AIT: It's about the Value; 100 Free Hosting Features + the CEO's Direct Line.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- It is as close to 'something for nothing' as the web hosting industry has to offer. AIT (http://ait.com/?news-features) includes 100 free features with each of its hosting plans, from the basic business plan through a trio of reseller options to high-end dedicated solutions. "We have spent a great deal of time over the last year and a half developing new products, services, and features," said Clarence Briggs, AIT's Chief Executive Officer. "Some are paid-for items, but most come at no cost and reflect the continuing evolution of the hosting customer and what that client expects from a service provider." And, AIT is waiving set-up fees to boot.

As hosting flirts with becoming commoditized, the differentiation for website owners is in the value; what do they get for their monthly service fees? Each plan includes an unlimited number of e-mail accounts, content manager, virus scanning, spam and fraud protection, stats programs, script and tech support libraries, and dozens more amenities. "As the Internet has grown, the type customer we see has changed and the challenges facing that customer have also changed," said Briggs. "Security and marketing tools, collaboration capability, and file storage and search features are not 'nice-to-haves'; they part of doing business for companies in any industry."

The feature list also looks at the foundation of hosting plans. Disk space, for instance, starts at 2GB for the smallest plan and goes up to 144GB at the top end. AIT has historically offered a free shopping cart and built its own control panel, but each has been substantially upgraded. As an added bonus, customers also get Briggs' e-mail address and phone number, the one that rings on his desk. "We're dealing with business owners; they expect more than a series of prompts that lead to voice mail that no one answers," said Briggs. "Even if callers have to leave a message, I will return that call because our best ideas for improving things frequently come from customers."