All of these pitfalls can easily be avoided by taking the time to research the availability of reputable web hosting companies and carefully implementing a strategic migration plan.

Before selecting an alternative hosting provider, it is important to make note of all of the features that are essential to the web sites operation. Cross reference the necessary features with the web hosts that are capable (and well known) for providing those features. Carefully research reviews about the providers that make your short list, and ask questions about each provider on web hosting forums. Once you are satisfied, and have narrowed your selection down to one or two web hosting companies, send each provider two emails; one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. Note the response time of each provider, as this will provide a good insight in to their customer service abilities.

After you have determined which host is the least likely to cause you any problems, initiate a service agreement. Upload your files and then test the site. Once all of the necessary coding has been adjusted you can then test each link, page and image file and begin to create your email accounts.

Once the above steps have been completed, you must next transfer the domain. Altering DNS server details is far less complicated than it sounds. After receiving both the Primary and Secondary name server details from the new web hosting company, simply go to the domain registrar’s web site and access your personal control panel. Once logged in, locate the DNS option and alter the name server details to match the new information. Domain transfer can take up to 24 hours, during this time leave access to your old site open to ensure that there is no loss of emails or other pertinent information.

Companies need to have pandemic plans in place, according to Gartner, so workers can operate from home.

However, work-at-home (WAH) strategies could be at threat from poor residential internet bandwidth, according to the organisation.

"Within the switching office, surges in demand will overload the local connection to the backbone networks, because carriers typically do not design for excess residential capacity," explained Eric Paulak, managing vice president at Gartner.

The company’s Center for Disease Control suggested that 40 per cent of employees will not be in the workplace for an extended period of time, as a rule of thumb for pandemic planning.

Earlier this year, businesses such as those using web hosting packages were advised by Gartner not to panic because of a swine flu outbreak, but act by reviewing and testing their pandemic response plans.

Written by Jermaine Jones.

A Top 10 Broadband survey has shown that 39 per cent of respondents claimed poor broadband speeds and erratic network connections were likely to deter them from moving to a new area.

Six out of ten admitted they would be irritated and envious if they found out a neighbour was receiving faster speeds than them.

Mark Jackson, editor-in-chief at ISPreview.co.uk, said that some areas in the UK will get priority when the universal access to 2Mpbs broadband the government has promised by 2012 is rolled out.

"If left to their own devices, the private sector will always prioritise the coverage of next-generation broadband services to areas where it is more commercially viable first – cities and big towns," Mr Jackson commented.

He added that this will mean remote and rural communities will suffer from the limitations of slower technologies.

Written by Jessica Lighthouse.

Technology editor at IT PRO Benny Har-Even said that if the Royal Mail proves to be unreliable then organisations will look for alternatives and technology can play a role in this.

"They might have traditionally relied on sending stuff in the mail […] but they might look at technology. This is a grey area for security […] but there are ways of sending things securely," Mr Har-Even commented.

Talking about whether cloud computing could be used to move information around effectively, he claimed that people are unsure about how they share data over the internet. Mr Har-Even pointed to Windows 7, which has technology integrated into it designed to make it simpler for firms to connect with one another securely.

Secretary of state for business, innovation and skills Lord Peter Mandelson recently spoke to the House of Lords on the negotiations to avert national strikes. He referred to the Hooper Review, saying that it indicated the Royal Mail needs to change as the postal market transforms. People are turning towards text, email and direct debit, he claimed.

"Business will be quick to recognise that while you can picket a delivery office to stop the service or refuse to deliver letters, you cannot picket the ever-present internet," Lord Mandelson asserted.

He added that while he would continue to encourage a settlement over the dispute, he could not "disinvent the internet".

To highlight just how important communication over the internet now is, the ExactTarget 2009 Email Utilisation Whitepaper revealed that the rate at which online consumers are increasing email usage, in comparison to the speed at which it is decreasing, is more than double the rate for both social media and text messaging.

Written by Sarah Woolf.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced it is close to completing a new specification to enable Wi-Fi devices to connect to one another without having to join a traditional home, office or hotspot network. The organisation expects to begin certification for this new specification in mid-2010.

It can be implemented into any Wi-Fi device, such as mobile phones, cameras, printers, and laptops, as well as keyboards and headphones. Equipment that is Wi-Fi Certified will be able to make a one-to-one connection, or a group of several devices can connect simultaneously. Products that gain certification will be designated Wi-Fi Certified Wi-Fi Direct.

There are some problems that those using web hosting packages may come across with Wi-Fi, however. John Dunn, editor of Techworld, said that Wi-Fi is something of a "compromise" when it comes to security.

This is "not because there are ways of securing it, but because it can be quite technically difficult to understand what it’s doing when it’s making a connection", Mr Dunn stated.

He commented: "If you’re going to set a linkup between any two devices in any context then the wireless has to be encrypted."

