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  1. #1
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    Jan 2009
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    [Review] PlatinumServerManagement.com

    So we have been using PSM for part of our server management tasks in the following categories.

    New Server Setups From Scratch
    cPanel/Fantastico Installs
    Server Hardening/Software Firewall Layer
    Software Installation/Upgrading

    Saves us a boatload of time on things that can be done over a little bit of a stretched period of time. Great for day to day operations and common tasks that don't require immediate action. That's what you pay $75-$100/hr for from the data center or other quick responding provider.

    But what you do get for $29 and $19 per month respectively is an awesome value for you money. It frees us up to interact with clients directly, make sales, level 1 stuff to keep clients happy, which usually is not all that difficult. As I handle a lot of that stuff myself without any major issues. That being said, if its something that is going to take me longer than a few minutes, 5, 10, even 30 I'll pass it on to PSM and let them sort it out.

    They work great as backup support, or even primary support if you are just starting out. There are just certain situations where immediate action is required, and that we have to pay a premium for. Which we do when necessary, very rare, but there when we have to.

    On to the point of my post, I feel somewhat bad that I pay so little and I just have been hammering them with tickets to setup three brand new from scratch CentOS 5.3/cPanel servers with everything from nothing.

    This is what I've been having them do:
    Installing cPanel, Fantastico, Firewall, PostgresSQL, phpPgMyadmin, Apache/PHP Modules, Tweaking SSH, Upgrading Software, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea, we just keep hammering them with requests.

    They just keep churning them out, initial response within an hour, resolution within 24, usually within 4-6 hours or less. It usually depends on if I gave them some wrong info, or did not present my request properly.

    For the price, if you need backup support, or just somebody to churn out background tasks, setting up new servers. I mean seriously you can pay companies $200+ for a new server setup, send them a list of stuff and they churn it out all at once. With PSM you have to break it out into groups such as apache/php modules here, install fantastico there, install cpanel here. But for $29 & $19/mo, spend a couple days working with them, I've got three new servers ready for testing. I just have a checklist on my side for each server, submit the requests as needed throughout the day. You have to log in to check ticket statuses anyway, its easy to submit another request. They go through in the order in which they are received, so your first request is going to happen first. Annoying to some, but for the 30 seconds it takes me to submit a ticket its a fair trade.

    I don't think I can come up with enough 30 second chunks of my time submitting tickets to equal $181 (the difference from a $200 setup). If you add up my time from the 20 or so tickets I submit, it equates to like $10 worth of my time so big deal.

    So check them out if you need an additional hand in server management.

    It just adds an extra pair of hands to your support team, we have the following because of it.
    - In house first response.
    - PSM backup response, depending on the issue.
    - Data center emergency response as needed.

    It seems to work out well, keeps our hands free, allows us to spend more time growing rather than dealing with all of that stuff we would always have to dive into.

    In Summation (for those who don't want to read the whole thing)
    PSM is a steal for what you get on $29 & $19 per month support. A STEAL! Now go steal their support! http://www.platinumservermanagement.com/ because you don't need to be spending $75+ an hour on small stuff. Save that money for emergency situations.

    Best of luck to everybody in need!
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  2. #2
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    Wonderful review! I really like your viewpoint of relying on them for secondary support. That's something I would never have considered.
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  3. #3
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    Mar 2009
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    Toronto, Canada
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    I'm going to have to agree with you when you say it's a steal. I have yet to seen a management firm offer prices as low as PMS. I'm glad to see another happy client of theirs.
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mekhu View Post
    Wonderful review! I really like your viewpoint of relying on them for secondary support. That's something I would never have considered.
    It's definitely a plus to have somebody you can send technical requests for them to handle when you hands are tied. Say I happen to be on the Phone, Live Chat and working on a couple of ticket issues, or migrating in new clients, etc. Just fire off a ticket for them to handle some of that cPanel/Linux goodness. Or something like 'hey i'm having trouble with this SSL can you get it sorted out' because you are tied up with other things. Again for the small amount you pay its a nice fallback pair of hands, and 30 seconds to fire over a ticket rather than 10+ minutes fumbling with the SSL issue. There are countless other scenarios where they come in handy, and are well worth it to a small company like us.
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
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    I have been using PSM for over 4 years now and this is exactly how I utilize them. It's great to have someone to offload work to when I am busy and it's also nice to have backup just in case I dont get something.

    The monitoring and datacenter response alone is worth the price that they charge.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave - Just199 View Post
    I have been using PSM for over 4 years now and this is exactly how I utilize them. It's great to have someone to offload work to when I am busy and it's also nice to have backup just in case I dont get something.

