Introducing the existing WHMCS system into the cPanel & WHM experience “We have felt for some time now that a much-needed component for cPanel & WHM was an e-commerce solution to automate billing, account creation, and so on,” says Aaron. “We began reviewing our options about 18 months ago, discussing the idea of building a new product, pursuing potential acquisitions, or allowing pre-existing products to fill the gap. We knew if we built our own product, we would be competing primarily against WHMCS, and the challenge would be to produce something better.”
Since WHMCS launched in 2004, the product’s development roadmap has been shaped by feedback and suggestions from users. The result is a product that fits the specialized needs of web hosting providers, with features that include the ability to easily customize WHMCS and is supported by more than 400 WHMCS add-ons available from the community. While cPanel Inc., had the resources and expertise to develop a new billing and support product from the ground-up, the feature set of WHMCS is so exhaustive that Aaron and his team saw no benefit to investing in developing new software.
“Like cPanel, WHMCS is a company with commitment to its product and ongoing, top-notch levels of support,” says Aaron. “WHMCS is one of the most respected names in the web hosting industry, but what we didn’t know was just how closely its history mirrored that of cPanel. We have taken this step to create a new partnership between the two brands based on both the quality of the application and the similarities in the goals and motivations of cPanel and WHMCS.”
Two leading software companies founded by passionate individuals
Like any self-respecting superheroes, the founders of cPanel and WHMCS both have plain and simple alter egos. Before turning into world-class solutions, cPanel and WHMCS were the pet projects of determined individuals who wanted to make hosting easier to use and control.
In the mid-nineties, Nick Koston conceived, designed, and programmed cPanel as a custom control panel for his web hosting company. cPanel & WHM was developed with the goal of filling in the gaps in existing control panel solutions. Even at these initial stages, cPanel & WHM automated a wide range of time-consuming processes to make hosts and webmasters more productive. From these humble beginnings, cPanel has grown to become the world’s leading choice of web hosting control panel.
As the company began working toward closer integration with billing software, cPanel, Inc., was determined to find a partner that had a similar history and could support similar goals. Like Nick, Matt started his career as a young, innovative developer with a desire to make useful, functional software. Both have now become CEOs of large, well-respected organizations with an ongoing focus on usability.
“I first started with web design and programming when I was just 14 and still in school,” says Matt. “I always wanted to make things that were interactive and actually did something useful as opposed to just being static. In the two years that followed, I worked on a number of database-driven projects, ranging from content management systems to membership and signup solutions that introduced me to the world of payment processing.”
It was this entrance into the world of payment processing that made Matt feel able to take on a particularly complex field – the automation of billing for web hosting services.
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