WP Engine

[Mitch]

New WP hosting service that is between wp.com and doing it yourself,
for $50/month.

Being a developer and a major geek, I guess that I would rather use my
own box than give up control. However, I basically live in an echo
chamber. What do you all think about services like this? I know
Page.ly was talked about during the last meeting, and now WP Engine.

Link to post about it (not promoting RWW, just saw it there first):
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/turn-key_customizable_wordpress_hosting_maintenance.php

[Steve Borsch]

I've examined Page.ly, IncSub's (now defunct) Blogs.mu, and all the
big dogs like BlueHost/Dreamhost/GoDaddy/Media Temple. What I've
discovered is that secure WP hosting has become such a commodity that
hosting oneself is of little value...it's the value-added stack
*above* hosting that matters.

That said, differentiating yourself above the hosting stack is
becoming harder and harder...especially as WP gets more bullet-proof
and adoption continues to soar. What clients want and need is your
expertise in core plugins, a tailoring to their needs, and rapid (and
affordable) development. The hosting piece becomes more of a burden
than it's worth IMHO.

I think the hosting companies that will win-out are the ones that
position their 'platforms' as white label ones so designer/developers
can leverage them.

My $.02...

> Link to post about it (not promoting RWW, just saw it there first):http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/turn-key_customizable_wordpress_...