    The monitoring and datacenter response alone is worth the price that they charge.
    I am a little worried about our latest move to colo though. As it will work differently for reboots and they don't mess with KVM over IP stuff. But again, I can always have C4D jump in on emergency situations.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by igxhost View Post
    I'm going to have to agree with you when you say it's a steal. I have yet to seen a management firm offer prices as low as PMS. I'm glad to see another happy client of theirs.
    I was reluctant when we first signed up with them. Primarily due to the price, but once you understand how they work, and don't expect something done in 5 to 10 minutes you really appreciate the value service they offer.

    One thing I do wish they would do is provide more resolution details. They usually just respond with 'this is now complete, please check it.' Granted I understand this saves them time and allows them to hammer down on tickets faster. So I generally ask what they did to fix on something I may not have been familiar with. It makes me more efficient up front so I can handle more, and faster. As we grow, they will end up with the same amount of work in the long run.

    A couple of recommendations that I mentioned to them.
    Offer premium support for a larger fee, something with 30 min response & 12 hour resolution. For times you have a more important server you 'could potentially' opt for this. Granted they have no plans for anything like this anytime soon.

    Respond to my sales inquiries sooner, example being I needed cPanel licenses and they took so long that I went elsewhere to get them. (instantcpanellicense.com to be exact, and man that was easy) So yea, PSM should automate sales stuff for Current Clients. Because its annoying to have to wait up to 24 hours to get a new system added. For this reason I have not offered resale of their services directly to my clients. My clients would disappear if I did anything like that. [/b]So sales automation needs big improvements.[/b] I'd use them more, if they are reading this. WINK WINK!



    But again, overall value and service for the price they get a 9 out of 10. People who rate them badly, need to stop being cheap and realize they are paying $29/$19/mo need to shut up and go hire a full time employee for $3,000+/mo!!! So penny for penny, dollar for dollar, PSM is a fantastic value added service for extra dirty work you don't have time for. I can go on and on and on, but I will wait for somebody else to chime in again.
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  8. #8
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    I also forgot to mention how tolerant they are. Here is an old ticket

    Client Opened Ticket on Sat Mar 21 18:36:18 EDT 2009
    Server IP Address: ***.***.***.***
    Subject: Feedback (god damn it)
    Emergency: No

    Details hidden, but the subject says it all.

    And their composed response:

    Michael,

    Your new user has been added already, and I replied to your other ticket coincidentally at the same time.

    Thank you,
    Ethan
    CTO/Quality Assurance

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This was way before I actually put any thought into how much I was actually paying them. They took it all in stride and never threatened to terminate my
    account. So score another one for PSM, I've got more good stories I know it. I'll post them up as I remember them.

    It's worth maybe a little 'lol' My apologies to Ethan at PSM as well, don't think I ever told him.


    EDIT: I plan to keep this as an ongoing review for others in need, and a few giggles and lol's while im at it. I've never seen a proper ongoing and in depth review of a company over time. Maybe a trend will be set. *cracks whip* get moving!

    Back to that idea of PSM being a 'STEAL' just to lay down some numbers. I've opened 59 separate tickets in the last 30 days. Granted this is over five servers, but still the tiny $124/mo I'm up to is nothing. That's like $2.10 per ticket and they do anything from installing cpanel/fantastico/postgresql/php modules/etc.
    Last edited by MikeTrike; 09-03-2009 at 02:38 PM.
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Iowa
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    I love your review! Thank you for taking the time to write it and share it with us.
    We develop brand identity for the web.
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  10. #10
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    *

    Quote Originally Posted by The-Pixel View Post
    I love your review! Thank you for taking the time to write it and share it with us.
    Oh there will be more!

    Good thing I don't drink, otherwise this would be really funny!

    By the way, do you, or have you used PSM?

    EDIT: At this point I'm thinking 'blog' but I never felt I had the 'bloggers spirit.' This could get interesting...
    Last edited by MikeTrike; 09-03-2009 at 03:01 PM.
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  11. #11
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    amazing review.
    really PSM techs are very lucky



    Thanks
    Mike
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by MikeTrike View Post
    I also forgot to mention how tolerant they are.
    I have had my moments as well and they always ignore it and just handle the issue. Ethan is really good about that
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave - Just199 View Post
    I have had my moments as well and they always ignore it and just handle the issue. Ethan is really good about that
    There were two or three times where they could have told me to take a hike.

