12 minutes reading time (2401 words)

Meet The Joomla Global Sponsors

Meet The Joomla Global Sponsors

This month we asked our Joomla Global Platinum Sponsors some questions about what attracted them to the project as supporters at this level, and how they felt in regards to the project itself, the community, and the benefits of being a Joomla Sponsor. We also wanted to get to know them better and get a better understanding of how they are connected to Joomla, and learn more about the services they offer.

 

How long have you been offering Joomla related hosting and services?

A2 Hosting - During June, we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary of hosting LAMP-based websites! We’ve had many Joomla sites on our hosting over that time. We officially started supporting Joomla in 2005 with the first release of our 1-click Joomla installer, and we became a Global Platinum Sponsor in March of this year.

Arvixe Hosting - Since June 2003

InMotion Hosting - InMotion Hosting has been involved in the Open Source space since our inception back in 2001, so we’ve technically been offering Joomla related hosting services since it was formed.

What initially attracted you to the Joomla Project?

A2 Hosting - We like hosting open source software packages that have a powerful community and dedicated developers behind them. Joomla is a great example of having both. The community is amazing and supportive of their users, regardless of their skill level. The development team keeps the platform updated and secure, which is critical for us as a hosting company. Outdated software is a security risk, and Joomla has made great strides in making it easier for people to keep their installations patched and up-to-date. It makes it easier to recommend Joomla when our customers ask us about which CMS would be a good fit for them.

Arvixe Hosting - Arvixe has always been a huge supporter of developers, software behind the developers, and open source communities. Partnering with the Joomla Project was a no brainer.  Joomla's thriving community and the impressive growth of the software are definitely things Arvixe wishes to be a part of for years to come.

InMotion Hosting - We started seeing a lot of users migrating over to Joomla from other CMS platforms, so it opened our eyes to the growth potential of the Project. That and the fact that the Project was really driven by community members was really an intriguing model.

What types of Joomla services do you offer?

A2 Hosting - We primarily provide Joomla hosting, which we can host at any scale - small, beginner Joomla sites up to large, enterprise-level VPS Hosting and dedicated server installs. Our support staff provides Joomla site migration and some basic Joomla troubleshooting for our users. We also offer Joomla one-click installations through our Softaculous installer, making it very easy for novice users to get up-and-running on Joomla with very little effort.

Arvixe Hosting - Shared Personal, Shared Business, Managed VPS, and Managed Dedicated hosting solutions.

InMotion Hosting - We cater virtually to the entire user base, from beginners who want a simple shared hosting account, to developers and larger companies who may need a VPS or Dedicated environment. We have a solution for virtually any hosting requirement.
In addition, we have an entire support section dedicated to Joomla! FAQs and How-Tos. Regardless of whether you are our customer or not, it is easy to go through our Knowledge Base to find an answer for your Joomla! related issue.

What activities do you do that support the Joomla Project and the Joomla Community?

A2 Hosting - Our Community Brand Manager, Andy Melichar, has been a Joomla developer since before Joomla was Joomla. He’s active in the Joomla Forums answering questions whenever he can, and has begun contributing some extensions to the Joomla community on behalf of A2 Hosting. Say ‘Hi’ if you see him! His forum username is ‘andymelichar’

Arvixe Hosting - Arvixe sponsors the Joomla Project by being a Global sponsor. We also hire a liaison who writes “how-to” blog articles and ensures that any issues relating to Joomla within the Arvixe and Joomla communities are handled--receiving the proper attention they deserve.

Customers and non-customers alike can view the blog articles posted by our liaison at http://blog.arvixe.com/category/cpanel/joomla-open-source-software/

Arvixe has also been the sponsor of the Joomla World Conference and Joomla Day NC. We are excited to sponsor more community driven activities in the future to give back to the community.

InMotion Hosting - We are currently a Platinum Global Sponsor for the Joomla! Project, and we were a Gold Sponsor for the Joomla! World Conference in 2012. We are planning to be a part of the Conference in 2013 as well.

Currently, what is your favorite thing about the Joomla Project?

A2 Hosting - We go back to our love of the community - it’s a very active and supportive community, which makes being a sponsor of the project that much more rewarding for us.

Arvixe Hosting - The Joomla Project has a large and supportive community that compliments a strong leadership and governance team. The project has a solid foundation that keeps the integrity of the project as the #1 priority. On top of great leadership, every day, we are happy to see all of the committed contributors that have helped build one of the largest and most successful free open source CMS’s around the world.

The growth of the project is ultimately dependent on the quality of the product. Recent developments in organization and support of the volunteer developer force at Joomla continue to make a great positive impact on the product. And that's definitely something to love.

InMotion Hosting - I would have to say that the people involved are the best aspect. When you meet and talk to those involved, you can easily see the passion and motivation behind the Project and why it’s been so successful.  Being involved and a part of the Project is rewarding on its own as well. We know that there are many companies wanting to get their foot in the door and be more involved with the organization, so we are proud to be an integral part of the growth process.

How has the Joomla Project been financially rewarding to your company?

A2 Hosting - Once the Joomla community really looks into our SwiftServer Hosting platform and our blazing fast SSDs, they’ll see how we can boost the performance of their sites. That’s when I foresee the Joomla Project being quite financially rewarding. Being a sponsor isn’t necessarily about financial rewards though, it’s about being actively involved and contributing to the Joomla Community. We’ve only been a Global Platinum Sponsor for a few months, but again, we’ve been offering Joomla Hosting since the launch of Joomla.

