Web hosting provider NaviSite (navisite.com) announced on Tuesday that software products and consulting provider Harmony Information Systems (harmonyis.com) has selected NaviSite to provide hosting for its Web-based software solutions.

HarmonyIS offers a suite of software products, including Harmony, Harmony Financial Suite, Two Part Harmony, and Harmony Integration and Electronic Data Interchange engine. Provided via a Web-based platform the solution offers end users easy access and customization.

The company chose NaviSite to manage the IT infrastructure that supports its Web-based applications, enabling it to focus on software development. HarmonyIS specifically required a partner that could deliver a highly available and secure infrastructure solution, and that had extensive experience within the company’s healthcare and public sector market segments.

“We looked at a lot of other vendors,” says Tim Tomlinson, HarmonyIS’s director of customer services. “We believe NaviSite is the right fit because of its software as a service delivery capabilities, secure and independently audited data center facilities and competitive price. NaviSite also has a lot of experience in our industry sector, and we believe this is important as we continue to extend our reach in this market.” (Read more ...)

Domain registrar and Web hosting provider GoDaddy (godaddy.com) announced on Tuesday it will sponsor IndyCar auto racer Danica Patrick (danicapatrick.com) next season.

The 24-year-old Patrick captured the world’s attention as the first woman to ever lead the Indianapolis 500 last year and was voted the Indy Racing League’s 2005 “Rookie of the Year.” GoDaddy says Patrick’s combination of beauty and ability make her a hot commodity, evidenced by a recent guest hosting appearance on ABC-TV’s The View and her televised presentation at the ESPY Awards.
 
“Danica thrives on competition, speed and power. She is edgy, innovative and fun. All qualities we identify with at Go Daddy,” says Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of GoDaddy. “She is redefining racing and is appealing, no doubt about it. She is definitely someone we want to be associated with at Go Daddy.”
 
Next season, Danica will drive the #7 Team Motorola IndyCar for Andretti Green Racing, which is owned by Michael Andretti, Kim Green and Kevin Savoree. Parsons adds that Patrick will most likely star in a GoDaddy commercial early next year, but wouldn’t speculate about the Super Bowl. (Read more ...)

LFC Hosting (lfchosting.com) announced on Wednesday it has made a major upgrade to its bandwidth infrastructure, which supports all of LFC’s hosting plans.

The Web host provides a Gigabit Ethernet-based network, featuring throughput with full redundancy and room for expansion. This significant bandwidth infrastructure upgrade is designed to provide faster, more reliable and scalable service.

“Since LFC’s inception, our mission has been to provide an extremely high-quality reasonably-priced hosting service that includes everything a small business needs to leverage the Internet with unsurpassed support and packaged through a consolidated business-friendly system,” says Robert Sauchyn, LFC president. “This is why, unlike many other Web hosts, we are consistently upgrading and improving our infrastructure to give our clients the distinct advantage over their competition online.”

LFC is now located on the backbone of three major providers, Big Pipe, Rogers Telecom and New Global Telecom, further ensuring fast delivery of content and improved response times. Through BGP routing with all providers, LFC directs data requests through the network that offers the lowest latency to the Web site visitors of its clients. (Read more ...)

Web hosting provider Hurricane Electric (he.net) announced on Monday it is sponsoring a new Silicon Valley based technology users group called Web SIG (thewebsig.com).

Web SIG is a group focused on the latest Web technology, design and trends. Its platform promotes open discussions on technology and provides a friendly environment for exchanging technical information. Web SIG was founded by the original executive board members of Silicon Valley Webguild, a former local chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals and the oldest and largest Web organization in the bay area.

“By sponsoring Web SIG, we are helping them keep the Internet community on the forefront of technology,” says Benny Ng, director of marketing for Hurricane Electric. “With an objective to continue education and foster industry development via collaboration with industry leaders, we are happy to offer Web SIG our support.”

The first Web SIG meeting is slated to take place on October 25 at Hurricane Electric’s new colocation facility in Fremont, California, with future meetings planned for the last Wednesday of every month. Web SIG membership and meetings are free of charge. (Read more ...)

International association for the managed services industry MSPAlliance (mspalliance.com) announced on Wednesday that it had launched a major initiative to help reach and educate the end-user consumer on the benefits of using managed services.

The initiative’s objective is to help the buying public gain a greater understanding of the managed services industry and its benefits to companies of all sizes. The initiative will be recognized by several of the MSPAlliance’s largest members, including Intel, HP, EDS and RSA Security.

The MSPAlliance says its goal is to educate the end-user consumer on the business value associated with using an MSP for corporate IT governance.

“With the current onslaught of state, local, federal and international regulations on IT, it is becoming more and more difficult to manage the complexities and liabilities associated with IT,” says Celia Weaver, co-founder and vice president of MSPAlliance. “This is one reason professional MSPs are becoming as essential and beneficial as corporate CPAs and attorneys for businesses both large and small.” (Read more ...)