Tech Question For the Brokers here :)

jessiesc · 03:34 PM

I have a multi part blog I've written about setting up a website. It is primarily aimed at brokers/agents who are not tech savvy or are not sure where to start (obviously no one here falls into that category

).

Anyway, I've received a few comments from a techy and I'd like some points of view mostly from office owning Brokers, however if you are an agent or anyone with experience in this matter, feel free to comment.

The category is: Building an I.T. infrastructure for your business.

Let me clarify:

I am writing about setting up a first time website and offer suggestions on finding a host as well as whole lot of other topics (it's a multi part blog, about 10 or so chapters). Along comes a comment, stating that instead of having a 3rd party host, small businesses should invest in their own hosting facility and develop an I.T. infrastructure to host their own website, develop and maintain it and build the entire backend processes and support it.

Now, IMO that is not only way beyond the scope/finances of the average agent (not to mention my blog subject matter), but also financially beyond the means of most RE offices.

My estimate of setting this type of environment up today runs between $50k-$100k based on variables of features, HW and SW etc. with ongoing costs of at least $50k/yr (believe me, these estimates are my very bottom estimates).

The argument is that ms small business solutions are affordable to RE offices to host their own websites.

I completely disagree with this outlook for many reasons but here are a few:

Hardware and Software costs while affordable are still very expensive from an ROI perspective
Development Costs are prohibitive for a small business to develop customized sites and processes which include Database and backend processing
RE offices have enough to do in todays market maintaining their business without having to become I.T. professionals to maintain this new infrastructure. Therefore, hiring an I.T. pro, is an additional cost factor.

Those are just a few of my arguments (my list is actually quite a bit longer) against a small office building a web hosting infrastructure.

Now I'm not saying it is not a good idea/sound business decision for a prosperous office to build their own infrastructure. But I believe for the average office in todays market, it is well beyond their means and scope of business to build a web hosting infrastructure with custom web development, backend processing, Contact Management, Lead Generation and Capture, Marketing Campaign, on and on...

Thoughts?

ChiliPepperWeb · 10-23-2007, 09:38 AM

Speaking as a web host, the only time it's really worth considering the expense of hosting your own website is if the site is large and gets a lot of traffic or requires unusually high security. Even then you shouldn't put the server in your office, a colocation facility is much better equipped to house your server with things like building access security, emergency backup power, super high speed access, industrial strength AC, and 24 hour support. Also, buying your own server means the cost and responsibility for keeping up the hardware and software is yours, whereas renting a dedicated server puts most of that on the hosting company. It's a matter of how much control you want or need over your hosting environment ultimately. I own my own colocated servers, but I also host many sites, it's my whole business, so it's worth it. Ask yourself, does your site really require a full time employee to maintain? If not, you're better off finding a good hosting company with excellent support and letting them worry about all the back end infrastructure, and you just worry about your website. If your website outgrows your hosting package, you can always upgrade or migrate later, but at the start building your own infrastructure is massive overkill for most small businesses.

coastal · 10-23-2007, 03:50 PM

Or, they could just purchase an REW site and back end for a whole lot less.....

svrpaul · 10-23-2007, 05:21 PM

Any chance this person is selling (or in the business of selling) the type of equipment they are suggesting?

Did anybody see the Real Estate Pros (Trademark) episode with their IT guy? That was comedy....

IMO the investment and headaches that go with it are not worth it. I'll pay a third party and let them deal with all the new and cool gadgets that come out on a monthly basis.

KISS.

ChiliPepperWeb · 10-24-2007, 03:24 PM

Yeah, I can tell you from experience that if you put up a server on the internet, sooner or later you WILL have to deal with a denial of service attack or some attempt to hack your server and use it to send spam or host something very unsavory, both things that could get your IP banned in all sorts of places you don't want that (Yahoo, AOL, etc.) and where it's not easy to get unbanned. The occasional software meltdown isn't fun either. You have to deal with these things immediately and solve them quickly, which means you'd better know how or have somebody who does on call. I pay more for professional security on my servers than I do to colocate them, but it has been worth the price. A server on the web is a windmill in a hurricane, expect to get hit by flying debris. Unless these kinds of headaches add excitement to your day and you have plenty of money to burn, you're better off letting web hosts do the web hosting, that's why we're here.

jessiesc · 10-24-2007, 03:36 PM

If interested in reading the actual blog (it's on AR), feel free to pm me (or you could always look up jennifers blog

).

I didn't post the blog on REW because I didn't think it useful to the members here nor did I feel it appropriate, not to mention the overall level of competence on this website.

Your constructive comments are as always very welcome.

bonhamsurf · 10-24-2007, 04:45 PM

I am always interested in learning more.

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