May 15, 2003 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- It's been an eventful six months for Rackshack (rackshack.net), a Texas-based provider of low-cost dedicated Web hosting services.
The company, which is largely credited with popularizing the $99 dedicated server model, has added 5,000 servers to its customer base, introduced new control panel offerings, and plans to offer a Windows-based solution, managed services and several other value added features by summer's end.
Robert Marsh, the company's CEO, has also purchased several hosting and webmaster community assets, including webhostingtalk.com, one of the Internet's most popular destinations for Web hosting discussion, and several smaller sites. Marsh also purchased the assets of Hosting Tech, a print magazine about the Web hosting industry that closed shop several months ago.
Marsh says the logic behind the acquisitions is to foster co-operation among the various types of companies throughout the hosting industry. To further this cause, he invited several companies to Las Vegas in late April for a weekend, where attendees discussed everything from holding an industry conference to what makes Rackshack tick, and were treated to drinks and food as well. Marsh believes the meeting was a positive step in the right direction to uniting at least a few professionals representing different parts of the Web hosting industry. "The industry is very disjointed," he says. "There's very little communication."
Marsh is also CEO of Everyone's Internet, a Houston-based dial-up ISP that actually serves as Rackshack's parent firm. Rackshack was initially established as the dedicated Web hosting arm of Everyone's Internet, and focuses on providing low-priced dedicated servers accompanied by online technical support. The company prides itself on not forcing customers in to contract agreements (customers are only required to provide 30 days notice for cancellations), and the no-frills approach appears to resonate with customers - the company has made several landmark hardware deals (including the largest single purchase of Cobalt Raq servers by a North American ISP) and is constantly racing to expand its data center space to keep up with demand.
But despite Rackshack's surging growth, Marsh admits the road to success has not been without its bumps. Most recently, Marsh says he was forced to eat his own words when the company introduced hosting packages that offered cPanel, a hosting automation software package, after stating Rackshack would likely never do so. He says he is "shocked, but happy" at the uptake of the new offering, particularly since the company moved 400 cPanel packages within 10 to 15 days. "We were very surprised," Marsh says, but is pleased to offer the package since cPanel improved its own processes. "The patches are quick, and when we need help someone picks up the phone."
The company has also had its share of technical support challenges while trying to support its fast-paced growth rate, particularly in its early days, Marsh says. Rackshack "did not yet understand what was required in the business," he says. "We've grown so rapidly," he says. "It wasn't dollars that was the problem - it was time."
Today, Marsh says most customers wait less than six minutes for a server reboot, can configure systems using a real-time ordering tool that is unlike anything available on the market, and have their domains provisioned using a customized DNS system that significantly reduces waiting times. Marsh says a lot of the company's internal support systems were developed in-house, and are largely responsible for Rackshack's improved service levels. "We want to provide a higher level of service and a higher level of satisfaction in our market segment," he says.
The company's service levels will again soon be tested with the introduction of its fully- managed Web hosting services, which Marsh hopes to introduce mid-summer. "Managed services... will be a natural offshoot of our improving internal service metrics," Marsh says. However, he says he realizes that providing managed services is a steep undertaking, and the company has been preparing to provide high-end system administration and support services required of a fully managed host. "The ultimate goal is to offer a true, high-end, high-quality managed offering - but still at a good price," he says. The company is also gearing up for its Windows offering, which Marsh says will be priced "quite aggressively in order to gain some market share."
Despite the success of both Rackshack and Everyone's Internet since the ISP's inception in 1998, the companies have not forgotten their local roots or the community that has supported them. Everyone's Internet supports several causes, including Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP), the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association. Marsh believes it's the least the companies can do in response to the community's support over the past few years. "We've been so blessed by both the Internet community and the Houston community in growing our business," he says of the company's rise to a $60 million business. "It takes a lot of help from a lot of people."
