Press release:

Parallels Partners See Growth of 47% in Sales of Microsoft Hosted Exchange Seats

July 26, 2012

Hosting and cloud services enablement leader previews Parallels Automation 
for Microsoft’s new technologies for high-density websites and virtual machine hosting

RENTON, Wash. – July 26, 2012 – Parallels® (www.parallels.com), a hosting and cloud services enablement leader, today announced its partners have grown their Microsoft Hosted Exchange seats by 47 percent year-over-year, demonstrating that service providers can get to the cloud and grow with Parallels combination of software, ecosystem and expertise. Parallels Automation is now enabling the delivery of Microsoft-hosted applications and other services for hundreds of service providers worldwide, including AppRiver, BlackNight, Charter Communications, Cobweb, Dualtec/Nomer, Insight, KT, KPN, LuxCloud, Outsourcery,Portugal Telecom (PT), SKB Kontur, SoftCom, STAR, TDC, TMNet, UOL Diveo and UPC.

“The ongoing growth in hosted business e-mail services based on Microsoft Exchange Server demonstrates why Parallels and its partners are important as Microsoft continues to build its network of hosting providers and reselling partners,” said Sara Radicati, CEO of The Radicati Group, a technology market research firm. The firm’s report on “Hosted Email Market, 2011-2015” forecasts that worldwide revenues from basic mailboxes in the hosted business e-mail segment is expected to grow to nearly $3.6 billion by year-end 2015, representing an average annual growth rate of 17 percent since 2011.

At Microsoft’s recent Worldwide Partner Conference, Parallels also presented the first public demo of Parallels Automation forWindows Server 2012. This demo integrated the Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Microsoft’s new-high density web site and virtual machine hosting technologies for hosting service providers.  By taking advantage of the Application Packaging Standard, Parallels was able to quickly integrate the recently released CTP.  The demo illustrated how these easy-to-deploy technologies will allow hosting service providers to reduce costs associated with onboarding and servicing customers, while increasing resource utilization and driving up operating margins.

“Choosing the right partners to move to the cloud is a critical decision,” said Microsoft Executive Jon Roskill. “Parallels continues to demonstrate why they are a smart choice for service providers who are seeking to quickly deploy and deliver the entire suite of Microsoft hosted applications.”

“Parallels delivers value to service providers who want to launch Microsoft applications in a syndicated or hosted environment,” said Birger Steen, CEO of Parallels.  “From early support for the latest technologies such as Windows Server 2012, to the success of Parallels Automation for delivering a vast portfolio of Microsoft cloud and hosted applications, Parallels has become the partner of choice for the world’s leading service providers and hosters.”

Parallels service provider software portfolio includes a rich set of capabilities, including the latest version of Parallels Automation 5.4, which was released on June 4.  Parallels Automation 5.4 delivers hundreds of applications, including hosted Microsoft Lync services, that appeal to SMBs seeking to utilize cloud-based messaging, collaboration and unified communications across desktops, laptops and mobile devices. Microsoft Lync also includes built-in web and call conferencing support and is a natural upsell to those SMBs already utilizing Microsoft Exchange.  Parallels Automation 5.4 provides billing automation and provisioning of Microsoft Lync and other Microsoft services, while enabling integration of third-party hosted applications from leading ISVs.

Parallels is a Microsoft Global ISV and Gold Certified Partner, with a focus on making it easy for service providers to meet the needs of small and medium businesses by delivering a wide selection of Microsoft hosted applications. Building on its long-term relationship with Microsoft, Parallels entire service provider software portfolio provides a wide range of resale possibilities and accelerated time to market for Microsoft products. 

Parallels software provides delivery capabilities using the Application Packaging Standard (APS), a "pluggable" approach to enabling hosted and cloud applications and services. APS benefits ISVs by providing a sales channel through the more than 9,000 Parallels service providers and resellers who serve more than 10 million small and medium businesses (SMBs). In turn, hosters and other cloud service providers have access to the growing variety of APS-certified applications and services that are easy to deploy and maintain.  The full suite of Microsoft’s APS-enabled hosted applications include Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Hosted Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Windows Server and Windows Server Hyper-V, Microsoft Lync and Microsoft CRM. For the smaller and growing hoster or web designer, the new version of Parallels Plesk Panel 11, the preferred choice for hosting service providers, web designers, and website owners, also provides support for Microsoft WebMatrix, Windows Shared Hosting and more.

About Parallels

Parallels is a worldwide leader in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 900 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Press release:

Parallels Expands Portfolio of Application Packing Standard (APS) Certified Applications to over 400, as APS services sold increases 44% in 1H 2012

July 17, 2012

Service providers continue to embrace APS certified applications as the fastest path to market for delivering new cloud and hosted services

RENTON, WA – July 17, 2012 – Parallels, the hosting and cloud services enablement leader, today announced that the portfolio of Application Packing Standard (APS) certified applications and services has expanded to over 400 applications. In the first six months of 2012, Parallels Automation partners achieved a 44% growth rate in APS certified services sold. APS services from independent software vendors (ISVs) include a wide range of Web, messaging and collaboration, infrastructure and other hosted applications.

