(Nov 8) Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate [More…]
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(Nov 8) Updated kernel packages that fix one security issue and three bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 Extended Update Support. The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having [More…]
When a web host begins to gain a reputation for great service, it can feel like a superhuman feat to keep up with the demands of a growing business. Thankfully, hosts can depend on the help they need from the heroic developers of online automation tools and control panels. cPanel & WHM (WebHost Manager) is a control panel for the Linux operating system, allowing hosts, resellers, and end-users to work with their hosting accounts through a web-based browser. WHMCS (WebHost Manager Complete Solution) is a system that turbo-charges the provisioning of new accounts, client management, billing and support.
But while these two heroes of the web hosting world are often used together by millions of users worldwide, their distinct, separate nature previously forced hosts to use both tools separately to manage a single account. This adds to the administrative workload within a web hosting company, increasing expenses and affects the company’s ability to deliver fast and responsive customer service.
Finally, these two giants of the web hosting industry are coming together. With the goal of creating a more integrated solution for web hosting providers, cPanel, Inc., and WHMCS Ltd. have recently announced a new partnership to deliver a more cohesive solution that includes both control panel functionality and billing.
“We have felt for some time now that a much-needed component for cPanel & WHM was an e-commerce solution to automate billing, account creation, and so on,” says Aaron Phillips, Vice President of Operations at cPanel, Inc. “We knew if we built our own product, we would be competing primarily against WHMCS, and the challenge would be to produce something better.”
Under the new agreement, cPanel, Inc., will now have a financial stake in WHMCS Ltd. This strategy gives WHMCS Ltd. access to cPanel, Inc.’s vast business resources, and also allows both companies to benefit from shared expertise under a “brain trust” model. As a result, customers can enjoy tighter integration and an optimized exchange of information between the two individual platforms.
HostingCon 2012 Recap
Nov10
All of the cPanel staff have safely returned from another round of engagements at HostingCon 2012 and we wanted to spend some time providing those that did not attend a quick recap of the show.
A huge and heart warming thank you to everyone that stopped by to share our grief at the loss of David Grega. It’s been tough couple weeks at cPanel and getting together with friends in Boston helped me understand that you can make a difference in the world and that we are more than just a business industry; we are a group of people that truly care about each others lives. iNET Interactive went out of their way to write us each notes and delivered a gift basket with David Grega’s last HostingCon badge. PingZine ran a special memorial in our upcoming issue. Hundreds of colleagues provided hugs, thoughtful praise, and helped us remember David in positive ways.
I didn’t personally attend many of the presentations, but in talking one on one with many attendees, I heard they stepped it up a notch in relation to providing educational-based content for hosting providers. As a member of the Advisory board, this is definitely something a handful of us really wanted to see, and HostingCon made some great directional changes.
We heard traffic was slow and that it was a result of the 1,000 or so HostingCon attendees that took advantage of the little shindig we put together. It is certainly a great compliment to hear our event was a success, that people had fun, and that SoftLayer, Comcure and cPanel could provide some nice entertainment for the event.
Booth traffic and visits were good for cPanel and our goal of talking with integrators, partners, and customers that use our product was a huge success. If you enjoyed talking with us, make sure you check out cPanel Conference ’12 for even more engagement. Our conference boasts similar parties and it is an excellent opportunity to mingle with our staff on multiple levels.
If you missed our training, be assured that it will return in full force at our annual conference. While doing the cPanel University testing at HostingCon, one of our largest partners LiquidWeb had an employee score 100% of cPanel Base Certification::Technical. Our Professors noted that this might be the first perfect score, even after employee testing.
Finally, let’s talk about my most interesting conversation of the show and a conversation you should be having internally.
You might remember the Save Hosting Coalition. It’s been rebranded and is now dubbed the i2coalition.
Christian Dawson still leads the effort and had this to say about it.
Save Hosting Coalition was a loose group of volunteers within our industry who wrote letters, called, tweeted, beat the streets on Capitol Hill and did whatever we could to stop PIPA & SOPA. There wasn’t any real organization behind it, and there certainly wasn’t any money.
The i2C is a full-fledged trade association, designed to identify the threats we will be facing next and organizing in a structured way to address them. Its focuses are narrow but still way broader than Save Hosting – it focuses on doing what it takes to use the power of all the companies who come on board and sign up as members to make sure that we see positive things happen to this industry, and fight to avoid negative ones.
We found we were able to pull together and make a difference on one fight without real money and organization, but we got lucky. Threats against our industry are coming back more mobilized and more organized, so we need to too.
