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  1. #1
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    Is SWSoft on a buying Spree?

    Hello,

    I've just visted the SwSoft website. To my surprise they have acquired most of the Hosting Control Panel Software out there:

    They've already bought:

    1. Ensim Pro
    2. H-Sphere
    3. Helm

    and they already a creators of Plesk.

    May be am late in seeing this but, I can't believe my eyes. I guess only cPanel, DirectAdmin, Hosting Controller and few others are left

    What are SwSoft going to do with all those Control Panel? Make a new bloated Control Panel with every feature one wishes?
    One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

  2. #2
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    its quite scary actually - this is one place I would not like to see polarization or monopoly...
    Ditlev Bredahl. CEO,
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by eming View Post
    its quite scary actually - this is one place I would not like to see polarization or monopoly...
    It's really scary.

    They have issued press releases that they will continue to develop and support all these CPs but, I don't see that as practical.

    Eventually they'll say "That's it" we are offering a new CP with best of all worlds and come out with a bloated feature rich monster.

    I liked Plesk because of it's smaller footprint and least strain on resources.

    It really is scary. I wouldn't like to see a monopoly here.
    One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

  4. #4
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    They aren't creators of Plesk , but there are creators of Virtuozzo. Plesk was their early acquisition. Just wondering will they continue the acquisitions, there aren't many major ones left.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Boondeer View Post
    They aren't creators of Plesk , but there are creators of Virtuozzo. Plesk was their early acquisition. Just wondering will they continue the acquisitions, there aren't many major ones left.
    Hmm... I din't know that. Thanks for the info.

    But you are right, no major ones left for them to buy.
    One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

  6. #6
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    Yeah this is pretty disgusting to me. Plesk is "OK" and it's not the greatest. The other panels all have some benefits and/or drawbacks. Plesk is already kinda bloated if you have limited resources. Thank goodness for some of the opensource control panels.

    I would tend to agree with the position that maybe 1-2yrs from now, all of thee guys will be terminated for one new Plesk XL version that leeches parts from each of them. They really only leave who DirectAdmin, CPanel and a few smaller guys like ServerCP?

    It would be tragic to see the control panel market polarized.
    Last edited by LinologyNetworksLLC; 12-21-2007 at 09:40 AM.

  7. #7
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    That is if Swsoft does not buy over Hosting Controller or Directadmin, I feel Cpanel has enough base to fend off any take over, but the others are smaller and are easy targets.

  8. #8
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    I believe a monopoly in this market will allow the birth of a an open source control panel, which will be like the "firefox of hosting" , but it will take some time.

  9. #9
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    The barriers of entries aren't that high, it is possible. Internet is a big levelling field for big and small players alike.

    Quote Originally Posted by arbet View Post
    I believe a monopoly in this market will allow the birth of a an open source control panel, which will be like the "firefox of hosting" , but it will take some time.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by arbet View Post
    I believe a monopoly in this market will allow the birth of a an open source control panel, which will be like the "firefox of hosting" , but it will take some time.
    A lot of time infact
    One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Boondeer View Post
    The barriers of entries aren't that high, it is possible. Internet is a big levelling field for big and small players alike.
    The question is how will an open source control panel stand out in face of commercial competition. They will have to find a revenue stream similar to that of Firefox's revenue model.


    @Mikey: IMHO, if planned correctly, it will not take more than 1-2 years.

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    There already is an open source control panel.

  13. #13
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    cPanel won't get taken over, I hope hostingcontroller and DA stay independent too.

    Perhaps an open source panel will be born, and if done well, it will be better than all the current ones

    Quote Originally Posted by awsolutions View Post
    There already is an open source control panel.
    Enlighten us please ^^
    Afterburst - the best unmetered VPS - read why here!

  14. #14
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    they haven't got DotNetPanel yet

  15. #15
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    What amazes me is the fact that they've actually got the MONEY to buy all these companies, given the fact that they provide absolutely horrific support that I've seen from their company.

    It is a bit scary though to see these guys coming out and just buying everything up. I think CPanel would be safe, and I'd hope DA would as well, but god only knows what they'd do to get their hands on those control panels. Turn it all closed source so you have to use their proprietary (out of date) methods to setup the server, maybe?
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by awsolutions View Post
    There already is an open source control panel.
    There are many, webmin, ispconfig... But they are still unable to compete with commercial panels, imo.

    What amazes me is the fact that they've actually got the MONEY to buy all these companies, given the fact that they provide absolutely horrific support that I've seen from their company.
    I would like to understand too how they have all these resources , and still manage to allow such bad support.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by arbet View Post
    @Mikey: IMHO, if planned correctly, it will not take more than 1-2 years.
    Yeah! That's quite possible.

    There are many great Open Source projects out there. I hope an Open Source CP would be one of them
    One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

  18. #18
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    I personally think they bought positive soft just because of their Free VPS and them wanting to control more of the virtualization market, I don't really think they are going for a monopoly in the control panel aspect but more of a bigger foot to stand on against VMWare and Xen.


  19. #19
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    I personally think they bought positive soft just because of their Free VPS and them wanting to control more of the virtualization market, I don't really think they are going for a monopoly in the control panel aspect but more of a bigger foot to stand on against VMWare and Xen.
    Agree 100%. I think if they were going for a monopoly, they would have gone for the bigger panels. I think they're trying to get at some of the technology and then progress from there. If you're trying to create a monopoly, you're not going to skip over the #1 and #2 chief competitors.

  20. #20
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    Correct me if I am wrong, controlpanel companies typically aren't big operations, it takes a few liked minded programmers to start and maybe hire a few more as business grow. So even those famous brands that we identify with may be just a 10-50 men operations. It wouldn't be difficult for a cash rich company determined to have a strategic foothold in that industry to take over them.

  21. #21
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    And to further expand on that thought there are also numerous custom in-house solutions that are deployed out there. If the market gets to skinny, I think it's a very safe assumption to see a hosting company potentially look at launching their custom panel (a version of it anyway) as an alternative revenue stream.

    I think the moral of the story is that there is going to be competition one way or another.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyTech View Post
    I think the moral of the story is that there is going to be competition one way or another.
    I hope this happens.
    One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

  23. #23
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    In my opinion the only two server control panels worth dealing with are cPanel and Plesk (in that order) so who cares if they buy up all the other smaller ones such as DirectAdmin and Enism. But interesting to hear none the less and I'll be sure to keep an eye on this in the future.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by biohazardhosting View Post
    In my opinion the only two server control panels worth dealing with are cPanel and Plesk (in that order) so who cares if they buy up all the other smaller ones such as DirectAdmin and Enism. But interesting to hear none the less and I'll be sure to keep an eye on this in the future.
    I believe it's not about a panel's features, but it's about diversity. If there was only cPanel and Plesk, we might go from a monopoly to a duopoly, which is worse. Who knows...

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by arbet View Post
    I believe it's not about a panel's features, but it's about diversity. If there was only cPanel and Plesk, we might go from a monopoly to a duopoly, which is worse. Who knows...

    I totally agree with you on that and without all the competition cPanel and Plesk wouldn't be as good as they are...they are forced to always make theirselves better to stay ahead of the rest which is the great thing about it.

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