Nov, 2009 : Parallels Announces Parallels Small Business Panel 10

📅 November 3, 2009 - Introduces Parallels Partner Marketplace for increased revenue through commercial business application offerings.

Parallels, a provider of virtualization and automation software, today announced the availability of Parallels Small Business Panel 10, which allows cloud services providers to offer IT-in-a-box solutions to small businesses, increasing revenue through business applications sales, and helping their small business customers transition to the cloud. The company avers that Parallels Small Business Panel features a control panel designed for small businesses, offering simple wizards and productivity tools for collaboration, file sharing and business management.

It claims that this makes self-service possible for all employees using the solution. The company states that Parallels Small Business Panel also introduces the Parallels Partner Marketplace, enabling cloud services providers to offer commercial applications to their small business customers in an easy-to-use storefront. The company explains that Parallels Small Business Panel 10 gives users an intuitive user interface designed to connect employees to the right applications, which can be installed with a single click with no need for special training or technical knowledge. Role-based access enables user organizations to restrict functionality as appropriate for their employees. In addition, Parallels Small Business Panel incorporates the functionality of additional Parallels solutions for free, including Parallels Sitebuilder and Parallels Power Pack.

"Parallels is uniquely addressing the needs of small businesses and redefining the way control panels are used with the development of Parallels Small Business Panel. Over 40 cloud services providers are already launching the solution, so it's clear that this is striking a chord with Parallels' partners who are seeing the benefits for their small business customers," explains Jack Zubarev, President of Service Provider Division at Parallels. "Parallels continues to enable cloud services providers to move beyond basic hosting services and offer value-added applications and services."

"Previously, we've found that control panels have not been suitable for our small business customers; however, in participating in the beta trial of Parallels Small Business Panel, we found that the performance, applications and end-user feedback exceeded our expectations," said George Karidis, Chief Strategy Officer at Softlayer. "Parallels' new panel signifies a new approach to servicing small businesses, enabling us to offer a separate solution that provides one interface for all their IT needs."

"Parallels Partner Marketplace together with Parallels Small Business Panel, provides our small business customers with a central management console to access and service all their online requirements," Ryan Elledge, Chief Operating Officer, at Codero. "With Parallels Panel Marketplace, our customers can select, purchase and install business applications with a few clicks. Parallels then takes care of the set-up, provisioning and management, making the solution complete and easy-to-use."