Arvixe Hosting - The Joomla Project has brought us thousands of customers.  More importantly, such a large Joomla user base has given us additional insight on what individuals and the community want. Therefore, over the years, Arvixe has adapted our services to fit the personalized wants and needs  of the Joomla customer base with things such as pre-loaded Joomla setup so that you can get started with Joomla right away.

InMotion Hosting - Honestly, we haven’t put a dollar amount to the ROI yet. We want to build the relationship and trust with the user base before we start marketing. The Joomla! Project is totally community driven, so there will be a lot of push back if we were just a marketing company. Through the Knowledge Base and support, we hope to build a reputation as an authoritative source for Joomla! related hosting. This is not an overnight process and may take years to develop before it is financially rewarding. Our goal is to be involved and a part of the Project for years to come.

What percentage of your business would you say is “Joomla” related?

A2 Hosting - As you can imagine this number is difficult to quantify, but Joomla is certainly one of the most popular software solutions installed on our servers. We offer a handful of software solutions that are most popular amongst our customers that can be auto-installed right from our shopping cart. Obviously we offer this option for Joomla users.

Arvixe Hosting - About 4%-5% of our customers are using services related to Joomla.

InMotion Hosting - Decline to answer

As a Joomla Platinum Sponsor, what would you say to others that are currently considering to be a sponsor of the Joomla Project?

A2 Hosting - Don’t do it! We want Joomla all to ourselves!! All joking aside, Joomla is a great partner, and we recommend to anyone interested in joining the partner program, to jump right in.

Arvixe Hosting - It's important to note that the sponsorship is rewarding throughout the life cycle of the relationship. And the benefits grow over time. For anyone considering to become a sponsor, we strongly recommend to get in early and reap the rewards as you build a stronger connection with the community and those who impact the community in a positive way.

InMotion Hosting - I would say that it is definitely a long term effort. If you’re planning to do it for a year and see the direct results, it may be a bit hard to justify. But if you are truly vested in the Project and its users, then make sure you are involved in much more than just monetary sponsorship. You want to make sure you have the service and support to help the end users.

What makes your company stand out different and unique from others that offer similar services related to Joomla?

A2 Hosting - There are a lot of hosting companies out there - and what sets us apart is our commitment to performance and reliability. We are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve the speed and reliability of our hosting - and recently launched SSD hosting across our entire product line. Solid State Drives can speed up your page load speeds by up to 300%, which is rather significant. We are also a partner with CloudFlare, when added to our SSD hosting, the combination of the two can make a Joomla site incredibly responsive and speedy.

Arvixe Hosting - Specifically for Joomla, we offer some of the latest tools to make it easier for developers to build and maintain their sites -
        Preloaded installations of Joomla on account order
        Automated notifications when a new version of Joomla is out
        Community liaison who contributes 5-10 blog posts a month @ http://blog.arvixe.com/category/cpanel/joomla-open-source-software/  and continues to help around in the community by resolving any and all issues concerning our services
        Access to our QA and management team at qa .at. Arvixe.com
        Transparency! We publish our survey results to https://www.arvixe.com/survey/results/  so you can gauge our customers' thoughts on our services first hand.

The above is alongside all of the usuals you would expect from a world class hosting company, which is what we call the Arvixe Advantage -

60 day money back guarantee
99.9% Site Uptime
24 Hour Live Chat & Phone Support
Free Website Transfer
Returning Customer Discounts
No Hidden Fees
Automatic Setup

InMotion Hosting - The hosting industry is still in its infancy and most people can’t tell the difference between a generic hosting service and ours. InMotion Hosting is a professional brand aimed at small-mid size businesses and serious individuals. We offer many features that other providers will charge extra for, such as automated backups and your choice of data center location. We offer a 1 Click Installation of Joomla! via Softaculous, and the full suite of hosting solutions, from Shared all the way up to the Enterprise level, which many other hosts don’t offer. This is critical to a business because what happens when you are on a shared platform with a provider and you outgrow their resources? They will tell you to find another provider. We have a solution for everyone and can accommodate no matter their needs.

If you could get the entire Joomla Community into a single room, and you had the stage, what would you say?

A2 Hosting - THANKS and keep up the good work! Joomla is a great partner, and it’s because of the entire community coming together to build a strong, reliable open source product. We’re proud to be part of the Joomla community.

Arvixe Hosting - Just Try Arvixe! And you'll never go back. The Hosting community is saturated with businesses trying to differentiate themselves.  We don't just try to differentiate ourselves but also go the extra mile to give back to the very communities that have supported our growth to date by making our product the best it can be for their use cases. The unique features listed in the previous answer really talk toward our willingness to go the extra mile.

Also, I was just listed under Inc's 30 under 30 @ http://www.inc.com/30under30/kimberly-weisul/arvixe-arvand-sabetian-2013.html and the video definitely features the Joomla logo :)

InMotion Hosting -  I would ask everyone to get along. It is very difficult to have members from all across the Globe come to a consensus on an issue, so it can take a lot longer than needed to move forward with a plan or idea. Although no one likes being dictated, the community may want to tighten up the board to a smaller set that represents the different groups involved. Although everyone is already deciding with the end users in mind, it can have a negative effect on the Project if it takes too long to move forward because of internal differences.

We would like to publicly thank our sponsors and partners of all levels. Without you this project would not be able to be succesful and have such a large ecosystem surrounding it without your help.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know our Joomla Global Sponsors this month. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the Joomla Project please do not hesitate to inquire at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

0
Training Your Clients with Video - Part 4
 

Comments

Already Registered? Login Here
No comments made yet. Be the first to submit a comment

By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://magazine.joomla.org/