Parallels Small Business Panel 10 Released

Today Parallels Small Business Panel 10 launched, ushering in a new age of easy IT solutions for up-and-coming businesses.  As opposed to our powerful server control panel software, Parallels Plesk Panel 9, Parallels Small Business Panel 10 is uniquely designed to help small businesses take advantage of the cloud with a simple and intuitive interface and several groundbreaking new features.  Foremost among these is the now Parallels Partner Marketplace, which launches with six commercial applications, including Symantec (desktop security), Interspire (email marketing & knowledge manager), Pinnacle Cart (shopping cart), LinuxMagic (Anti-Spam) and Keepit (online backup).  The unique online Marketplace allows users to purchase commercial software, license it, and install it, all with just one click.  Like the rest of the panel, the Marketplace was designed with the small business user in mind.  It's intuitive, powerful, and perfectly suited to businesses with no budget for a big IT department.  Check out the official press release for more information.

We'd like to thank our launch partners for their cooperation and enthusiasm.  They're already offering the new Panel, and have some fantastic ideas about how to use it.  Here are four of our partners news releases regarding Parallels Small Business Panel 10.

Robson Inc.

"The Parallels Small Business Panel also offers an intuitive user control panel, a roles-based setup that brings the right tools to the right employees and more advanced applications that let your administrators manage all server settings in one location"  More

Blue Ridge InternetWorks

"Parallels Small Business Panel is a simple control panel for businesses to quickly and easily manage their IT needs. With its intuitive interface, Parallels Small Business Panel gives employees powerful productivity tools and saves your business money on training and software costs." More

ViUX

"Parallels Small Business Panel is designed specifically to meet the needs of small businesses, offering simple wizards and productivity tools for collaboration, file sharing and business management." More

TurnKey Internet

"The streamlined Parallels Small Business Panel 10 interface helps businesses increase their productivity and reduce training costs for performing even the most advanced IT tasks." More

Don't forget to check out the video demo, and tell us what you think.  Find us on Twitter: @ParallelsPanel.

Plesk: Now Pocket-Sized

Running Plesk on fidgety servers?  The rest of your IT team going on vacation?  Just can't get enough of Parallels Plesk Panel?  Well, now you don't have to leave your servers to their own devices when you're out and about.  Earlier this month, Dutch interactive and mobile solutions firm, mediaBunker, announced an application that allows a user to administer their Plesk server from their iPhone.  Now there really is an app for everything.

This application is still in development, but already you can manage clients (search the client list, edit IP pools and permissions), administer your domains (set limits and administrators, list of domains and statuses), and see the statistics of your servers (CPU, OS, uptime, Plesk version, etc...).  Hopefully if the app continues to be developed, even more features will be offered.

Reviews are generally positive, though some users are lamenting the lack of power they have.  The system seems to fit better with the needs of client users as opposed to web hosters.  However, there's still something to be said for having your control panel in your pocket.  Though we are not affiliated with the development of this app, please do let us know what you think of it and how it works.  In a world where wires are disappearing left and right, a good server admin app for the iPhone is going to be a very useful piece of software.

Here's the link to the info page, with a shiny demo video!  Check it out!

Plesk 9.2.3 Released!

Yesterday (October 20th), Parallels released the latest version of their server administration panel, Plesk!

Highlights of the update include:

• Compatibility with Fedora 11
• Local mail delivery failure under Qmail bug fixed
• Update/patch system improved and streamlined

Check out the rest of the release notes here!

Using it? Leave us some feedback!

Not using it? Contact your web hoster and see if you can get it!

And then, leave us some feedback!

What Happens in Vegas, Doesn’t Stay in Vegas: Parallels Summit 2010

With glitz and glam in Vegas 2009, we are bringing Parallels Summit to Miami from February 22-24, 2010. Here are three reasons why you should sign-up and go to Parallels Summit. If you:

1. Love Technology: This event will have three tracks: Service Provider, Technology, and Industry, with sessions that will concentrate on SaaS, virtualization, and hosting strategies. You can even market your company and yourself as a leader in the Cloud or technology industry through sponsorship opportunities. You can be the giver and receiver of technology.
2. Like Making New Business Friends: Parallels Summit is offering sponsored meals for you to network with fellow attendees. Over 60% of all attendees are CEOs, owners, COOs, and Managing Directors. While you may attend the event not knowing many people, by the end of Parallels Summit, you will be able to potentially call, tweet, Facebook, send a carrier pigeon note, or perhaps even “super poke” your more diverse network.
3. Want to go to the “Magic City”: While February may be considered a “winter” month, Miami will be about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This will be just warm enough to get some tanning oil on (or rubbing oil on someone else) and to sit on the beach after a long day at Parallels Summit.

By the end of this event, you will be in the know about cutting edge technology, have a wider networking pool, and have a great tan or burn. So mark this event in your calendar, sign-up and get ready for winter in Miami. Register now to win an iPod Touch or Zune HD.

SMBs Get the Enterprise-Level Tools They Need

There's an increasing demand for Parallels Automation offerings, and it's because small & medium businesses are realizing more and more that they can enjoy the same capabilities in processing and communication that large enterprises have, without spending an arm and a leg on management & maintenance.

Microsoft Hosted Exchange and Hosted Unified Communications offers SMBs a cost-effective alternative to managing an in-house e-mail server. In the Hosted Exchange model, the hoster and/or telco provider manages all the technology and support for the SMB.

The demand for these services is fueled by the efficiency they bring to running the networking core of businesses. Managing elaborate and repetitive processes like order processing and client billing can be an unnecessary hassle. You have the upkeep of software, hardware and sheer time spent managing it all. Sourcing those jobs to a hosting or telcom provider (Companies in the Cloud who SMBs already deal with) is a simple way to save on IT spending.

