The duality of hosting solution customers.

There is a considerable duality regarding the outlook of the end user when you are looking at types of hosting industry-wide - dedicated, virtual, and shared.

Shared hosting - the exceptionally vocal masses, who are primarily cost driven, and the Virtual Machines or Dedicated Server hosting - who are made mainly by the reliability of the service they are delivered on the platform of their choice.

The shared hosting customer will often move provider (often hours of work) for a price hike in the order of pence a month in search of a better deal (when their monthly bill will likely cost less than a coffee). They will usually be exceptionally vocal that a service could not be bent to work in the way that they needed it to. A lack of understanding is viewed and used as a tool of reason and submission. If things do not go well - they are straight to social media and review sites. After all - why would anyone in their right mind pay more for a service if you can pull on the services of lifetime engineers to resolve your issues for less elsewhere? We live in a world where an attempt to assist and support a valid 'answer' to a 'question' regarding a web service and code can be "I am not technical" ... giving me serious classroom flashbacks to "how was it me?" (because I saw you).

The VM or dedicated customer tolerating system events, and generally relying on the knowledge of their developers to avoid the cost of fully managed services. Will change their processes to meet the tools and means they have. Will move quietly and silently, and the first clues you will have are spikes in traffic. They bear no grudge - issues happen to everyone - it wasn't you, it was us, we are off, thank you, sorry. A lack of understanding is seen as a learning opportunity, a time to grow and improve.

Alas all too often 'the squeaky wheel gets the oil' - usually where the attention would be better spent elsewhere on those that need the guidance, or are quietly suffering - like the result of a teaching stream without setting in place. But how do you resolve the issue without shooting yourself in the corporate foot or wallet?

Traditionally I have heard this referred to as one of the inverse square rules - the less you pay for it - the more you demand from it. However, I think this is more down to how much you VALUE something. The enemy here is possibly more trying to win on price in an industry that has for years been in a race to cut its own throat.

Maybe now is the time to focus more on ' Do one thing. Do it well'?