INTERNET BUSINESS SERVICES Some firms offerInternet business services (IBS),
which provide powerful Web-based support for transactions such as order processing,
billing, and customer relationship management. Another term for IBS is managed
hosting, because system operations are managed by the outside firm, or host.
An IBS solution is attractive
to customers because it offers
online data center support,
mainframe computing power
for mission-critical functions,
and universal access via the
Internet. Many firms, such as
Rackspace, compete in the managed hosting market, as shown
in Figure 7-8.