The full press release is here, and it explains how Parallels Automation is taking off, letting the small business owner achieve things which were previously only possible for the big fish.

Parallels Ignites HostingCon!

HostingCon is in Maryland this year, and as always, it presents an excellent opportunity for small & medium businesses to learn tips and tricks for creating a stable client base in the service provider industry. That's especially true for those interested in expanding their boarders into the Cloud, and this year Parallels will be in full attendance to talk all about that.

Parallels CEO Serguei Bellousov will be amongst the Parallels guest speakers for the event, and will be conducting the keynote speech, "Finding Your Position to Compete in a Changing Hosting Industry," the afternoon of August 10th. The goal is to teach and help service providers adapt their current setup to provide automation and SaaS offerings for their clients.

HostingCon 2009 will be held August 10th - 12th. See the press release HERE to find out more!

Parallels Announces First EMEA Partner Roadshow!

Problem:

There are hundreds (and by extension thousands) of businesses out there in the hosting and service related industries who aren't familiar with the benefits of virtualization and automation technology, and even if they are, they may have no idea how to effectively integrate that technology with their current system. There's a huge potential for service providers to save money and heighten their efficiency. Cloud computing can revolutionize an enterprise for both service providers and their clients, but like many things the awareness factor sometimes isn't there. Service providers can offer more dynamic services to customers with the right technology in place.

Solution:

Parallels will meet you half way! We’re inviting existing and potential future partners to join us during our first EMEA Partner Roadshow. Learn how to optimize your SP offerings with Parallels solutions! Sponsors for the event series include VeriSign, RedHat, Epages, OpenSRS, Unison, Internet X, Backupagent, Scalix/Xandros, Bobcares and Commtouch.

The roadshow runs throughout September, and our goal is to educate as many server and hosting professionals as possible about SaaS and how it can enhance their offerings through virtualization and automation. It will also be a perfect opportunity for existing SaaS-driven providers to connect and discuss the best practices of cloud computing during our sessions.

The dates and locations are below. For more information, including a full list of attending sponsors, see the EMEA Partner Roadshow press release HERE.

Stockholm - September 1

Amsterdam - September 3

Warsaw - September 7

Cologne - September 10

Paris - September 14

Madrid - September 17

London - September 21

Parallels Partner Platter

It's been a busy week with lots of our partners talking about the work we do with them, which is always lovely. Here’s the lowdown on a few of them...

Turnkey Internet

Turnkey is presenting web hosting automation and virtualization services with Parallels Virtuozzo Containers and Parallels Plesk Panel!  These products will be offered as Software-as-a-Service add-ons to their existing dedicated server and virtual private server (VPS) lines so customers around the world can utilize the huge cost efficiency of automation-based web services and container-based virtualization. Best of all, the add-on services are free of charge (for a 10-domain capacity) for their virtual and dedicated server products.  More details can be found here.

ZipServers

ZipServers has launched Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder, our browser-based website editing application that enables small and medium-sized businesses to create and publish professional websites for no additional cost! Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder is fully integrated into Parallels Control Panel and includes more than 500 templates with a simple, five-step wizard that can quickly create sites. Additionally, it features new modules that let users easily create blogs, image galleries, guest books, online stores, forums, as well as offering such web 2.0 capabilities such as feedback, user registration, RSS, voting and area maps.

More details can be found here.

Exchange My Mail®

Exchange My Mail has launched a Windows Virtual Private Server (VPS) service that delivers the advantages of a dedicated server without the hassle and expense of managing a system in-house. The service utilizes Parallels’ Virtuozzo Containers, which allows a single server to host multiple “virtual” servers providing more reliability, isolation, and flexibility than a shared hosting account. It is a configuration that is ideal for hosting environments, because it reduces stress on the OS, allowing customers to use more allocated resources for web sites and applications. Plus – it’s significantly less expensive and requires little to no maintenance as compared to dedicated servers. More details can be found here.

Cobweb Solutions Expands Hosted Services with Parallels Automation

Cobweb Solutions implemented Parallels Automation to streamline internal administration and enable the provisioning of business applications and services, including Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Selling directly to customers through its web site and dedicated sales team, Cobweb is also using the channel to drive business through its network of over 100 partners, which range from white-label resellers and ISPs to IT solutions providers that resell products and services into the UK market and abroad.

“With the phenomenal growth in popularity of hosted IT, we needed a platform that would allow us to offer a broader range of services with the scalability to meet increasing customer demand,” said Dan Germain, CTO at Cobweb Solutions. “This is a very important strategic move and puts Cobweb in a perfect position to maximize the interest in and growth of cloud computing. It also gives resellers an attractive alternative to Microsoft’s new Business Online Productivity Suite, giving them better overall control, not to mention advantageous profit margins.”

Parallels Brings Cloud Computing to Asia-Pacific Region with First Parallels APAC Summit 2009

The feedback from our US Summit was overwhelming and we are thrilled to expand Parallels successful annual event into Asia. Parallels is putting cloud computing at the top of the agenda in Asia by introducing its industry-uniting cloud services networking event, which will take place in Singapore on September 25th, 2009, and registration is now open.

If your travels take you to Singapore, you don’t want to miss the engaging business and product sessions, as well as insights into why you need a cloud computing strategy. In fact, Springboard Research predicts that: “in 2009 every leading hardware, software and services vendor will have a clear cloud computing strategy. Moreover, as budgets shift from cap‐ex to op‐ex, more IT organizations will strongly consider cloud computing as an alternative software and service delivery model.”