I am looking for any positive or negative comments for an automated private labelled reseller solution. I am presently looking at the following:

Wild West Domains (godaddy)
resellerclub
dotster
enom's PDQIf there is anyone else I should be looking at ?
The main things I am looking for: decent features for windows hosting customers (preinstalled components are allways helpful), billing and support.

I am web designer with a few hundred hosting clients I am running on a dedicated server.
I like the flexability, but I cannot keep up with the support for my customers and the billing paperwork.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

httpsolution.com

I can tell you that GoDaddy does not give much room for innovation or anything of your OWN business for that matter.

Sounds like you need a billing automated software solution and end user support on a reliable platform which will allow you to resell domains.

From experience I can tell you that HELM offers a great solution for Windows reselling. Find a host that supports HELM and mostly everything will be taken care of for you (including billing).

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Hi

Agreed with the above post about HELM, also third party billing systems such as Modernbill can be used with mutliple control panels to provide a automated solution.

We use modernbill and find it works well.

I have used Helm, although it was a long time ago. And it is good, billing and control panel in one. The billing side also supports most payment gateways if I remember right.

you have a dedicated server, and a few hundred hosting customers. that's too good to give up.

have you considered hiring a combined server admin/support company? you can have a company handle the server issues/updates and the customer support. all that's left is the billing.

then do some things to simplify the billing, and see how it goes. things like using paypal subscriptions as much as possible, or having customers pay six months at a time

you have a dedicated server, and a few hundred hosting customers. that's too good to give up.

have you considered hiring a combined server admin/support company? you can have a company handle the server issues/updates and the customer support. all that's left is the billing.

then do some things to simplify the billing, and see how it goes. things like using paypal subscriptions as much as possible, or having customers pay six months at a time

I agree with hiring server admin/support company aswell as seeing about managed service if on a box. However everything on GoDaddys reseller is all hosted applications, I think the rest are hosted aswell.

Thanks for the feedback so far.
We ARE using HELM (v3) at the moment, and understandably if I give up control, I know I will give up a serious profit margin. My personal opinion of HELM is lukewarm. I was hoping there would have been a migration tool that came with the launch of version 4. As I understand it, the architechture is different.

I was just wondering if anyone had tried the "fully hosted" solutions and what kind of luck they had.

I want to ensure we concentrate on our core business: design & custom application development. However, I do not want to "refer" customers to another site through banners. I was hoping to have something I can brand as my own.

Keep the feedback coming, I appreciate it very much.


httpsolution.com

Probably Mosso or an H-Sphere provider would fit in your needs...

My personal opinion of HELM is lukewarm. I was hoping there would have been a migration tool that came with the launch of version 4. As I understand it, the architechture is different.[/SIZE][/FONT]

Just so you know there IS a migration tool in Beta at present and many of our customers in our forums are testing it right now. The full release should be out shortly once we're sure people are happy with how it works.

Probably Mosso or an H-Sphere provider would fit in your needs...

Mosso sounds like an interesting offering, but from their own site they claim to not support SSL-enabled sites. In my book that's a show stopper. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this project from rackspace.com shapes up.

CD Burnt : you mentionned hiring a combined server admin/support company ?
Any reccomendations?

httpsolution.com

There are certainly alot of admin/support companies on WHT alone that can handle your needs. Try looking around the offers section or even try to Google it.

Just so you know there IS a migration tool in Beta at present and many of our customers in our forums are testing it right now. The full release should be out shortly once we're sure people are happy with how it works.

Just to add to Marks words, this is true, the migration tool is in beta, those who have Helm 4 can access the beta tool to try it, it can be found in \Helm4\tools\ folder on their installation path. The tool migrates allot of settings but not all, (ie billing).

Mosso sounds like an interesting offering, but from their own site they claim to not support SSL-enabled sites. In my book that's a show stopper. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this project from rackspace.com shapes up.

CD Burnt : you mentionned hiring a combined server admin/support company ?
Any reccomendations?

httpsolution.com

Touch Support now offers Windows Administration Support and I believe they would consider Plesk or Helm.

Considering your current opinion of Helm if you do look at options I would recommend looking at Plesk.

As for billing you might look at ModernBill. Although there is a learning curve it supports both Helm and Plesk.

