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Web Hosting – RENTON, WA and ORLANDO, FL – Parallels, the hosting and cloud services enablement leader, today announced an extensive collection of new software, services capabilities, technology partnerships and updated market research, further strengthening its position as the top global provider of complete hosting and cloud delivery software for the actively-growing small and medium business (SMB) cloud market. The series of announcements build upon the company’s momentum as it continues to experience broad adoption of its cloud delivery software, with twelve of the top thirty global service providers now using Parallels software, and over 150 service providers launching services using Parallels Virtuozzo Containers in 2011. Parallels has also established or expanded over 300 partnerships across the hosting ecosystem in the past year, including service providers (Comline Clouds Automation, KDDI, KT, LuxCloud, Outsourcery, PacHosting, ReadySpace, Reg.ru, SKB Kontur, TDC Hosting, Telekom Malaysia, Tsukaeru.net, UberGlobal, UPC, Virtual IT), leading resellers, and over 100 Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) through APS certification.

The series of announcements are being made in Orlando this week at Parallels Summit 2012, an event that attracts a global audience comprised over 1,500 attendees, including hosting partners, ISVs, industry analysts and press from around the world. The company shared its future product roadmap and next-generation technology, giving the attendees the opportunity to learn from and network with Parallels experts and knowledge members of the industry.

SMBs: Driving Cloud Adoption – Parallels continues to stress why the company – and service providers – should remain laser-beam focused on meeting the demand for SMB cloud services, the fastest growing cloud adoption segment. Parallels own primary research estimates that the SMB market grew 25% in 2011 to $15.1 billion in the U.S., as SMBs with less than 20 employees are three times more likely to choose cloud services over on-premise servers. And, accelerated SMB cloud adoption is not limited to just North America, as the global SMB cloud services market is expected to expand at a 26% CAGR to $68 billion by 2014.

Parallels released these statistics along with additional in-depth SMB analysis from Parallels SMB Cloud Insights™. The new reports are the latest in its series of 12 papers on the current usage, growth expectations and areas of opportunity to help service providers to deliver cloud services to their SMB customers (see separate release). The new reports include updated SMB cloud purchasing profiles for the U.S. and overall global markets, along with two inaugural reports for Brazil and Mexico.

“The combination of the most advanced hosting and cloud services delivery software, market and operational expertise, plus a broad and growing partner ecosystem, is unique to Parallels and unrivaled in the industry,” said Birger Steen, CEO of Parallels. “If service providers expect to be successful, they need to have access to deep knowledge, the latest technology, and a vast partner ecosystem, which builds a foundation for a complete and integrated cloud services portfolio that meets the needs of SMBs.”

To help service providers continue to prosper in the SMB cloud market, Parallels announced a series of new products and services this week, with development guided by both Parallels SMB research and the direct input from its partners and customers. These announcements included:

Parallels Automation for Hosted PBX: SMB-Ready Phone Services
Parallels Automation for Hosted PBX is a full-featured virtual PBX enablement solution for hosters of any size to launch PBX services. Service providers can now offer SMBs access to enterprise-grade capabilities, which is suited to meet small business communications needs, whether they are replacing legacy PBX systems or moving to their very first PBX service. Parallels has partnered with best-in-breed providers to add flexibility and capabilities for its Hosted PBX automations solution. Partners can integrate with their own BroadSoft Broadworks solution, or use wholesale services enabled by preferred partners Apptix, Alteva and Sipcom. Parallels Automation partners can also choose to base their hosted PBX services on APS-certified software from Infratel (Infra Cloud Receptionist), 4PSA.com (VoipNow) and Solgari.

Parallels Plesk 11 Preview: The Most Complete Panel Solution for Web Hosting
Designed for next-generation hosting and cloud environments, Parallels Plesk Panel 11 can help take hosters to the next level in their business. Parallels Plesk Panel 11 provides advanced features such as mobile management client for hosters, while optimizing the mobile experience for their customers. Parallels Plesk Panel 11 will help maximize ARPU through built-in business intelligence, active monitoring and upsell paths suggestions for end users. It will integrate Microsoft Web Matrix, business metrics, WebStat and SEO indicators to help SMBs maximize their web presence and social media effectiveness.

