Press Release - VeriHost Leads the Way in Establishing Industry Standards for Web Hosting

VeriHost Leads the Way in Establishing Industry Standards for Web Hosting

Several web hosting industry leaders announced today the launch of VeriHost, www.verihost.com, an organization created to protect netizens searching for a home to host their web site.The impetus behind VeriHost is the need to create a Model for Trust through certification standards within the hosting industry and building consumer confidence to facilitate the rising tide of ecommerce. Initially focusingon providing business standards for the conduct of hosting, the VeriHost leadership envisions a long-term emphasis on the development of guidelines for ecommerce. 

“Within the next few years,hundreds of thousands of small and agile companies will emerge on a globalscale to take advantage of end-to-end ecommerce solutions,” comments Clarence Briggs, President of Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc, (AIT) http://www.aitcom.net,a large web hosting company located in North Carolina. AIT currently hostsover 24,000 active business domains and specializes in virtual server technology and ecommerce. “We at VeriHost believe the key to making ecommerce a mainstream phenomena is boosting consumer confidence in the virtual marketplace. Animportant step toward this end is the web-hosting piece. As consumers develop more trust and confidence in their web hosts, they will be more willingto participate in this economic revolution. Quality hosting companies likePair Networks, http://www.pair.com, bringcredibility to VeriHost and unequivocally contribute to raising industrystandards and consumer confidence.”

 The VeriHost framework for setting standards within the hosting industry is based on several principles.First is consensus-based certification standards which recognize the needfor both quality to protect consumers and diversity to encourage market innovation and competition. VeriHost is international and inclusive and its founding members include hosting companies like NetNation Networks,http://www.netnation.com, currently the largest web hosting company in Canada. NetNation providesa wide range of hosting solutions including e-commerce, Windows NT hosting,and co-location. 

The second principle is theneed for independent verification by third parties, and in the case of VeriHost, this is being done by an independent CPA firm and a web hosting evaluation firm. “We do not believe the fox should be allowed to guardthe chicken coop,” states Clarence Briggs. “VeriHost has gone the extramile to ensure that member’s sensitive corporate data is protected.”

Third, VeriHost is committed to financial transparency to establish accountability. “It's important to understand that VeriHost is intending to provide a public service. In this regard, we are committed to openness,” comments Marcus Trathen, Attorneyand Partner at Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, L.L.P,mtrathen@brookspierce.com “We will publish our standards so that everyone knows what the criteria are and so that the public will have a meaningful way of evaluating companies.We will also let participating companies know exactly how the fees whichthey pay are being spent.”

 The technology behind VeriHost is simple yet effective. Approved members are loaded into a database.Upon approval, they may display the VeriHost seal on their web site. Whena user clicks on the seal, the database is queried and authenticates the web host as a valid member in good standing. Ron Dunlap, Director of Marketing for Burlee Networks, a world-class web hosting and design firm, http://www.burlee.com, believes that “VeriHost represents an important opportunity to set a be nch mark of quality in a dynamic and developing industry.  VeriHost will provide consumers with an objective and respectable standard, becoming the most reliable resource of web host information available.”

 “The hosting industryis ready for an entity like VeriHost,” states Rob Laidlaw, President of Top Hosts Internet, http://www.tophosts.comand CEO of VeriHost.  “One of VeriHost’s key strengths is the diversity and experience of its board of directors with representation from the hosting,legal, and financial communities.  We look forward to the future of web hosting and providing a valuable resource to the industry and public at large.”