Feeding the Churn

WHILE READING the Enterprise Ireland e-business mailing list, I remembered an unfortunate side effect of the Creative Multimedia degree we run at Tipperary Institute. We teach third level students the skills they need to pass themselves off as commercial web developers. Some leave at the end of three years, cobble together a SOHO, get boot sale rates on hardware and software and begin taking in the business. Some of their business deals involve hosting web sites for clients and that's where things can go badly. Because as John McCormac points out, these "small hosters (who are really web developers with a handful of domains and sites hosted) are more likely to use Non-Irish servers" that comprise "the transient element of the market--the one hit wonders. These are typically students who start up hosting and web development services during the Summer break and then, sometimes, go bang as the school work takes priority leaving clients high and dry."

McCormac has studied the field of Irish web hosting for several years. He politely explained to several readers of the EI mailing list "there has been a major shift in recent years and most Irish hosters host on Irish IP space. The top tier of Irish hosters (Hosting365, Blacknight, Novara) all have Irish servers."

In a point made time and again by others involved in the promotion of Irish business, McCormac points out the subtle distinctions an Irish business can achieve by maintaining a presence on a dot.ie domain. Because this subject recurs on professional mailing lists like clockwork, we need to ensure it's a testable area in our multimedia degree programme.

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John McCormac. Eyes on Irish web space.

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