Server virtualization, automation and software provider, Parallels, will conduct a seven-country partner roadshow targeting Parallels’ partners and other hosters, cloud services providers and ISVs.

The EMEA Partner Roadshow will provide attendees with insights and best practices to deploy applications and services in a hosted environment. The roadshow will also provide practical examples of how hosters can use white-label reselling to create a lucrative indirect sales channel with a wider portfolio of applications, while maintaining brand independence and client loyalty.

Johan Vansimpsen, CTO and co-founder at Network Group Europe remarked, ”Network Group is using Parallels to balance a fine-tuned approach for delivering IT resellers the best possible technology to ‘grow with the cloud’ from the start. We are committed to delivering a full-blown hosted communications platform reseller solution and with Parallels, we are now able to deploy new services five times faster, so logically we are anticipating five times more revenue. Parallels also allows Network Group systems integrators (SIs) and value added resellers (VARs) a speedy entry to market option that gives them the fastest route to customers who trust them to deliver the most flexible software and services packages at the best price points.”

White-label reselling enables hosters to resell and deliver SaaS applications including Microsoft Exchange, Windows SharePoint, Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS), etc. in a hosted environment. In the SaaS model, end user customers subscribe to applications instead of purchasing them, typically on a monthly basis. In this pay-as-you go approach, SMBs are afforded an easy-to-use low-cost service.

An April 2009, study by IDC finds that growth in the SaaS market will be strong in Europe despite – and in some cases because of – the weak economic conditions. The overall SaaS market will grow from 237 million in 2004 to 6,005 million in 2013 (1). From this and other recent IDC studies, it is clear that SaaS has become accepted by the mainstream of user organizations around Europe. This will result in continued strong growth, making SaaS a rising star in a very largely depressed European software market.

Dan Germain, CTO at Cobweb Solutions remarked, ”Leveraging Parallels we were able to increase our average revenue per user, deploy new services faster and reduce operating costs. It was critical for us to find a provider able to properly support white-label services at a modular and infrastructure level, so that our partners can resell Cobweb services under their own brand. Parallels allows Cobweb and its resellers to provide multiple-vendor solutions and flexible billing and administration across its different service offerings. Parallels enables Cobweb to increase revenue from each and every customer, both now and in the future.”

White-Label Reselling lets hosters delegate service plans to their customers to resell and offer a wider array of applications, without the extended cost of infrastructure involved in creating and distributing the applications themselves. White-label resale also offers an indirect sales channel and lets resellers maintain their unique brand independence, as well as retaining client loyalty. With white-label web hosting, it is possible for anyone to run their own web hosting business, while they rent or buy the actual web server space and services from an established hosting provider. Resellers do not have to take on the huge investment that make-up a web hosting service such as web servers, network connections, data center staff, server administrators, server support technicians and web server software and system licenses.

The 2009 Parallels Partner Roadshow will be take place in: Stockholm, September 1; Amsterdam, September 3; Warsaw, September 7; Cologne, September 10; Paris, September 14; Madrid, September 17 and London, September 21. To register for any of the events, or for more information, please visit www.parallels.com/emea2009.

Parallels is a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software that optimizes computing for consumers, businesses, and cloud services providers across all major hardware, operating systems, and virtualization platforms. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 650 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia.