TL; DR: For the past 15 years, Contabo has been offering high-quality, affordable hosting to thousands of businesses worldwide. The company operates with the guiding principle that the “customer is king” and a dedication to instant service. With this hands-on, customer-focused approach, Contabo is able to immediately provide personalized support to help web entrepreneurs answer technical questions so they can get back to their core missions. The competitive online business landscape demands a robust hosting solution that meets the specific needs of an organization. And Contabo’s expansive datacenters and more than 5,000 servers deliver.
In 2003, Michael Herpich and Michael Bolke had a novel idea. The duo knew customer support in the hosting industry was less than stellar, so they joined forces and founded what would come to be known as Contabo — a top-notch, affordable hosting provider with a focus centered on customer care.
Nearly 15 years later, their concept has grown from a small office and a single server to multiple datacenters housing more than 5,000 machines.
“Contabo turned into a great success story,” said Markus Heimerl, Contabo’s Marketing Manager. “The approach to provide in-house, personal support generated a lot of public interest, and over the course of the next 14 years, our business grew at a rapid pace.”
Contabo offers high-quality hosting services with a focus on personalized customer support.
To stay competitive in today’s saturated hosting market, Contabo’s philosophy zeroes in on three core principles: offering discount prices, providing instant service, and putting the customer first. By establishing and nurturing customer relationships, Contabo sets itself apart as a cutting-edge host that still maintains its personal touch.
To keep up with an ever-increasing user base, Contabo recently built another major datacenter in Nuremberg, Germany. The space is large enough to accommodate 10,000 servers and will work to expand the company’s already robust shared, VPS, dedicated server, and colocation services.
Maintaining Pace With Growing Demand & Technological Change
Contabo anticipates demand for hosting will continue to grow as more businesses are born on the web. Contabo, a relatively small company, also faces unique challenges from much larger competitors in the global hosting space.
“The biggest challenge in the hosting industry is certainly the competition since we attract customers from all over the world,” Markus said. “In order to stay competitive, it is absolutely necessary to offer the best possible service — regarding both servers and customer support.”
Despite its humble origins, Contabo has been recognized for its streamlined infrastructure, managing to survive and thrive in the highly competitive market. Contabo recently received the 2017 German Data Center Award for increased datacenter efficiency. And the host plans to continue to strike the perfect balance between power and price that earned them that honor.
Contabo has expanded its offerings and provides modern businesses the hosting solutions they need to succeed.
“On the one hand, we aim to offer our customers the latest hardware in our top server models to stay ahead of the competition,” Markus said. “On the other, it is absolutely necessary for us to always seek improvements and make operation as cost-efficient as possible.”
Markus told us Contabo is able to offer its services at affordable prices due to its efficient infrastructure and dedicated customer service.
“We have to continue to do what we did in the past — offer the latest hardware specs at a low price and improve our additional services, server management, automation, and more,” he said.
Contabo’s uniquely thorough dedication to its customers allowed it to grow initially and continues to fuel its expansion.
Expansive Datacenters & 5,000+ Servers to Power Your Online Business
Contabo’s datacenters power thousands of business websites around the globe and allow the provider to offer a number of shared, VPS, and dedicated server hosting packages. The variety of the company’s solutions makes it possible for its customers to tailor hosting plans to meet their specific business needs. And, according to Markus, the cost at which Contabo offers these solutions is hard to beat.
“Businesses can save lots of money if they partner with us,” he said. “It’s easy to see by comparing our pricing model with that of our competitors.”
Contabo offers domain registration, as well as four tiers of shared hosting packages that all offer unlimited traffic. Contabo’s entry-level plan allows for 20 MySQL databases and 1,000 FTP users.
Contabo has grown from a small office and single server to operating multiple datacenters with more than 5,000 units.
As you move up the different pricing tiers, more features become available, including support for wikis, RSS, and social networking. Contabo’s premier package allows for 500GB of storage across three domains, as well as unlimited bandwidth, databases, and FTP accounts. All packages include one-click installation of more than 300 site builders and scripts, and compatibility with popular content management systems such as Joomla and WordPress.
For scaling businesses that have outgrown the shared hosting environment, Contabo offers easy migration to VPS and dedicated server hosting. The company’s dedicated servers feature lightning-fast CPUs and increased RAM and disk space, with some models featuring an impressive 10 cores and unlimited gigabit traffic. VPS plans are available in 100% SSD form or hybrid HDD/SSD configurations. Servers range from 300 GB and 100 Mbit/s speed to 2,000 GB (roughly 2TB).
According to Markus, Contabo’s dedicated servers can be customized with hard disk upgrades. The company’s top two servers (Dual Xeon and 10-Core) feature no disks in their basic configuration; however, customers are able to select the ones they’d like to add to their servers simply by clicking on Customize&Order when logged into their accounts. Colocation plans allow customers to house servers at Contabo’s numerous datacenters, which feature reliable connectivity, fixed prices, and year-round staffing.
Top-Tier Support That Places the Customer Front and Center
No matter the hosting package a business chooses, all Contabo customers enjoy the company’s famous personal and reliable support. Contabo works with its diverse customer base to choose the right plan for their individual needs.
This hands-on approach to service is rare in the hosting industry and is what made Contabo so successful. Markus told us it’s not the one-size-fits-all method that some providers take. Instead, Contabo is dedicated to listening to what customers need and providing an effective answer.
Much of Contabo’s success in the hosting industry is due to the company’s hands-on approach to customer support.
Contabo boasts some of the fastest and most responsive customer support in the business. In fact, providing instant service is one of the guiding principles on which the company operates.
“We are most proud of our company policy to offer each and every one of our customers a great support experience,” Markus said. “We excel in fast response times; no customer has to wait longer than two hours for email support during our regular business hours.”
Despite its rapid growth, Contabo has managed to maintain its small host feel by providing top-tier support and consultation. According to Markus, the company is committed to aiding customers every step of the way.
Dedicated to Serving Individual Needs Through Customized Servers
Contabo has grown from its modest beginnings of housing a single server thanks to its customer-focused business model. And this strategy continues to shape how the company approaches the market.
“In general, the entire hosting industry is one of the most exciting and fast-moving industries to work in,” Markus said. “There’s lots of competition, product improvements, and customers with individual setup requirements.”
Contabo offers clients with these unique requirements custom servers that are not part of its standard product line, he said. Whatever the specifications, Contabo will customize a solution.
“Whoever needs a special setup, just talk to us, and we will do our very best to match the requirements,” Markus said.
These setups may contain additional RAM, storage, and CPU power, and can even be collocated at one of Contabo’s many datacenters — something many hosts are not willing to do.
Reflecting on his time with Contabo, Markus is very impressed with the host’s story. He anticipates further growth in the future — both for Contabo and the hosting industry overall.
“The fact that we are still a young company is one of the reasons I wanted to work here,” Markus said. “Contabo turned into a great success, and I have the chance to leave my footprints here.”
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