I think we all want to make a co-op cloud offering.
Yes, Webarchitects offers shared web etc already. So do other coops and other members and prospective members of CoTech. However, as we discussed yesterday, if we work together, bring together assets and skills, we may be able to make a new, compelling proposition that is mutually beneficial and offers new opportunities:
- Taking over shared web and domain business from another coop that doesn’t want it any more, as discussed
- Taking advantage of new co-operatively owned and managed data centres so that we have a full co-operative stack
- Aggregating business that is with us already or with other co-ops (and that isn’t already with Webarchitects)
- Trading on the manifest appeal that we are tech coops cooperating
- Making use of and developing front end systems to help pull in new business
Given the likely availability of kit and good quality low cost (and cooperative) co-lo, we can do these things. We don’t yet know who does what and who pays what to whom, but I am sure we can work that out in a way that is mutually good. It is all in addition to what we have already, even if the products are similar.
That’s worth doing anyway in my view. But it would also put us in a position to raise the money needed for cloud.