About Us

Structure Research is an independent research and consulting firm with a specific focus on the hosting and cloud segments within the Internet infrastructure market. We are devoted to understanding, tracking and projecting the future of hosting and cloud infrastructure service providers.

From the Founder…

My name is Philbert Shih and I am the Founder and Managing Director of Structure Research. I have been covering the hosting industry since 2000 and watched the sector crumble and left for dead only to gradually regain its footing in the ensuing years and then emerge as one of the hottest segments in the technology sector today (they call it cloud now, but cloud is hosting and hosting is cloud … we’ll have plenty more about that!).

Some of you might know me from my time at theWHIR.com, a leading industry trade publication. It was at theWHIR.com where I really began to cut my teeth in the sector and built my extensive knowledge of pureplay hosting companies. In 2005 I moved to the analyst side of the game and joined Tier1 Research. It was at Tier1 that I took my coverage of the sector to the next level and began to push into international markets. After six extremely rewarding years, I decided to venture out on my own and create a new model for research in the sector. I learned over the years that the many smaller hosting companies dotting the sector were not able to afford market research and as a result, did not have access to valuable perspective and competitive intelligence. Compounding the problem was the general lack of both research and publicly available information about the industry. The solution was clear. Create a research model that mixes affordability with top-flight research quality and package it in a way that is easier to consume and more timely.

The site you are visiting is the product of my vision. I encourage you to drop in regularly (our site is free for the next month or so) and see how our approach delivers information and insight faster and more efficiently than traditional research models. Read our analysis and put us to the test against other sources of information available in the market. We are confident we measure up well and that our work will speak for itself.

My ongoing commitment to you the reader (and hopefully subscriber) is to publish the best hosting research possible. I will have good days and bad days, but I will always bring to the table the passion and enthusiasm I have for this sector. It is my sincerest hope that you will benefit from the unique insight and perspective I have gained through years of close tracking of companies and regular conversations with brilliant people from all parts of the Internet infrastructure value chain. Along the way I hope to continue learning from people like you, who are driving a major transformation in IT that still has its best days ahead.

All my best and may you have many more hours of uptime.

Cheers,

Philbert Shih

e: ps [at] structureresearch.net
w: structureresearch.net
skype: phils88888
twitter: phils88888
AIM: phils88888