The RFP Unabridged Response

For budding e-commerce efforts, the service provider recommended its own SecureBuy Service, which includes a slate of tools for creating online catalogs and tracking orders.

The recommended hosting package, with a minimum bandwidth of .5 Mbps per location, comes with installation charges of $6,000 and monthly fees starting at $6,250.

Not included in the base price was a recommended high-availability option, AT&T Web Chorus, for replication and load-balancing. Too bad. We felt that was vital to the solution and wondered how far that would set Widgets R Us back.

In many ways, what AT&T provides its dedicated hosting customers is what you'd expect from a public utility: no-nonsense promises for reliable service. But, AT&T, which recently completed its acquisition of the IBM Global Network in the United States, is not just a connectivity player. It's pushing its own

e-commerce package.

The AT&T SecureBuy Service offers goodies such as free search engine registration and a merchant directory service that promote Secure- Buy merchants.

AT&T can easily brag that its IP network infrastructure, a OC-3-OC-48 backbone interconnecting with 15 global TerraPOPs, provides a solid foundation for the distribution of content and applications. A big check in the pro column is the forthright way AT&T spells out what customers can expect in terms of uptime and repair turnaround time. AT&T, like other top-notch providers, boasts highly secured and well-protected data facilities.

But AT&T didn't indicate an upgrade path if we needed more than a two-server solution. And, though it says it can support CyberCash, the greatest benefit from the hosting relationship comes with SecureBuy.

AT&T Web Site Services, AT&T, (800) 7-HOSTIN. www.att.com/ipservices

Concentric Network Corp.

The RFP Unabridged Response

Concentric recommended a Sun Microsystems E250 with dual 300-MHz processors, 256 MB of memory and four 9.1-GB disks to be used for the Web, applications and database server. The Sun E250 would run Solaris 7, Netscape Enterprise Server and InterShop Communications' InterShop 3 storefront development and management software and include chat and video streaming capabilities.

Then, as traffic grows, Concentric suggested splitting the Web, application and database servers onto separate hardware platforms. If traffic hovers above million page views per day, Concentric suggested a third option--using one Web server, three applications servers and one database server. In addition, Concentric recommended VPN services, including a Raptor firewall, to provide a secure link between the e-commerce application and the Widgets R Us catalog fulfillment system.

The company tabbed the setup costs for the initial configuration at $5,700 per site and monthly fees at $2,700 each. The high volume configuration--centered around one Web server, three applications servers and one database server--carried a setup fee of $9,700 per site and a monthly fee of $12,000 per site.

The proposal estimated the cost of integrating Widgets R Us' catalog fulfillment system with InterShop technology would fall between $24,000 and $36,000.

Concentric's approach gave Widgets R Us a way to jump into e-commerce with a fairly conservative, budget-conscious approach and grow as needed. It designed and operates its own wide-area ATM network. And each of its four hosting centers is connected via multiple OC-3 (155 Mbps) high-speed links to geographically dispersed points in its private ATM backbone. Once the solution was defined and analysis completed, Concentric said it could get the system configured and installed in 10 to 15 business days.

To go with Concentric, we'd have to be completely convinced that the service provider could ship data as effectively as a provider that offers a direct backbone link. Also, Concentric places key responsibilities on InterShop, so we'd have to be sold on that company's ability as much as Concentric's.

ConcentricCenter, Concentric Network Corp., (800) 745-2747, (408) 817-2800; fax (408) 817-2810. www.concentric.net or bizsales@concentric.com