work to commence by 20XX and to last until (if applicable)

Vendor Questions and Qualifications

The following is a series of questions that, if applicable, we suggest you ask the vendors submitting proposals. Some may not apply, but it is a great idea to get as much of an idea of the vendor's approach and philosophy on social media as possible. Compare the responses both among each other, and to the research and reading that you have done to make sure that the vendor is up to date with the latest thinking and best practices.

COMPANY DETAILS

Company name and parent company name Ownership structure Years in operation Mailing address (headquarters) Other office location(s) Primary phone Fax number Website and blog URL Primary point of contact (name, title, phone and email address) Total number of employees Number of vendor employees whose primary function is social media Current client list with those engaged in social media work identified Percentage of total revenue that is social-media related Three references for social media work including; company name, primary client name, contact details and brief explanation of services provided Any potential conflicts with existing vendor client base and this RFP Senior social media staff bios and links to social media profiles where applicable Please provide a complete list of relevant social media platform and technology partners References from clients currently engaged in social media work with the vendor

CAPABILITIES & EXPERIENCE

List all social media and online marketing capabilities Do you have any proprietary tools or products related to social media? Please list any experience you have with integrating social, paid and/or earned media Is there a specific industry or type of work your firm specializes in? Please list and provide links to primary social media communication channels for your company (i.e.company blog,Twitter account, Facebook group, blogs authored by principals, etc.)

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY

Please outline your social media strategy process Which stakeholder groups do you typically include in a strategy engagement? Describe the final deliverable of a strategy engagement What is your approach to risk management in social media? How do you incorporate existing applications, websites, microsites and newsletter programs into your overall social media strategy? How do you ensure compliance with client legal requirements? Please describe your approach to integrating across client marketing, customer service and corporate communications departments. Please provide an example of your work in this area How do you approach adapting a traditional brand into a two-way dialogue? Please provide a case study of your strategy work that resulted in a social media initiative and the business results achieved

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT & SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

What is your brand/reputation monitoring process (i.e. proprietary tools used, methodology, etc)? What is your opinion on automated sentiment analysis? What technology do you use to assist in online monitoring? How long (on average) between a potential issue being posted online and being flagged to the client? What volume of mentions has your organization handled in the past (e.g. 2,500 mentions per week)? What is your quality assurance process to ensure that the large volumes of data gathered in the monitoring process are handled efficiently and representative of the overall online conversation? Please detail your methodology for handling online crises What services do you provide in support of online crisis management? Please describe the structure of your crisis management team, including bios and relevant experience How do you assess which mentions require immediate responses and which do not? Please outline your general approach to sourcing and responding to comments Please provide a case study detailing your work for the purposes of managing reputation or online crisis management, including outcomes and lessons learned Please include a sample of your monitoring report format and/or a link to appropriate dashboards (specifics should be removed)

METRICS, MEASUREMENT & REPORTING

What methodology do you use for measuring the success of your social media programs for clients? Please provide specific examples based on past work Have you developed any proprietary metrics? How have you applied these for clients? How have you defined Return on Investment (ROI) from a social media perspective in the past? How do you take data points generated from various social media channels and measurement tools and combine to give an objective/comprehensive view? What is your approach to server analytics and community analytics for program measurement? Do you have the capability to measure cost per lead or cost per acquisition? Please provide an example of a project on which you have done so What platforms are you unable to measure accurately, or able to provide only limited measurements from? Please provide a sample of a measurement document or final report (specifics should be removed) What percentage of the budget do you recommend be dedicated to metrics and measurement?

CLIENT EDUCATION & TRAINING

Do you offer social media training services for clients? If yes, what formats are they available in? What internal processes do you have in place to ensure that your staff is kept current on social media innovations and best practices? How do you measure progress and evaluate training effectiveness? How do you recommend that clients keep up to date on the latest social media innovations and best practices?

SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER DIGITAL CHANNELS

What are your design, creative and community management capabilities? What percentage of your staff is dedicated to building and deploying social media solutions versus management and consulting? Please describe your experience with the following platforms and tactics:

- YouTube or similar video sharing sites
- Blogs, Podcasts, Vodcasts, Forums
- Content Management System (CMS)
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- E-mail Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing(SEM)
- Facebook Pages, Apps, API integration
- Mobile application development
- Twitter
- News sharing sites (i.e. Digg, Reddit, etc.)
- Virtual Worlds and Augmented reality
- Photo sharing (i.e. Flickr) and other content sharing sites (i.e. Scribd, Slideshare, Delicious, etc.)
- Social Media press releases(SMPRs)
- Crowdsourcing or Wikis
- Real world events organized via social media (e.g. Tweetups)
- Ratings/Customer service sites (i.e. Yelp, ePinions, etc.)

Please provide examples of social media channel development work completed within the last two years

COMMUNITY AND INFLUENCER OUTREACH (SOCIAL PR)

What is your process for identifying influencers within various social media channels? How do you determine and define "influence?" What is your outreach process for communicating with identified online influencers? What tools and approaches do you use for Influencer Relationship Management? (Third-party, proprietary,etc.) How have you integrated Influencer Outreach with traditional communications and/or marketing campaigns? How do you approach seeding conversations within stakeholder groups? What is your exit strategy with influencers once the initiative is completed? How do you ensure authenticity and transparency when conducting outreach on behalf of a client? Please provide a case study of an online community outreach project

CLIENT SERVICES & PROJECT MANAGEMENT

How is a typical client engagement with your firm structured? How do you structure your account teams? Please outline your internal communication structure. If your account staff is separate from your project management staff, please detail how these teams work together If you are selected to provide social media services, who will be assigned to our business (please provide names, titles and short biographical notes) What percentage of senior staff involvement is structured in to your projects? What role do they play? How are your projects priced? Using an hourly rate? Blended agency rate? If the former, please provide a rate card What change management practices does your agency employ? What reports will be provided to the client in order to communicate project milestones and overall project health? What is the frequency of these reports? What is your process for gathering business requirements?

Writing a Request for Proposal (RFP) is a good first step when considering Online Marketing and Social Media work as it takes thoughtful planning to specify and construct an effective, integrated campaign. A well thought-out, quality RFP is essential to a successful endeavor because it helps you to focus on your goals and exactly how to achieve them.

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