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.”

Parallels Introduces New Cloud Services Portal

 

I am happy to share that we have just launched our NEW Cloud Services Provider Portal – http://www.parallels.com/spp which serves as THE unifying web experience for our Cloud Services Provider audience. This new Cloud Services Provider Portal is intended to give our providers (you!!) an easy-to-use resource guide, not just to Parallels..but to Cloud Services as a whole. Some of the cool features include:

Cloud Services Providers Grow with Parallels.  This section explores the business problems that can be addressed with Parallels and what specific products would be most significant for each.

Services to Offer.  This section helps Cloud Services Providers understand the offerings they can and should provide to differentiate their businesses. 

Parallels Products. This section provides information on our product line and an explanation of how the different suites can integrate together. 

Parallels 101.  This section provides easy-to digest information about topical subjects like cloud computing, SaaS, Virtualization, Control Panels & Automating Billing and the role that Parallels plays in each area. 

Resources such as news coverage for the Cloud Services Provider audience, press releases and case studies are now available all in one central location. Additionally, partnership information (like…the top 5 reasons to partner with Parallels) can be found in the “Partner with Parallels section.” 

Parallels Announces New Service Provider Partner Promotion

For a limited time, Parallels is offering new partners the ability to test drive it’s Service Provider Partner Program and simultaneously waive sales volume commitments and additional fees (like deposits) during the promotional period.  The promotion is available through July 31, 2009, and lets new Partners offer the powerful Parallels Plesk Panel Suite of products, as well as Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, at the same licensing rate conferred to Silver Partners. 

The Partner Program will benefit any service provider who is interested in enhancing their offerings to include virtualization and automation technologies. The Program lets hosting and cloud service providers build more profitable full-featured offerings to increase revenue streams, by adding recurring revenue to every sale. In addition to product discounts, Trial Partners will also benefit from the dedicated account management and marketing resources that come with the Parallels service provider partnership program.

Click here to learn more about the Parallels Service Provider Partner Program. You can also learn more about Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0’s new features and enhancements at http://www.parallels.com/spp/parallelsplesk.

Parallels Plesk Panel takes over the world

…one web hosting company at a time. Well, ok – maybe not world domination, but we’re very pleased to see so many providers offering Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 on their entire line of server offerings. For example, it was announced last week that LiquidWeb, a chief provider of premium web hosting products and data center infrastructure, is the most recent company to make our hosting automation software available on 100% of its dedicated and virtualized servers.

LiquidWeb started by offering Parallels Plesk Panel on only its Windows servers and is now expanding this to include the 80% of its servers that are Linux based. In doing so, all of the company’s end-users will be able to take advantage of Parallels Plesk Panel’s intuitive interface and easy to use navigation in order to streamline their organizations and optimize their IT departments.

So… while “taking over the world”, might be a bit of a stretch….Parallels Plesk Panel is definitely doing its bit to help make it run much more smoothly and efficiently - and that should count for something!

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.2 Update!

Here’s what you may know:

Parallels Plesk Panel is an easy to use control panel that automates burdensome tasks quickly and efficiently. In addition, it is the only control panel that offers the direct availability of hundreds of applications to end users and fully integrates with other Parallels products, including Parallels Plesk Billing, which eliminates the need for third party software.

Here’s what you may not know:

The newest version now includes migration tools that are designed to let partners migrate servers from older versions of Parallels Plesk Panel and C-Panel with ease.

And… for anyone who has ever struggled with junk mail – check this out:

Parallels Plesk Panel now includes Greylisting: a spam scrubbing technique that bounces emails from unknown providers on their first send and then later accepts the email after a short period of time. The reason it works is that spammers anticipate that most of their addressees will bounce and typically will only send an email once. Faking a bounce will be enough to prevent you from ever seeing the spam and only delay strange emails by a few minutes. Pretty awesome!

For more information and downloads – go to: www.parallels.com/products/plesk.

A Shining...Star.

Most of you are already familiar with Parallels Automation, our award winning hosting automation control panel.  Today I thought I’d tell you about how Star (www.star.co.uk), the largest independent business-to-business Internet services provider in the UK, is using this fabulous product to shorten their time to market and reduce their total costs of ownership (TCO). Specifically, Star wanted to improve the end-user experience and reduce support requests by giving customers control over their services….while at the same time, increasing overall cost efficiency.

Enter Parallels. Parallels Operations Automation in combination with Parallels Plesk Panel was able to help on all accounts by enabling customers to automate their hosting services in real time, saving Star money in terms of help desk support calls. By automating, Star was able to reduce the amount of man hours spent on complex repetitive back-end tasks, reducing TCO by freeing up staff to focus on revenue-generation and delivering new services to the market more quickly. In addition, Parallels Automation now provides Star with the ability to quickly add additional services to their portfolio, increasing customer retention and revenue per user.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full case study.

Every day is "Earth Day" with SaaS!

Especially today, on Earth Day, we celebrate positive trends in the direction of Green IT, specifically…. the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Model!

Typically IT is not very green. It consumes a fair amount of power and it’s our increasing reliance on technology that is largely blamed for global warming.  With that in mind, some IT architecture models are more energy efficient than others, and adoption of the SaaS model is definitely a step in the right direction. 

Enter SaaS. Clearly SaaS saves a lot of energy by more efficiently using computing resources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.  Consumers worldwide are beginning to realize just how much centralized processing and a shared services model contribute to a smaller carbon footprint!

In addition, SaaS centralizes data center operations to use less equipment and a small fraction of the supporting facility costs….which means less costs associated with servers and their accompanied maintenance/upkeep. In a time when "going green" is high on many companies' priority lists, SaaS provides a great way to improve business processes on both fronts.

IT folks should sleep well at night knowing their SaaS applications are helping to save Mother Earth. Whoever said it's not easy being green...

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PM World Today explained the whole thing very nicely in an article published in February 2009:

Less Fossil Fuels

SaaS solutions enable telecommuting. This means that you no longer have employees wasting fuel by driving to work and getting stuck in traffic. With SaaS solutions, you can work in your home, a coffee shop, or your local bookstore. All you need is a wireless laptop and a cell phone. More choice in your work environment also leads to smoother relations with colleagues and less stress in your life.

Less Energy

SaaS allows the sharing of resources, like carpooling. Instead of one server in your company serving one population of users sporadically, an equivalent server can sit in the data center of a SaaS provider and serve multiple companies worldwide, taking advantage of the inevitable low activity during the night in the U.S. to provide service to European or Asian customers. Computers use energy whether they're active or idle, so the computer in your company's server closet is wasting energy at night. SaaS servers are not as wasteful of energy in this regard.

Less Landfill Waste

Consolidating servers is not just about saving energy. Consider the fact that every computer that is bought eventually ends up as waste and this waste is pretty toxic.

Less Paper

SaaS solutions often provide an application program interface, making integrations to accounting and other automated systems a snap. These integrations avoid environmentally damaging paper document creation and processes that are based on human resources and therefore error-prone.

                                                                                                Source: Published in PM World Today – February 2009