Parallels Plesk Automation (PPA) Preview: Hosting Revolution for Growing Service Providers
Parallels Plesk Automation is a multi-server automation solution for hosting companies using Parallels Plesk Panel. PPA enables customers to scale their hosting and cloud services business to the next level through centralized management of customers and servers with distributed architecture, and the ability to seamlessly launch a wide range of new services.

Vast Expansion of Parallels ISV Ecosystem
The Application Packaging Standard (APS) has created a valuable new revenue opportunity – for both hosting industry service providers and ISVs – by introducing a “pluggable” approach to hosting and cloud applications and services. APS benefits ISVs by providing a sales channel through the over 5,000 Parallels service providers and resellers, who serve more than 12 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.

ISVs continue to embrace the potential of the APS Standard, including certified applications such as Asigra Cloud Backup™, Attracta SEO, Apptix-as-a-Service™, BackupAgent, BroadSoft® BroadWorks®, CloudFlare®, Ecwid, goMobi® Mobile Website Builder, Google Apps for Business™, Jelastic Java PaaS, Infratel Infra Cloud Receptionist™, ISAO Backup, McAfee Security-as-a-Service, MessageSolution Enterprise Email Archive, Microsoft® Dynamics 2011, Microsoft® Exchange 2010, Microsoft® Hyper-V, Microsoft® Lync® 2010, Microsoft® Office 365, MozyPro®, MXSweep Internet Security and Archiving, OfficeDesktop, OfficeDrive, Open-Xchange, Quest Software Migration Manager for Exchange and vWorkspace, PinnacleCart, R1Soft CDP, Scality RING Organic Storage, SiteLock, Soholaunch Pro Edition Site Builder, Solgari Hosted PBX, SmarterTools’ SmarterMail Mail Server and Instant Messaging, SpamExperts, StopTheHacker.com, Symantec.cloud, UNITY Mobile, Vembu StoreGrid, VMware® Zimbra®, VideoMost.com and XandMail Web2.0 Communication Solution (Web2CS). See www.APSstandard.org for list of other certified applications.

In addition, Runa Capital (www.runacap.com), a global technology venture capital fund, and Parallels announced a cooperative investment program to stimulate and support the development of next-generation cloud and other hosted applications and services. The companies have created a go-to-market plan that will co-invest in selected independent software vendors (ISVs) who certify and package their software under the Application Packaging Standard (APS) program for cloud-enabled application and services.

Parallels and Microsoft Health Community Cloud Automation Reference Architecture
Based on the Health Community Cloud Automation (HCCA) partnership announced in 2011 between Parallels and Microsoft (http://www.parallels.com/health), the companies have now issued a new reference architecture for providing cloud services specifically for healthcare institutions. The HCCA reference architecture is based on the Parallels Automation (PA) solution accomplished over Microsoft Hyper-V virtual infrastructure. The solution includes hardware infrastructure, upon which a system integrator can deploy services using Microsoft® Hyper-V; Microsoft® Exchange, Microsoft® SharePoint and Microsoft® Lync, along with the use of Parallels Automation to manage the user experience through control panels. Parallels Automation also provides billing automation and provision of the Microsoft services, while enabling additional ISVs application integration. The architecture also provides a branded Healthcare and Public Sector customer facing storefront/purchasing experience, also delivered by Parallels Automation.

The market continues to take notice of Parallels momentum. Tech industry research firm IDC, in a recently published report, states that “Given Parallels’ current base of 5,000 partners/customers in the SMB IT channel (hosting providers, resellers, and integrators) and market penetration of the Parallels’ Plesk Panel product (50% market share in the control panel segment), IDC believes that the company is well positioned to establish an up-the-stack presence in the service delivery/enablement platforms of SMB cloud IT supply chain participants.”¹

The full IDC report is available for download from Parallels Web site at: http://bit.ly/yt6kg7

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 visit www.parallels.com/sp, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud and Like Us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ParallelsCloud.

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