While wireless is "great", according to Mr Dunn, he admitted that it becomes very complex once security is brought into play. Point of sale is one particularly important area for wireless, he continued, and this would need to have encryption as standard and would "absolutely need to be compliant with security".

Application security vulnerability specialist Fortify Software recently warned that the Wi-Fi Direct standard poses a security threat to firms with Wi-Fi networks. It claimed that mobile devices often do not have the code required to stop sophisticated virus attacks.

Written by Murray Francis.

They are doing it to help users make their sites as safe as possible and they made the decision during the features development process for WordPress 2.9.

Among the headline changes are a fix for the Trackback Denial-of-Service attack that has recently been seen, as well as a removal of areas within the code where php code in variables was analysed.

The two importers of Tag data from old plugins have been retired and the file upload functionality has been "whitelisted" for all users including administrators.

"We would recommend that all sites are upgraded to this new version of WordPress to ensure that you have the best available protection," Peter Westwood, from the WordPress team, wrote on a company blog.

Last month, the organisation revealed that a worm was making its way around old, unpatched versions of WordPress – something that those using web hosting packages may want to look out for.

Written by Jermaine Jones.

Symantec has found 250 separate fake programs being sold for between £20 and £60 as part of a recent rogue security software report. These were sold through nearly 200,000 websites across the world.

Cybercriminals have now managed to bag themselves profits of more than £850,000. As part of the scam, users are fooled into downloading the scareware when they visit unfamiliar websites.

Such is the sophistication of the cybercriminals’ activity that 93 per cent of scareware is intentionally downloaded by internet users who believe they are doing the right thing.

"There are websites out there and they keep cropping up every day, which keep creating hundreds or thousands of domains, each of them pretending to be advice websites," warned training manager for computer forensics courses at 7Safe Jens Kirschner.

Written by Sarah Woolf.

The company has joined forces with Decho Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC, to produce a selection of cloud-based services for both business customers and consumers.

David Pratt, chief operating officer of IT services at ThinkGrid, said that cloud computing "really changes the game" in its support of remote working.

Management burdens are reduced with the services as well, Mr Pratt continued, as hardware and software failures are lowered to such a point that operations will only be affected if a device stops working entirely and loses connection to the internet.

"Even in the event of total device failure, any other internet-enabled device can be used to carry on working," he pointed out.

Written by Murray Francis.

This work has been separated into different studies focused on two distinct issues. The first OFT study will look at behavioural advertising and customised pricing, in which prices are individually tailored with the use of data collected about a consumer’s internet use. It is believed that this research will be finished by spring next year.

The other study will explore advertising of costs. The research will look into different pricing practices which could mislead consumers and it will predominantly see how these are used online.

Such practices include ‘drip’ pricing, where cost increments ‘drip’ through during the buying process. ‘Baiting sales’, meanwhile, involve only some products being made available at a discount price, meaning that consumers could end up buying a full-priced product.

Talking after the OFT decision, a moneysupermarket.com spokesperson said that their company already works with the OFT on such issues. The representative claimed that the price comparison provider is in a good position as the price customers see on the website is the amount they pay.

"We are able to negotiate exclusive deals and little quirky things like that that make us stand out as well," they continued.

Talking about the online world in general, the spokesperson added: "The internet is continually growing still. It’s definitely not slowed, it’s not saturating, it’s a continually expanding market, there are new sites starting all the time, and even the existing ones are adding to what they do on a daily basis."

So, perhaps advanced web hosting users may want to look into how they price their own products, or even help the OFT in their work.

Written by Jermaine Jones.

According to an article in Reuters by Gabriel Madway, the biggest risk to the technology sector is that those involved in it may be overly content. This is despite the fact that stock prices have gone up by 55 per cent, cost-cutting is paying off and deal-making has made a big comeback, according to Mr Madway.

Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall told the news provider that those in the industry are expecting to see some "positive business trends" emerge during the September quarter and are seeking some "nice optimistic guidance" in the December quarter.

However, Mr Madway said that this optimism may cause trouble in the sector, asserting that if, for example, reported earnings exceed forecasts by a penny per share, this may not keep investors contented.

As for the sector’s performance in the UK, head of industry strategy at Intellect Carrie Hartnell said that investment in technology is important for companies, as is encouraging more technology companies to locate in the country to develop their research and development here.

This will help ensure more jobs, help the UK come out of the recession quicker and have positive connotations for the UK’s economy going forward, she continued.

"There are a lot of economies – the States, obviously places like India and China, South Africa – they are all looking for similar investment from technology companies and trying to increase their capability and skills to help them come out of this economic recession," Ms Hartnell added.

The recovery is already under way for the electronic equipment industry, according to Gartner. However, the company does not expect a sustainable recovery pattern until next year, which may have a detrimental effect on some advanced web hosting users’ business.

Written by Sarah Woolf.