Tony Di Benedetto

1.  Please tell us a few words about yourself and your position in the company.

My name is Tony Di Benedetto, I am the CEO of Millennium Data Systems.


   2. Your company provides a range of services via several different brands. What type of clients is each brand targeting?

Millennium provides a vast array of managed services to both the SMB and Enterprise clientele.   We have grown through a series of accretive acquisitions in the managed services space (ISP’s, Hosting Providers and SaaS companies).   Each acquisition has brought new and exciting products and services to Millennium’s suite of managed services.    


   3. What do you consider to be the strong points of your company?

Our business model is focused on leveraging our infrastructure to drive new and innovative business solutions to our customers.   We go beyond the traditional hosting model, really focused on helping our customers grow their businesses via our hosted managed services.    We are in the midst of introducing our sales and marketing automation tools which will be packaged as a SaaS product enabling our customers to expand their traditional marketing strategy and measure their ROI.

   4. As an industry insider, you are in a position to answer questions that are interesting to our readers. What do you think about the role of streaming content and online video in the future of the hosting industry?

Streaming video is definitely the future.   Streaming content enables new possibilities to leverage hosted business solutions.


   5. Hosting companies today measure their size by the number of servers, clients, or hosted sites. With the importance of energy-efficient technologies rising, and “green” becoming a buzzword, do you think that megawatts will become a common measurement for both the size and efficiency of datacenters?

We measure our success on the number of customers who utilize our solutions.   The hosting business has evolved over the years, innovation in technology and architecture has allowed providers such as Millennium to operate in a more efficient platform and definitely “greener”.    

   6. Will there be any special hosting considerations needed to accommodate the ever growing mobile/wireless industry?

Millennium has been involved in the wireless space for several years – we own and operate one of Southern Ontario’s largest fixed wireless Networks.   With the accelerated growth in the mobile / wireless space the demand for additional managed hosted solutions will continue to grow.

   7. What technologies do you think have the biggest impact on the hosting industry today?

Virtualization and clustering by far.

   8. What news can we expect from your company in the coming months?

We are focused on continuing our roll-up strategy in the managed services space.   We continue to look for quality; ISP’s, hosting providers and SaaS companies who want to be part of something bigger.  We are working on several exciting acquisitions to leverage our infrastructure and drive new and innovative solutions to our customers. 

  9. Finally, what advice would you give to people shopping for hosting services for their site(s)?

You should look for a partner which can help you build your business via their total solution vs. just looking for someone to host your site.