The Vertical Play

With the colocation business in the doldrums and the managed hosting arena getting more crowded by the moment, how does a provider differentiate itself?

One strategy, highlighted by Yankee Group analyst Andrew Efstathiou in a July report, is to target a vertical market and offer a customized suite of managed hosting services.

In the past several weeks we've seen announcements of "vertical plays" by several providers targeting particular industries.

On Aug. 30, Qwest said it would team with GE Medical Systems to transport and store massive amounts of electronic medical data. In GE Medical, Qwest found a partner with established relationships with more than 50 hospitals across the country. As medical offices go paperless, those records need to go somewhere. Qwest thinks their data centers will make a fine destination.

Then today Inflow announced an initiative targeting the trucking and shipping industries, and said it had signed two major customers in the sector, Truckload Management Inc. and CarrierPoint. The companies provide electronic document management and logistics applications to help trucker fleets go paperless.

Got an example of a vertical play by a provider? What vertical markets make the most sense as managed hosting plays? Share your experience and comments below.