“The market acceptance of APS as a standard for ISVs leverages hosting and cloud service providers for distribution and customer reach. The sales growth of these services validates that APS provides the fastest time-to-market and the best way to extend the services portfolio,” said Jack Zubarev, President, Marketing and Alliances at Parallels. “Parallels welcomes all of the ISVs who have recently joined our ecosystem. We look forward to future expansion of the catalogue of services as the growing numbers of hosters and service providers take advantage of APS as a valuable path to build their businesses.”

The newest ISVs and their applications joining the growing list of certified APS packages include:

Hosted Infrastructure: 5nine (5nine Virtual Firewall with Anti-Malware for Hyper-V; 5nine Manager for Hyper-V; 5nine Cloud Monitor for Hyper-V; 5nine V2V EasyConverter); CodeGuard; IASO Cloud Backup; Identity Syncronizer™; Jelastic Java Host; McAfee Cloud-based Security; mozypro®; MXSweep Email Archive and Web Security; Scality RING Organic Storage; SpamExperts;StopTheHacker.com; Symantec.cloud; Vembu StoreGrid.

Hosted Communications and Collobration: 4PSA VoipNow; AfterLogic WebMail Pro and AfterLogic WebMail, Infratel Infra Cloud Receptionist; LuxCloud, Mail2World; PGi,/a> GlobalMeet Audio and Web Conferencing; Quest Migration Manager for Exchange;SIPCOM; Solgari Hosted PBX; XandMail Web2cs.

Web Presence: CloudFlare CDN; CakeMail; epages; MinotoVideo; MobeeArt; PinnacleCart SaaS; UNITY Express Pro.

Business Applications: Asigra Cloud Backup™; Backup Agent; CommTouch; Global Relay; Google Apps for Business;OfficeDesktop; Quest vWorkspace.

"The Application Packaging Standard has dramatically reduced integration costs and time to market for the various cloud services that LuxCloud's customers are seeking," said Marco Houwen, CEO of LuxCloud. "APS eliminates the need for LuxCloud to integrate every service with custom code, which is expensive, time consuming and requires ongoing maintenance. With APS, LuxCloud is able to seamlessly integrate bundles of services for even richer product offerings."

After ISVs have APS certified their application or service, they gain access to a vast sales channel by connecting with the more than 9,000 service providers using Parallels software, who in turn serve more than 10 million small and medium businesses (SMBs). Additional information about APS can be found at www.APSStandard.org, which includes a listing of APS applications, and technical documents and guidelines for ISVs on how to package applications in APS. Parallels also offers ISVs an APS packaging course and a student guide, as well as certified APS system integration partners to provide experienced development resources to accelerate time-to-market.

About Parallels
Parallels is a worldwide leader in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 900 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia.

For information on Parallels, visit www.parallels.com/spp, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud and Like Us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ParallelsCloud.

Press release:

Parallels Expands Partner Program Benefits to Smaller and Growing Web Hosters and Website Designers Seeking to Expand Their Businesses

June 14, 2012

Partners at any size can now leverage Parallels expertise, resources and tools at the new Member level, while Bronze Partner membership is now offered to firms in Europe and North Africa

RENTON, WA – June 14, 2012 – Parallels, the hosting and cloud services enablement leader, today announced expanded access of its Partner Program specifically for smaller and growing web hosters and website designers. Parallels’ unmatched depth of valuable expertise, best practices, tools and other go-to-market resources are now available to hosters seeking to grow their businesses by delivering cloud services.

“Smaller and growing web hosters and design firms now have access to the best resources available for accelerating their revenue and profitability,” said John Zanni, Vice President, Service Provider Marketing and Alliances, Parallels. “Key benefits of our program include expertise on how to implement proven strategies and tactics for improving customer value through better operations and for delivering a broader set of hosted services and applications.”

New access for Parallels Partners includes:

• A new Member level, specifically designed for small web hosters who are seeking business growth and who aspire to achieve advanced partner benefits as their revenue and customer base expands.
• The introduction of the Bronze Partner program level for Europe and North Africa (EUNA).The Bronze Partner program is designed for high impact web hosters who typically operate on a local or regional level, and who can benefit from tools and resources to help them grow their businesses to the next level. Membership in the Bronze Partner Program has proved popular with similar-sized hosters in North America, with membership tripling over the past year.

All members of the Parallels Partner Program can take advantage of recent enhancements and resources centrally located on the Parallels PartnerNet portal, including:

• SMB Knowledge Headquarters – tools, whitepapers, research and webinars help service providers to gain insights on SMB cloud usage and cloud services opportunities. Based on its interactions with thousands of service providers, and its ongoing series of SMB Cloud InsightsTM research, Parallels is the single best source for information on trends and actionable recommendations for targeting, marketing and selling cloud services to SMBs.
• Best Practices – assets, case studies, templates and other go-to-market resources provide proven strategies and tactics for service plans, pricing, offerings, promotions, bundling and upselling cloud services.
• Parallels Partner Forums –partners can interact with Parallels and other service providers to overcome challenges and better realize market opportunities. Partners can benefit from sharing and learning best practices and techniques to become more proficient in their sales, marketing and support activities.

For more information about signing up for the Parallels Service Provider Partner Program, visithttp://www.parallels.com/spp/partnerprogram.

About Parallels
Parallels is a worldwide leader in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 800 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visitwww.parallels.com/spp, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud and Like Us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/ParallelsCloud.