    Live and learn, they're happy and I'm happy, it's all good.
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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by igxhost View Post
    I'm going to have to agree with you when you say it's a steal. I have yet to seen a management firm offer prices as low as PMS. I'm glad to see another happy client of theirs.
    Does that mean you have used them and feel the same? From the wording of what you said, I believe that's implied, correct? Or have you simply seen *other* happy clients and are remarking on that? Just for a little clarification.

    @MikeTrike: great review, if they are as described, then $29 a month is a steal.

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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyrus255 View Post
    Does that mean you have used them and feel the same? From the wording of what you said, I believe that's implied, correct? Or have you simply seen *other* happy clients and are remarking on that? Just for a little clarification.

    @MikeTrike: great review, if they are as described, then $29 a month is a steal.
    For the $29 and $19/mo for each additional server. They've always done what they promised, never broken anything, and been a great backup to save me time.

    My original worry was, 'I'm only paying $20-$30 dollars,' so chances are they might fumble something. They have never once done anything wrong, or been unprofessional in any way since I've had them as backup starting on November 2008. Plus they know cPanel + CentOS a hundred times better than I do anyway. Because that's what they do all day long!

    Just yesterday I had them throw on ruby and gzip on to three servers, done, done and done. Allowing me to focus on our asterisk box.
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  16. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Houston, TX
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    I have heard of a lot of people using PSM. I know they have excellent pricing, but have not heard a lot more about them. Thanks for the info.
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  17. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    India
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    We have been using services from PMS since long, really a great work. it gives lots of time to concentrate on sales while they manage our server in really good manner. always ready to help....really good work...keep it up guys..
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  18. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    I also really like their service, never seen such a great service for that price, it is really amazing.
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  19. #19
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    Thanks for sharing your server management experiences with PSM in such a detailed manner. I can see how satisfied you are with their service from your words.
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  20. #20
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    May 2007
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    It's a shame, we were using them at one stage though I had a wee dig at the sales msn... as I was not satisfied that some of my questions were not getting answered just canned responses really. Please submit a ticket to the sales department... So I gave some suggestive feedback like how about going the extra mile when I ask a sales question you cannot answer... By saying I will open a ticket on your behalf to have a Sales Manager get back to you and so on... I also chuckled with my couple of questions saying "how much do you get paid lol"

    I also asked if they could verify there location... I said I have geo-tracking with my chat system you could jump on my website...

    He/She replied I'm sending this chat log to the CEO whats your name... Told name did not argue...

    5 minutes later they cancelled my service with 7 tickets open and in progress... (I was paying for 5 servers)...

    I asked and apologised for asking about your staff's wage... They did not even give me a warning I was not rude or abusive apart from that one comment.

    I would be happy to go back, But Ethan is arrogant and will not take me back, I think there service is great in general However they are quick to terminate on lite issues...
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  21. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Houston, Texas, USA
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    I can see where the service can come in handy for providers that under promise but over deliver to an extent (unmanaged, semi-managed). But for a fully managed provider that kind of response time is unacceptable. I can't think of a group of tasks to offload to PSM in the event we use their service.

    What about readying up new servers? It's sub par when servers are delivered past the 12 hour mark. So I can't imagine waiting more than 24hrs for all tasks to be completed (install cPanel, configure cPanel the way the customer wants it, security, migrate data, show patience, etc).

    How can a FMS provider use PMS? Do you have any thoughts on this?

    Thanks!
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  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by verdictjosh View Post
    It's a shame, we were using them at one stage though I had a wee dig at the sales msn... as I was not satisfied that some of my questions were not getting answered just canned responses really. Please submit a ticket to the sales department... So I gave some suggestive feedback like how about going the extra mile when I ask a sales question you cannot answer... By saying I will open a ticket on your behalf to have a Sales Manager get back to you and so on... I also chuckled with my couple of questions saying "how much do you get paid lol"
    You were being rude to our staff and that is unacceptable. We will not tolerate anyone being disrespectful to our staff. You should not be asking someone how much they get paid or telling them that they are pointless.

    You were not given any canned replies. You were asking for changes to be made on your account over IM and the rep told you to open a ticket to the appropriate department that can do it for you. We have separate departments and a rep over IM does not have access to make changes in your account.

    Quote Originally Posted by verdictjosh View Post
    I would be happy to go back, But Ethan is arrogant and will not take me back, I think there service is great in general However they are quick to terminate on lite issues...
    Thanks for your compliments on our service.

    But we do not consider being rude and disrespectful to be a lite issue, we take it very seriously.

