Providence, Utah – (The Hosting News) – January 30, 2009 – Web hosting provider, WestHost Inc., according to an independent survey by Internet analysts at Netcraft, has been named a top hosting company, providing customers with the most reliable service.

WestHost credits much of its success to its longstanding relationship with Utah State University. While other hosting companies may use massive advertising budgets and catchy branding to build recognition and customer loyalty, Utah-based WestHost has quietly used its own secret weapon to become a world leader in hosting reliability. In fact, according to a recent survey by Netcraft, no hosting company on the planet beats WestHost for reliability — the single most important hosting metric. Netcraft, which began analyzing Internet technology in 1995, publishes an independent, unbiased monthly survey of web hosting companies. It is the oldest and most respected web survey in the industry.

For the past two months — November and December 2008 — WestHost has topped such industry giants as GoDaddy, Rackspace, web.com, Verio, and others. WestHost was also rated as most reliable hosting company twice earlier in 2008.

WestHost General Manager Brian Chambers gives much credit to a particularly talented pool of Utah State University students and graduates. Mr. Chambers explained, ”We have been hiring students from USU for the past 6 years. Many students start off with WestHost after just a year or two in school, complete internship credits with us, and have opportunities to advance in our company before they even graduate. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Students get great, hands-on experience and a foot in the door with our company, while we get the benefits of their intelligence, enthusiasm and education.”

Currently, over 60% of WestHost’s staff are either alumni or current students at USU, who fill many key roles at the company, such as general manager, IT manager, senior technical engineer, web design manager, and many other professional positions.

Mr. Chambers added, ”We’ve been fortunate to be able to build strong working relationships with several on-campus organizations. These relationships have helped us recruit talented students and graduates who are now able to enjoy successful and fulfilling careers in computers and technology without having to move away from Utah. We look forward to expanding our presence in the local community by offering more jobs to qualified applicants over the coming months.”

Mr. Chambers adds that it is especially pleasing to come out on top in Netcraft’s survey, because it shows that a 100% locally based company can thrive and excel in the highly competitive hosting industry.

Mr. Chambers offered, ”Our entire operation is here, in Utah, and all our staff is here, too. We haven’t had to outsource any of our services, and that all tells me that despite our size and location, we’ve succeeded in our goal of recruiting some of the brightest and most sought after talent in the industry.”

Mr. Chambers also says topping Netcraft’s survey twice in a row is a clear demonstration that the size of a hosting company and its ad budget are no guarantees that it provides customers with the most reliable service. Mr. Chambers concluded, ”We started out 10 years ago with the idea that focusing continually on what our customers want and need would help us refine our operations and provide the best possible service. I’m proud of the people who helped us achieve that.”

WestHost currently hosts over 70,000 sites — 90% of them for U.S. customers. The company employs more than 50 people at its Cache Valley hosting site, and has plans to continue expanding staff during 2009. WestHost’s data center is less than 100 miles from its headquarters, which means customer support is locally based. Chambers says that sharply decreases response times compared to companies with support operations based in far away countries.

To learn more, please visit: www.westhost.com.

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