Smartweb changes tack
All at once and all of a sudden.
Early this morning, I logged onto my web hosting platform to pay some bills and check on the status of my domains. To my surprise my account was no longer active.
I had a busy week and weekend on the road and so had little time to really check emails and manage business admin. An email sent on Friday afternoon would effect changes on Saturday that would upend my business. My domains would be transferred to Absolute Hosting (a company I’d not heard of until then) and Smartweb would focus its energies on delivering online security products and services.
I want to be fair to Smartweb. I don’t know (at the time of writing) what is going on at the company. Perhaps some news will come out this week on local tech websites.
I am publishing the email sent to me at the eleventh hour of a business week. This is not for malicious reasons. There may be people out there who suddenly find their websites and emails not working and their designers may have used Smartweb. Please be patient while we work out the bugs in transferring all domains and services to a reliable alternative.
We hope this message finds you well. We would like to inform you of an important development regarding your hosting services with Smartweb.
After careful consideration, we’ve decided that it is time to shift our focus and will no longer be providing web hosting services. Going forward we’ll be fully focused on delivering SSL certificates and other security-related products, with an improved product and service offering to better serve your digital security needs.
In light of this change, Smartweb has partnered with Absolute Hosting, a leading web hosting provider in South Africa. Absolute Hosting is known for its premium web hosting services and has recently launched state-of-the-art NVMe based cPanel servers, powered by the latest generation AMD EPYC CPUs.
This transition to Absolute Hosting promises several benefits for you:
Increased Performance: Absolute Hosting’s new cPanel servers are designed to deliver enhanced performance, ensuring a smoother experience for your websites and applications.
Lower Cost: You can look forward to lower monthly hosting fees with Absolute Hosting, making it a cost-effective solution for your hosting needs.
To make this transition as seamless as possible, Absolute Hosting will be managing the migration process for each client. This includes transferring your account, website, and email data to their advanced infrastructure. Additionally, they will assist with domain name transfers to ensure a hassle-free experience.
The transfer of your hosting and domain services from Smartweb to Absolute Hosting will occur tomorrow (Saturday 9 March 2024).
We understand that changes like these can raise questions, and we are committed to providing you with all the necessary support throughout this transition. Should you have any concerns or queries after the migration, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Absolute Hosting’s dedicated support team at help@absolutehosting.co.za, or their accounts team at accounts@absolutehosting.co.za
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this transition period. We are confident that Absolute Hosting will provide you with a hosting experience that meets and exceeds your expectations.
Thank you very much for your continued support and trust in our services.
Best regards,
The Smartweb Team
I wish the Smartweb team all the best in their future endeavours. Customer service was bad these last few months; I can only surmise that may have been a symptom of the problem they are addressing with this pivot. I hope the workers and business owners have the acumen to come out on top despite this unfortunate situation.
Live longer, and may your tribe increase ✊🏾
