HOSTSEARCH: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk with you today. Can you please tell us about your role at WebNet Hosting?
PJ TAEI: Thank you. It is my pleasure to speak with you.
As the CEO of WebNet Hosting, my primary role consists of working with clients to address their everyday needs as well as focusing on the R&D aspects of the company. I am also responsible for handling the day-to-day business operations of WebNet Hosting.
In its purest form, I oversee our technical support operations. Additionally, I spend a fair amount of time working with individual clients to solve their unique challenges in areas such as e-commerce development, customizing sites and stores to their individual needs as well as handling our reseller services.
HOSTSEARCH: So you have been with WebNet Hosting from the start. Maybe you can tell us more about the history of the company and how it has changed in the recent years?
PJ TAEI: Sure. WebNet Hosting first started as a reseller hosting firm in 2002. In 2004, we joined forces with Miva Merchant to become one of their Premier Hosting Partners. This partnership really allowed us to focus more on the e-commerce sector and providing our clients with reliable business hosting solutions and services with the Miva Merchant shopping cart software.
Since 2004, we have also become one of the major leaders in Miva Merchant reselling. Because of this, we are able to provide top-notch, e-commerce hosting and reliable business class web hosting services to businesses around the globe.
HOSTSEARCH: Miva Merchant is a great ecommerce tool and it's been on the market for a long time. You're a leader in this market. Can you please let us know more about your services and your secret of success?
PJ TAEI: Absolutely. With the new PA-DSS compliance standards becoming increasingly more and more enforced in the next year, Miva Merchant has distinguished itself as the leader since it is one of only a handful of online shopping cart programs to become PA-DSS compliant. Over the years, Miva Merchant has continued to be renowned as a safe, secure and trustworthy shopping cart.
We pride ourselves in providing our clients with reliable high speed Miva Merchant hosting. We have not only become a reliable Miva host but are also a one-stop shop for all of our clients' e-commerce needs. We provide our clients with everything from custom Miva development, SEO, credit card processing and, of course, Miva Merchant's renowned store design services. Since our inception, our key to success has been our one-stop shop concept, providing our clients with everything they need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
HOSTSEARCH: What do people expect from e-commerce hosting? What's the next trend to catch up to in the coming years?
PJ TAEI: In my experience, customers expect reliability and find comfort in a place where they can get all of their needs taken care of in a simple and timely manner - the one-stop shop concept. I have found that clients tend to become especially loyal when they can receive multiple products and services that are beneficial to them through just one vendor. Customers would much rather come to us to take care of all of their needs then have to go through multiple companies to reach their desired results.
The next trend to catch up to is the new mandatory PA-DSS and PCI compliancy standards, which will be enforced solely by the merchant account providers rather than the individual merchants themselves. I am inclined to believe this will bring about an entirely new series of shopping carts or stronger versions of existing shopping carts. With the new PA-DSS compliancy standards, it is clear, in my opinion, that in the future Miva Merchant will emerge as the leader in e-commerce shopping cart services.
HOSTSEARCH: How does the economy affect an e-commerce hosting provider like WebNet Hosting?
PJ TAEI: Thankfully, we have had one of our best years in 2009. This is mainly due to the fact that we have built a solid reputation for reliable Miva Merchant e-commerce hosting services. Typically, the reason that many of our clients transfer to us from other hosts is because they are unhappy and unsatisfied. Many times this is a result of their previous hosts discontinuing support of Miva Merchant and/or switching to other shopping cart programs. We are happy to help these customers move their entire Miva Merchant sites from their old host's servers to our servers completely free of charge and with no downtime. Not to mention that in most cases we upgrade them to the latest version of MM5.5 for free as well.
HOSTSEARCH: What can we expect to see from WebNet Hosting in the next 3 years?
PJ TAEI: We have a team of committed Miva experts and support staff here at WebNet Hosting. We will be focusing to a greater extent on the e-commerce hosting sector in the upcoming years and will continue to strengthen our support with Miva Merchant. With the new PCI Compliance standards coming out in 2010, I can assure you that we will adapt to all the forthcoming changes and will ensure that all of our clients will be operating under the most up to date PCI compliancy standards. With our expertise and the breadth of services we offer, we are poised to become a leader of reliable business class web hosting and Miva Merchant e-commerce hosting services in the future.
HOSTSEARCH: Thank you very much for the opportunity to talk with you today. We look forward to see your growth and talk with you again in the near future.
PJ TAEI: Thank you for your time and taking WebNet Hosting into consideration!
