You may have heard of us. We’ve been around for a couple of decades, we’ve won a few awards here and there, and we’ve cultivated strong relationships with a network of more than 6,000 partners along the way. When it comes to great cloud products and solutions, we’re actually kind of a big deal.
But we’ve changed a lot since our early days as a web hosting company. We’re constantly growing, continually developing our portfolio, and expanding our partner network. We also have a brand new look to show off!
So while we’re not always good at talking ourselves up—it might be a Canadian thing—we think it’s important to reflect on where we’ve been, recognize our achievements and celebrate how far we’ve come. We did start out in a basement, after all.
Born before the cloud
Sherweb was founded in 1998 by brothers Peter and Matthew Cassar. Instead of getting summer jobs working for someone else, they decided to start their own IT business.
It was the early days of the internet, and very few (if any) businesses were offering web hosting services at the time. The Cassars saw this opportunity as a problem their company could solve. They built Sherweb’s first web server on their family’s home computer and started reaching out to local businesses in need of a place to host their sites.
Delivering exceptional customer service in both French and English was a major priority for the company from the beginning. Little did clients know that Sherweb’s early tech support center was based in Peter’s bedroom and that Matthew was still in high school. Clients were asked to email the company first and receive a call back, only to avoid the awkwardness of the Cassars’ mother or sisters picking up the home phone.
Regardless, the company continued to host more clients. The Cassars’ determination to build a tech business that provides excellent value for its customers was paying off, despite the fact that it was still very early days.
Gaining traction
In the early 2000s, Sherweb was steadily growing its reputation as a reliable web hosting provider. In 2005 the company hit its first significant milestone: inking an agreement with Microsoft to offer Hosted Exchange.
In 2007 Sherweb was ready to move beyond provincial and national borders. Hosting services were expanded to the rest of Canada and into the United States, rapidly increasing the company’s client base. Internal operations were also expanding to ensure there was always enough technical support staff to assist clients. In addition, more specialized expertise was needed to help manage Sherweb’s transformation into a larger industry player.
The growth didn’t go unnoticed. In 2010 Sherweb ranked 26th on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 list, which recognizes the 50 fastest-growing tech companies in Canada. The following year Sherweb was 16th on the Canadian list, and 77th on the Fast 500 list, Deloitte’s North American iteration.
Despite its impressive increases, maintaining a high level of customer service, improving relationships with partners, and actively searching for new ways to meet partner needs remained chief priorities for Sherweb. To this end, the company’s official partner program was launched in 2012, marking the first step in Sherweb’s distinction as more than a traditional web hosting business. Microsoft Hosted SharePoint and Hosted Lync were added to the product portfolio shortly after, kicking off Sherweb’s initial foray into the productivity tools market.
Undeniable proof that Sherweb was indeed becoming more than a typical hosting firm came in 2013 when it was named the Microsoft World Hosting Partner of the Year. The company was also one of the first partners in North America to join the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program when it launched in 2014. From there, things started to move quickly.
Moving up in the world
Taking its hosting capabilities to the next level, 2014 was also the year that Sherweb launched its own award-winning Performance Cloud, a fast and efficient alternative to complex and expensive IT infrastructure. In 2015, the organization received another nod from Microsoft when it was selected to join a small group of indirect resellers allowed to offer Office 365. This development confirmed Sherweb as a notable Microsoft partner internationally, with recognition in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK in addition to Canada and the US.
The subsequent five years would represent a time of explosive growth for the organization. Thousands of businesses would swell the ranks of the partner program. The resale portfolio would add new Microsoft products such as Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Azure on top of additional solutions like VoIP, private cloud servers, and G Suite. Sherweb would introduce more of its own in-house products like Office Protect and Online Backup. Awards hardware would also continue to roll in from Microsoft, Microsoft Canada, and industry communities like Redmond Channel Partner, ChannelPro, and Channel Partner Insights.
But for every ounce of effort poured into Sherweb’s product offerings and solutions, an equal amount was dedicated to helping partners reach their individual goals. Sherweb always made its decisions based not only on what was best for the organization but for its partner network as well. This mentality didn’t change as the company progressed. Indeed, Sherweb’s commitment to helping partners grow their business is only getting stronger with time.
Get all the information you need about our partner program with our Partner Guide
New look, same commitment
So that’s who we are, where we’ve been, and what we’ve achieved—it’s been a wild ride! But while extremely proud of what their summer job startup has become, Co-CEOs Peter and Matthew Cassar are firm believers that we can never stop learning and improving. Sherweb will constantly search for better ways to serve its partners and for new opportunities to take on in the cloud services industry.
It is with this sentiment in mind that Sherweb initiated a revamp of its overall brand. Although our aspirations, commitments, and feelings are the same, we have a new way of presenting and talking about ourselves that’s more aligned with our past achievements, present partnerships, and future developments. To concretely describe this, we’ve organized our external mission, vision, and mandate to cover four distinct pillars: cloud solutions and products, business strategy, operational effectiveness, and supportive expertise.
Cloud solutions and products: Our product team has selected the best business-critical solutions for infrastructure, productivity, security, and continuity that modern businesses need so that our partners don’t have to.
Business strategy: Going beyond the scope of a typical cloud provider, we help our partners realize their specific goals by offering training and certifications, pre-sales support to pitch solutions and close deals, and individual sessions to ascertain specific needs to address.
Operational effectiveness: We’ve put tools and mechanisms in place to help our partners run their businesses as smoothly and efficiently as possible. With a user-friendly partner portal that centralizes key administrative functions and integrations to automate crucial yet time-consuming tasks, our partners save time, spend less, and sell more.
Expertise: Expert customer service and technical support have always been top-of-mind for us. Sherweb partners capitalize on our skilled architects and technicians to navigate complex scenarios and resolve tickets for Level 1, Level 2, and beyond.
We always appreciate a chance to tell our story, but we’d be flat out lying if we said we aren’t excited about what the next 20 years have in store!
To take in all the glory of our new branding, and for more information about what’s new at Sherweb, we invite you to browse our new and improved website. You’re also encouraged to explore our Partner Guide. We’d love to help find out what your business can achieve.
