Web Hosting Interview - HostForWeb February 2004

Web Hosting Interview - HostForWeb February 2004

Alex Korneyev, President of HostForWeb Inc.

We had a chance to interview with Alex Korneyev of HostForWeb Inc. - a company that's well-succeeded in low cost hosting market.

  • HOSTSEARCH: Thank you for an interview opportunity. Can you please tell HostSearch readers about yourself and your day-to-day role with HostForWeb.com?
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: My role at HostForWeb is to over see day to day  financial and technical operations at the company and to ensure that our customers are satisfied with our support and offers.

    As President of HostForWeb I am responsible for both the financial and operational functions of HostForWeb.  To put it briefly, it is my job to ensure that all our customers are satisfied with our support and subscription offers and that HostForWeb maintains the financial strength to continue our fast growth and improved product offerings.
  • HOSTSEARCH: You're competing in low cost hosting market. This market is quite large and very competitive. How do you differentiate your company and products?
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: We differentiate ourselves by ensuring that we have the best support, best hardware, and best data center for the network connectivity that has been the Achilles heal of our competition.  We can confidently provide this level of service because all functions of HostForWeb (support, technical, and financial) are carried out by HostForWeb employees and not subcontracted to the lowest bidder.

    Clients with support needs don't have to worry about continuously changing support personnel who need to be brought up-to-date each time they contact the support department.  This differentiates HostForWeb from other companies that outsource their support to companies that hire low paying technicians and provide, at best, barely adequate support.  My staff is intimately involved in making decisions that are vital to the financial strength of HostForWeb.  They understand that HostForWeb and our clients are partners that depend on each other to survive and grow.  I believe that this approach empowers my employees and that they have a personal interest in each and every customer.  This facilitates the best customer support possible and permits HostForWeb's turn over rate to remain below 10%.  

    We understand that every customer is different, yet time is valuable to all.  Therefore, we at HostForWeb have strived to make support interaction as easy and pain-free as possible.  Our customers can contact our support staff in three ways: LivePerson, phone support and tickets.  While other companies have phased out live phone support, we continue to believe that phone is a fundamental part to any successful support package because it provides the quickest way to get 1-on-1 answers.  For those customers who do not require next minute answers, but still need a timely response, we are proud to offer a 20 minute guaranteed response to any support ticket submitted over the internet.
  • HOSTSEARCH: What are good and bad things of being a player in the low cost market?
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: HostForWeb chose to concentrate on the low cost hosting market because we believe that this is the most exciting, fast-paced, innovative market in the internet industry.  Because of the tremendous growth opportunities and constantly changing technologies, we firmly believe that a relatively young company, like HostForWeb, can distinguish ourselves and grow into a market leader.  The downside about this new and exciting market is that there are many other companies that are in the business to make a quick buck who do not always have the integrity of a HostForWeb.  This ends up hurting the entire industry in terms of pricing pressures and customer confidence loses.
  • HOSTSEARCH: Who do you see as your major competitors?
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: This market is too saturated to identify a single  competitor.
  • HOSTSEARCH: You have several products offered at HostForWeb.com. Can you tell us which one is the best selling?
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: We had enormous success with our Basic package. It offers the best combination of pricing and features.
  • HOSTSEARCH: After years of success in the low cost market, what's next for HostForWeb.com?
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: HostForWeb is going to continue expanding in its operations in the low cost market. However, we are also going to be introducing some other packages, for those customers that have grown beyond a low cost solution and are looking for a more enterprise level solution. With this in mind, we are going to be introducing Virtual Servers at the end of the first quarter. We are also expanding into dedicated servers market. Our plan is to continue offer excellent deals to our low cost market customers, as well as business customers.
  • HOSTSEARCH: Where do you see the web hosting industry as a whole in five years time?
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: We foresee tremendous growth as the internet cements itself into the fabric of everyday business life.  Within five years, just about every business, including small and medium business, will need to have a presence on the web.  This is where we see HostForWeb's future, providing first rate support, infrastructure, and most of all pricing for tomorrow's small and medium business hosting needs.

  • HOSTSEARCH: Thank you very much for an interview opportunity with you today.
    HOSTFORWEB.COM: Pleasure is all ours; we are looking forward to long and fruitful relationship between HostForWeb and HostSearch's clients.

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