New Zealand-Based RimuHosting — Striving to Help Tech-Savvy Businesses Across the Globe Put Down Their Roots for Strong Online Growth

TL; DR: Based in Cambridge, New Zealand, RimuHosting has aimed to help businesses stand tall among their competition since 2003. The company’s flexible and reliable virtual, reseller, and dedicated solutions are catered to sysadmins and developers and backed by 24/7 knowledgeable support. With datacenters in the US, Australia, England, Germany, and New Zealand, RimuHosting customers have access to infrastructure solutions across the globe.

The Rimu tree, an evergreen conifer native to New Zealand, has an average lifespan of 800 to 900 years. When fully grown, the tree reaches heights of up to 165 feet, its crown frequently towering above the forest canopy.

As the second most common tree in the region, the Rimu is a staple of New Zealand’s lush forests. It’s also how New Zealand-based RimuHosting got its name.

“We think of the Rimu tree as a company philosophy,” said Simon Davies, Sales Consultant at RimuHosting. “We serve as the main trunk, and the branches that come out of it are representative of our customers.”

There’s one major flaw in this analogy, but it works in the company’s favor. Whereas the Rimu tree is known for its slow maturation rate, RimuHosting has experienced rapid growth. In fact, the company earned a spot on Deloitte New Zealand’s Fast 50 list — an honor recognizing and celebrating high-achieving startups — in both 2008 and 2011.

Today, RimuHosting is aiming to ensure that sysadmins and developers all over the world can leverage the company’s firmly rooted infrastructure — including reliable virtual, reseller, and dedicated server options — to their advantage. With datacenters spanning the globe and 24/7 high-level support, they’re well on their way to achieving that goal.

Though RimuHosting’s headquarters are in Cambridge, New Zealand, the company’s main datacenter is located in Dallas, with additional facilities in Auckland, New Zealand; as well as Australia, Germany, and England.

“We have a mixture of regional customers, a good amount in the states, and then quite a few in Europe as well,” Simon said. “It’s been really cool to watch our diverse customer base continue to grow.”

Each datacenter has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a reliable infrastructure provider, including a redundant uninterruptible power supply, a backup generator, closed-circuit monitoring, a redundant air conditioning system, card key access, security guards on duty 24/7, and around-the-clock server monitoring.

And, if anything does go wrong, RimuHosting’s 24/7 support staff are available to step in. “We have live chat, so customers can just pop in and we’ll see their request immediately,” Simon said. “We’ll jump right in and solve their problems — and they will get to interact with the same staff members who actually set up the server.”

Simon said RimuHosting doesn’t believe in the tiered customer support model — and that’s a good thing for customers. Instead, the company’s support staff are all high-level techs who focus on making customers’ lives easier, no matter what problem they have.

“Similar organizations have different support levels, but we go straight to the source,” Simon said. “I’ve read through some of the testimonials customers have written, and I know I may be biased, but it was inspirational. They talk about the service we brought them as opposed to waiting for help, which instantly triggers frustration. That’s where we stand out.”

As of 2017, there were an estimated 8.4 million datacenters across the globe. These days, standing out in a sea of hosting providers and attracting new customers is a tall order — but it’s certainly not impossible.

“The market’s become much more saturated,” Simon said. “Given the competition, we pride ourselves in making sure our customer service and reliability are top-notch. Our goal is to stand shoulders above the rest.”

For RimuHosting, Simon told us that means offering 24/7 customer support; a 99.9% uptime service level agreement; a 30-day, money-back guarantee; and flexible hosting services ranging from virtual and reseller options to dedicated servers. “It’s a multipronged approach,” he said.

Simon said the company maximizes VPS performance by limiting the number of servers per CPU core. At a minimum, each VPS comes with a guaranteed 480Mhz of processing power. In addition, RimuHosting’s CPU usage averages at only 16% — meaning that the servers aren’t fully loaded and will thus be more responsive.

Customers looking for more memory, disk space, CPU, and bandwidth may opt for RimuHosting’s dedicated server options via datacenters in Auckland, Brisbane, Dallas, and London. The company also features a VPS-on-dedicated hosting option in which the server’s memory, disk space, CPU, and disk I/O are all dedicated solely to the customer’s VPS.

Other customers, such as web designers looking to host their clients’ sites, may turn to the company’s reseller offerings. If you aren’t sure what plan is best for you, Simon recommends filling out a feedback form or getting in touch with support staff via live chat.

Simon told us RimuHosting often attracts developers and sysadmins looking for a robust service catered toward tech lovers. “We’re always going to give you all the information you need, and I think that appeals to the higher-end users who appreciate knowing about technical details,” he said.

Are you a self-professed Linux geek? For experienced users or those looking to experiment with the operating system, RimuHosting offers hosting plans that serve as an alternative to tooling with a Linux server at home. With root access to a dedicated Linux server running an up-to-date Linux kernel, Simon told us the company’s VPS hosting plans give users an opportunity to exercise their skills.

“Low price points are always great, but our customers know you have to look at the whole package,” Simon said. “Our staff are made up of geeks, and our clients are geeks, and they appreciate great service. We’re all in the same headspace.”

According to Simon, that’s how RimuHosting has garnered a reputation for great support. “We really pride ourselves on getting a hold of high-level problems and resolving them as quickly as we can,” he said. “I think that serves as our differentiator.”

Other differentiators, according to RimuHosting, include the fact that the company’s average customer has been loyal for at least 18 months, 19 out of 20 customers remain with the company after the first two months, 60% of new business comes via word of mouth, and staff respond to most support requests within two minutes.

When it comes to product development, Simon told us customer feedback is the guiding light. “In this climate, if you’re not listening to your customers, you’re doing them a disservice,” he said. “We take note of all feedback, good and bad, because bad feedback is good in a sense — if you turn it around, it’s a learning experience.”

To that end, Simon said the company takes an open-minded approach to innovation. “If your customers are honest with you, you should listen to them,” he said. “We try to help our customers in any way we can to make their hosting service work the way they need it to.”

Of course, RimuHosting carefully considers each suggestion and the effect any systemwide change could have on customers.

“But we’re not going to be completely rigid and say, ‘That goes against company policy,’” he said. “We’re not just here offering you a service — we’re kind of in a partnership with you. If you have a problem, we’re going to work with you to solve it.”

With that kind of service, RimuHosting lives up to its name.