Mosso sounds like an interesting offering, but from their own site they claim to not support SSL-enabled sites. In my book that's a show stopper. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this project from rackspace.com shapes up.


They offer SSL for some months now and it is in beta - I suppose they should officially launch this service very soon.

Hello All,

We use Web Hosting Management Complete Solution (WHMCS). This working with servers and creates accounts in WHM on successfull payment via a load of gateways.

The Support is done via the client area or via emails which is forwarded onto the system using piping.

I give WHMCS 10/10 great installation and easy setup cheap at $13.95 a month.

Just to add to Marks words, this is true, the migration tool is in beta, those who have Helm 4 can access the beta tool to try it, it can be found in \Helm4\tools\ folder on their installation path. The tool migrates allot of settings but not all, (ie billing).

Without being able to convert my existing billing, I guess that puts me further behind than I am now. I guess I'll have to wait some more while I research other options.

Mark: I also read some posts on Helm's site referring to the fact that not all the modules that were available in version 3 were completed for version 4. Do you have any timeframes ? Or is this no longer an issue. Also what about the add-ons like "Red Fox" are those supported?

httpsolution.com

httpsolution, touchsupport.com is one of the companies I had in mind. give them a call and see what can be worked out.

Mark: I also read some posts on Helm's site referring to the fact that not all the modules that were available in version 3 were completed for version 4. Do you have any timeframes ? Or is this no longer an issue. Also what about the add-ons like "Red Fox" are those supported?

Should no longer be an issue, but do let me know if there's something missing that you require.

We'll be launching something special soon that will see Helm support more new modules that you can shake a stick at ;-)

I was hoping there would have been a migration tool that came with the launch of version 4. As I understand it, the architechture is different.

I wouldn't recommend moving to HELM4 just yet, there still seem to be quite the list of bugs -- and the migration tool doesn't bring over many of the important details.

I wouldn't recommend moving to HELM4 just yet, there still seem to be quite the list of bugs..

Actually, the very regular updates have taken care of all the important issues already. There's always pleny of things to change and we're constantly including new enhancements suggested in our forum (http://forums.webhostautomation.com) but most bugs now are non-critial. Not bad considering Helm 4 has been out for less than 2 months!

If you're looking to set up Helm 4 from scratch or manually migrating then there's no problem with doing so now. If you're a Helm 3 user and want to simply upgrade without setting up a new/clean setup then you should wait until the migration tool is fully released.

Why would he need server administration companies for a reseller account? For that matter, why bother going with a 3rd party solution for end-user support, when there's more and more hosts offering it. Granted, some hosts don't have the greatest support, but the whole point of going with one that offers end-user support is to never have to worry about a delay in getting things resolved.

With a 3rd party answering your tickets, all they'll do is submit a ticket for you at your current host. You're adding an extra layer there, one that isn't needed provided you choose your hosting provider properly.

Why would he need server administration companies for a reseller account? For that matter, why bother going with a 3rd party solution for end-user support, when there's more and more hosts offering it.

I have to agree. Besides, my dedicated server provider offers "Hardware" tech support.

I have tried a few control panels and reseller accounts. Not interested. There has allways been one thing or another that does not work right. I was truly looking for something "Plug and Play" so that my customers who have basic needs can serve themselves. Being a developper first, we develop with a lot of components to give our clients custom applications. I have not found any reliable hosting providers that would alow you to install whatever you needed whenever you wanted. (Unless your in a dedicated or VPS environment).

I plan to continue to operate both.
An automated storefront so customers can go with a self-serve approach and then continue with the current CUSTOM solutions.

So I continued my search with the origianl list of prospects.
- Go Daddy (Wild West Domains)
- ResellerClub
- enom
- mosso
- dotster

I have tried to contact them all.
I have been able to easily get a hold of sales people at Go Daddy, Mosso, and Dotser. Not at the other two. In my opinion, if you cannot easily get a hold of the sales department, then it does not bode well.

I phoned enom, the automated machine told me there was a wait time of 3 seconds, then I got transferred to a voicemail. :nervous:

Mosso sounds like a great platform, however this one has no storefront like the other options.

Does anyone have any experience with these automated storefronts ?

httpsolution.com