You might be thinking that there is little one can do to help shape legislation, political movements, and new laws that will have an impact on this industry, but don’t fool yourself. Movements like this need support of organizations just like yours. If there is one takeaway from HostingCon, it is to check them out, ask them questions, and join the cause to help make sure companies like ours have a voice.
I am stepping down from the soapbox right now, do the right thing, call and talk with them, tell your CEO it is important and show your support. If they pull off one small change it could help save your organization time, money, and a lot of grief we all want to avoid.
Chris Banaszek, Customer Service Manager for cPanel, Inc., started with the company almost 10 years ago, and he has seen the company through many changes. Through all of this, Chris has been a mainstay for our Partners and clients, lending a familiar face and voice to our users. Read how he got started and a small taste of what he’s seen – all in his own words.
As I approach my 10 year anniversary with cPanel Inc., I thought it would be fun to reflect on how I got my start with the company. I began with cPanel October 2, 2002, only the company was called DarkORB Communications Inc. (I have pay stubs to prove it)! We didn’t have a jobs site boasting all the awesome benefits, there was no new hire orientation, and brothers, Nick and Dave Koston, handled just about everything from development and support, to licensing and customer service.
My “interview” was basically a conversation about the job, followed by Nick extending a job offer (on a one week trial basis) – no pressure! The “office” was actually one of the rooms in Nick’s house, in Scranton, PA (and later, the 3rd floor of Nick’s house in White Haven, PA). Add to that, the locations in White Haven, PA, on Kirby (in Houston), and now, W. Alabama, and this marks the 5th location I have been at with cPanel (not counting all the floor moves within the current office).
After the first week was over, I remember feeling a bit out of my league, and since I was on a one week trial, I felt I wasn’t going to be qualified enough to stay on. If I remember correctly, I started to thank Nick for the opportunity to work for him and his response was totally not what I expected! He wanted me to stay on and continue taking care of things. I am extremely thankful he not only gave me the opportunity to work for him, but also gave me a chance to learn about the exciting web hosting industry.
By 2003, cPanel began to grow in size, and my role started to take shape. I started taking phone calls shortly thereafter (Nick purchased a cell phone, placed the number on the website and told me to answer it when it rang). It was definitely “learn-as-you-go” training. I had no idea what types of customers would be calling or what questions they would have, but it made for an interesting learning experience, and before too long, I was on a first-name basis with most of our Partners.
I eventually started processing orders and payments for One Time Licenses, which were, at the time, the only termed license package we offered. That same year, we added 1, 2 and 3 Year Licenses for dedicated servers, which allowed a lot more customers to buy. Initially, all orders were handled manually via manual emails, sending links for payments via credit card or PayPal and manual email reminders for renewals. It definitely makes me appreciate the automation (such as the cPanel Store, automated renewal reminders and better payment options/methods) we have added since then!
Another one of my new responsibilities was processing Partner NOC applications. The application and process was much different in those days. We had a very short application, prices were determined by volume, as well as level of support that was purchased and we ran credit reference checks!
The increase in Partner NOCs, license orders, tickets and phone calls allowed us to hire additional people. By this time, we had moved the office into Nick’s larger house. The bigger space was great, but traveling became a bit trickier in the winter. For those unfamiliar with White Haven, it’s a very small town surrounded by hilly, wooded areas. Nick always made sure I could get to work though, going so far as to have someone pick me up in one snowstorm. There were several times I just stayed at the office until the roads were cleared. It became evident to me that cPanel was a sincere, caring and unique company to work for.
A couple of years later, we moved the office to what has historically become referred to as the cPanel White Haven or Pennsylvania office. The White Haven office building was split up into two parts: The office for cPanel was on the upper floor, while the downstairs was to be turned into a restaurant (what became Forks Club & Bistro). Before it could become Forks, a lot of demo work needed to be done – which meant a lot of ongoing construction. With the way the building was designed, you heard and felt everything!
One wintery day, they decided to replace the steps leading up to our offices on the 2nd floor. We arrived to work with the old wooden steps still in place, and left with the steps having been removed. This meant having to leave work by way of a ladder that was left for us. Keep in mind, it was winter and icicles were hanging on the ladder, and I am terrified of heights. Thankfully, the new stairs were installed soon after, so the ladder was a very temporary solution.
