TL; DR: The budget VPS market has been competitive from the start and unforgiving to companies unwilling to adapt. One company that has thrived through both changes in technology and ownership is ChicagoVPS, which offers VPS and other hosting solutions from its datacenters across the United States. The company is committed to keeping prices at levels that fit small business budgets while still providing robust services, state-of-the-art hardware, and responsive customer service.
The virtual private server (VPS) market was still relatively new when ChicagoVPS was founded in 2009. The technology was the next evolution of web hosting, and prices were high as demand had increased for well-performing servers with greater control and resources than that offered by shared hosting plans. For the founders of ChicagoVPS, it seemed like the right time to jump in and provide consumers with value.
“After researching what the costs would be to operate a VPS company, we saw a great opportunity to enter the market at reasonable prices while still offering a great product,” said Chris Fabozzi, Sales Manager at ColoCrossing, ChicagoVPS’ parent company.
ChicagoVPS soon became well-known for being the first host to offer a 2GB RAM VPS for $7 a month — when the going rate at the time was $20 per month or more. But the company has found success in making VPS more economical for all customers, in part, due to the resources it has available since its acquisition by parent company, VSNX (ColoCrossing), in 2015.
Since then, ChicagoVPS has had its eye on being a leader in the industry for both performance and value. Its offerings now include KVM-based VPS servers and dedicated servers across multiple markets. It also has an attentive customer service team, a self-service portal, and an informative blog.
The company excels in markets from coast to coast, with datacenters in Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Buffalo, Piscataway, NJ, and Atlanta, set to keep customers online and in business.
Meeting Business Needs with More Services and Faster Response Times
Businesses, whether small, mid-sized, or corporate level, often have things in common. One is that they’re always seeking better solutions and they need them quickly — and at the right price point. ChicagoVPS has always maintained highly competitive prices for all of its products, whether it’s shared hosting or cloud VPS. At the same time, the company makes expanding its services in both quality and quantity a priority.
“Not only are we offering a rock solid product at low prices, but we also continue to improve and innovate,” Chris said.
Reliability is another area where the company always strives to become better. Customers rely on networks to continue running continuously without downtime. The technical team at ChicagoVPS provides that reliability. Whenever a problem is evident, the team gets to work and makes necessary fixes so that the problem never shows up on its customers’ radar.
“Short of hardware failure, we haven’t had any network or power downtime in many years across all of our locations,” Chris said. “With our high attention to monitoring and reporting, we can remedy issues before the client even notices them — saving time talking with our support team.”
ChicagoVPS automates nearly all of the processes related to its servers, which is key to maintaining quality service for a high volume of customers. Meeting customer expectations can be a challenge because they are always on the rise — but ChicagoVPS still finds ways to deliver.
“Customers today expect things fast, and if we can’t do it fast, they’ll find someone that can,” Chris said.
Powerful Hardware and Customer Service Make the Difference
Although the VPS industry is highly competitive, ChicagoVPS seems to have found a sweet spot in allocating resources for success. Company leadership understands that the quality and value of its offerings go hand in hand with providing customer service when it’s expected.
“The budget VPS industry has been a tough market to compete in,” Chris said. “As prices continue to drop, the customer still expects more features to be included.”
Staying on top of what’s in demand and researching the latest advancements in networks and servers are integral parts of ChicagoVPS’ business strategy. If customers find a lack of options or outdated hardware, they’ll look elsewhere.
“Ensuring ChicagoVPS has the most up-to-date hardware has helped us compete in these markets,” Chris said. “With more powerful hardware, we can have higher densities on our servers while still maintaining performance.”
Hosting plans at ChicagoVPS come with robust features that help websites run efficiently and open up opportunities for customization. Its cloud VPS service plans start at just $15 per year and include an easy control panel and Windows Remote Desktop for access anywhere. Dedicated servers have high-performance DDoS mitigation, adaptive firewalls, and integrated threat management. Customers can access around-the-clock support and a wealth of resource materials whenever needed.
“Additional services and products are also essential. We wanted to move away from providing a VPS and transition into providing a solution,” Chris said.
“People Are Everything” — How Employees Add Value to the Company
With the advances in hosting technology and services that ChicagoVPS is bringing to market, it relies heavily on a dedicated team of support and technical staff.
“People are everything. Without good employees that care, you will not have success,” Chris said.
Live chat and phone assistance are also available to customers 24/7, and the team can help with any need. Best of all, ChicagoVPS customer service representatives are passionate about their jobs.
“There is nothing more rewarding than having a client come to us in a time of need and helping them fix the issue and get their IT needs back in order.” — Chris Fabozzi, Sales Manager at ColoCrossing, ChicagoVPS’ parent company
“Our team goes above and beyond what is required, and they’re happy to do it,” Chris said. “Our amazing prices and support are the driving factors that keep ChicagoVPS clients loyal long term.”
Working directly with customers isn’t the only way the company helps its customers keep websites up and running. In a blog post titled, “The Best Customer Service is No Customer Service… Sort Of,” the company notes that offering customers an accessible self-service solution is a highly effective way to help them. The company keeps a robust knowledgebase portal where customers can quickly find solutions to common issues.
“There is nothing more rewarding than having a client come to us in a time of need and helping them fix the issue and get their IT needs back in order,” Chris said.
Keeping an Ear to the Ground: The ChicagoVPS Approach to Development
While the VPS market has grown exponentially since 2009, companies that don’t adapt often fall by the wayside. ChicagoVPS is an organization that has thrived in the industry because it has maintained a laser-like focus on value, customer service, and technology upgrades.
By listening to client feedback about the service, and proactively addressing their needs, ChicagoVPS has built a strong following of customers who appreciate its commitment.
“We take customer feedback very seriously. If someone opens a support ticket and suggests something, we review it internally and see if it can be a benefit to our entire customer base,” Chris said.
Businesses today also need their servers to remain secure and protected, so ChicagoVPS deploys four layers of security at each datacenter to ensure that attacks can’t penetrate its systems. In addition to ironside hardware, other measures, including armed security staff, visitor screening, two-factor authentication scanners, and recorded CCTV video surveillance, protect customers from potential threats.
The company researches innovations and new products to keep up with the ever-changing market and deliver products that meet needs customers haven’t thought of yet.
“ChicagoVPS wants to continue offering robust solutions and combining products that solve problems and needs — not just maintaining a generic, out-of-the-box VPS,” Chris said. “We’ll continue to add solutions that make IT easy and relatable for small businesses.”
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