    Quote Originally Posted by verdictjosh View Post
    5 minutes later they cancelled my service with 7 tickets open and in progress... (I was paying for 5 servers)...
    I told you that we checked to make sure that nothing was in progress before closing your account, and we made sure that absolutely none of them were in progress. I told you that if anything was in progress, that we would still finish it. We would never close an account in the middle of working on a ticket no matter what the reason is.

    There were "no" tickets in progress. Those 7 tickets were all opened right before this incident and none of them were started.

    We refunded your entire payment, even though many tickets were already completely finished.

    Quote Originally Posted by verdictjosh View Post
    I asked and apologised for asking about your staff's wage... They did not even give me a warning I was not rude or abusive apart from that one comment.
    We should not have to ask you or warn you not to be rude, this is implied. It is mentioned in our TOS anyway just in case.
    Last edited by ServerManagement; 09-12-2009 at 03:29 PM.
    PlatinumServerManagement (also known as PSM)
    The OLDEST and LARGEST and MOST TRUSTED server management provider in the USA, with 15+ employees and growing!
    Providing quality support for OVER 21 years! Currently supporting over 3,000+ servers monthly!

    www.PlatinumServerManagement.com Proud member of the NJ BBB & Chamber of Commerce & Authorized cPanel Partner.
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  23. #23
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    Here is an Un-edited Snippet of what I said I never said your staff are useless
    10/09/2009 10:44:32 PM sales@platinumservermanagement.com Verdict You will need to open a ticket for the Sales department and they can better assist you with that
    10/09/2009 10:44:45 PM Verdict sales@platinumservermanagement.com Hmm how much do they pay you lol?
    10/09/2009 10:45:00 PM Verdict sales@platinumservermanagement.com pointless having MSN really...
    10/09/2009 10:46:37 PM sales@platinumservermanagement.com Verdict This is for presales, general inquiries only. For such a high amount of servers a supervisor has to review your request to give you a quote.
    10/09/2009 10:47:13 PM sales@platinumservermanagement.com Verdict What is your name?
    10/09/2009 10:47:23 PM Verdict sales@platinumservermanagement.com I'm Joshua Hagan
    10/09/2009 10:47:37 PM sales@platinumservermanagement.com Verdict Is there anything else I can assist you with?
    10/09/2009 10:49:03 PM Verdict sales@platinumservermanagement.com Look I'm sorry to come off rude... But it steams me when I ask questions and I don't get answers rather I get a canned response "open a ticket please"
    10/09/2009 10:49:52 PM sales@platinumservermanagement.com Verdict Each department is meant to help you with the question you have. We direct you to the right person and department to better answer and assist you.
    10/09/2009 10:49:54 PM Verdict sales@platinumservermanagement.com Just a wee bit of advice... Not to be rude... But since your a CS rep would it not be hard for you to say... I will have a manager contact you.
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  24. #24
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    Those 7 tickets were all opened right before this incident and none of them were started.
    Those seven tickets ranged from 12 hours ago to 2 hours before... check your logs mate
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  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by verdictjosh View Post
    Those seven tickets ranged from 12 hours ago to 2 hours before... check your logs mate
    Since we refunded your entire payment, we did not have to do anything further. But regardless, like I told you, we checked through all of your tickets and none of them were in progress.

    Here's all the tickets that were open at the time of the chat:

    Ticket 1: Thu Sep 10 08:24:24 EDT 2009
    Ticket 2: Thu Sep 10 10:25:39 EDT 2009
    Ticket 3: Thu Sep 10 10:30:54 EDT 2009
    Ticket 4: Thu Sep 10 10:41:42 EDT 2009
    Ticket 5: Thu Sep 10 10:51:50 EDT 2009

    Then the chat conversation was at Thu Sep 10 10:40:58 EDT 2009

    1 ticket from ~2 hours before the chat, the other 4 tickets were from just a few minutes before the chat.

    I told you that if any were in progress that we would finish them, but none of them were started yet.

    There is no point in arguing semantics any further. This has no barring on the issue. You were rude to our staff, so we closed your account, and refunded your entire payment. You admitted you were rude and that is the crux of the issue. We do not tolerate rude/disrespectful customers and have zero tolerance for this. This is stated in our TOS as well.
    Last edited by ServerManagement; 09-12-2009 at 04:02 PM.
    PlatinumServerManagement (also known as PSM)
    The OLDEST and LARGEST and MOST TRUSTED server management provider in the USA, with 15+ employees and growing!
    Providing quality support for OVER 21 years! Currently supporting over 3,000+ servers monthly!

    www.PlatinumServerManagement.com Proud member of the NJ BBB & Chamber of Commerce & Authorized cPanel Partner.
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