The growth of the company, and access to a larger technology talent pool, is what brought cPanel to Houston, TX, back in 2005. We began hiring more and more people, from a small handful to about a dozen or so employees. That’s fast growth when you have such a small employee base. There was a lot of activity with the transition to Houston, the opening of Forks and the growth we were encountering. Around that time, I was going through a lot in my personal life as well, so most of that time is a big blur.
It was also around that time we brought Brenda Gehringer on board to help out, and she has been a tremendous help over the past 7+ years. In 2005, I attended my first HostingCon show, in Chicago. I wasn’t scheduled to go initially, as we were still a pretty small company and we needed to make sure operations were running smoothly. I remember getting a phone call from Nick, when he was in Chicago, asking if I could be on a flight that evening to make it out to Chicago that night. I had worked with all of our Partners, so many of them knew me by name and had been asking for me or wanted to talk to me about their accounts. That was quite an honor, and it was a great opportunity to meet our customers face-to-face.
I had never flown before, so the thought of flying solo my first time and having it be a last minute plan definitely freaked me out a bit. To make matters worse, Philadelphia had some pretty bad storms that night, so all flights were cancelled. Nick made me last minute hotel reservations, and by the time I arrived at the hotel, I only got about 2 hours of sleep. I eventually arrived near the end of the conference, but it was still a great experience for the short time I was there.
Between 2005 and 2008, business continued to grow and the company changed to keep pace. We attended more conferences, we started holding our own cPanel Conferences, we began offering a 1 Year VPS license package, our One Time License package was discontinued and there were several Partner NOC Agreement re-writes. All the while, we maintained a small remote staff in White Haven, PA., and the company continued to ramp up operations faster in Houston.
During those last few years in Pennsylvania, I began to feel a little reminiscent. The company continued growing and changing, yet our White Haven office remained small – similar to the “old days”. It was almost like there were 2 cPanel worlds, which made things challenging at times. The offer was always on the table to relocate to Houston, but at the time, I swore I wouldn’t move to Texas. Part of that was due to my misconceptions of Houston, and I didn’t want to live in a big city. But I think part of it had to do with my reluctancy to change.
But as I’ve learned, change is inevitable. I finally took the plunge to move down to Houston in September 2009. That was another crazy time in my life. I was about to purchase my first home in Pennsylvania (I ended up canceling on it just 10 days before closing). A few weeks later, I fell while playing tennis and broke my wrist pretty badly. I needed to have it surgically reassembled with plates and screws. I moved to Houston a few weeks after that – another blur!
When I came to Houston, I felt a bit out of place initially. It wasn’t due to anyone else. Everyone at cPanel was extremely friendly and accommodating. I think it was mainly due to the change in environment, both living and working. I was seeing/experiencing how everything operated in Houston for the first time, and it was a bit of an adjustment at first. It was also around that time that I began to question my role at cPanel. Mostly, I just wanted to reassure myself that I had made the right decision in relocating, plus having been with the company for 7 years, I wanted to see what growth possibilities there were and what direction the company was moving.
I eventually took over as the Customer Service Manager, late in 2009. This was around the same time the White Haven office closed. Over the past 3 years, there has been a tremendous amount of growth with the company, with the Customer Service department and with myself. As a department, we have gone from just three employees to six (and three more to come soon). We’ve also gone through some major restructuring, adding levels and redoing our department procedures from the ground up to improve levels of service and efficiency. We are always changing and looking for ways to improve here at cPanel.
Over the years, I have been a part of many exciting endeavors and changes with cPanel – early Enkompass product development and final release as a new product, office relocation to Houston, getting about 400 Partners to sign a new Partner NOC Agreement (which was a huge project for our department) and all the staffing changes and growth. It’s been a tremendous adventure.
Through all the change, some things have remained the same. cPanel is a company where employees can share ideas and be a part of a product and industry that is constantly changing and growing. Feedback is encouraged, everyone is amazing to work with and the benefits are truly top notch. Nick cares deeply for cPanel’s employees and customers, which has always been apparent. He (and by extension, other executives and managers) built a company that is great to work for and is filled with employees that have that same passion about what they do.
In closing, and if you made it this far without getting a glazed look, I applaud you, working for cPanel for 10 years has been an amazing experience. I don’t know what the future has in store, but I hope I can continue to be part of cPanel for many, many years to come. It’s been a ride of ups and downs, change and more change, but it has been rewarding in so many aspects. I never expected that I would be at cPanel this long, or that I would have gained as much knowledge and experience. And now that I have, it’s something I wouldn’t trade for anything. Here’s hoping I can write another article 10 years from now, so I can share more of my experiences and bore more people to tears!