Sitepak Eyes SMB VARs

The Onsite Hosting Controller (OHC) software platform, aimed at companies serving small and midsize businesses, gives solution providers the ability to create custom Web hosting packages from a central console.

OHC is housed in carrier and ISP data centers. Solution providers use OHC's Web-based console to create a hosted Web site account for customers, designating disk space remotely, setting the number of e-mail accounts a customer has, or adding e-commerce, for example. The services offered to resellers varies depending on the telco's or ISP's Web hosting offerings.

The platform is a standards-based system and is compatible with Sun Solaris, Linux, Microsoft Windows and Unix, eliminating the need to migrate to new hardware, said Sitepak CTO Francois Belanger.

"Resellers create their own packages under their own brand, and they don't have to manage the servers because the telcos and ISPs take care of that," he said. "It's an out-of-the-box solution that was designed not just for Webmasters, but for any person in a business."

The solution is designed for small and midsize companies with an easy-to-use interface that takes routine tasks such as site updates and address changes out of the hands of the solution provider and makes them the responsibility of the end user, he said.

LDMI, a Hamtramck, Mich.-based telecommunications company that offers voice, data, Web hosting and managed services, is currently seeking agents and resellers to private-label its Web hosting services delivered via Sitepak's solution.

"With the relaunch of our Web hosting services using OHC, we are going to be aggressively pursuing agents and resellers as the primary sale channel for this solution," said Joe Ross, product manager at LDMI. "We want to work with them in many ways to bundle our connectivity services with Web hosting or have them create their own branded Web hosting offering using our services and infrastructure."

From the central console, solution providers can build several different packages from a basic site with minimal disk space, for example, to more sophisticated sites with shopping carts and shared address books. "OHC really puts the reseller in control," Ross said.