Parallels has announced the general availability of Parallels Automation 6.0, which includes top partner-requested features such as tiered pricing, direct migration from Exchange 2007 to 2013 and improved tools for managing customer accounts with multiple users and services. This also enables web hosting service providers to offer the latest versions of Microsoft cloud service offerings.
“We value our partners’ collaboration and real-world experience,” said Alain Gentilhomme, senior vice president, Research & Development, Parallels. “Their input is critical to evolving Parallels Automation with features and capabilities that meet the needs of their customers and allow them to grow their cloud service business according to their specific needs.”
Three key areas of enhancements in Parallels Automation 6.0 include operations, user experience and support for Microsoft cloud services.
Operational Enhancements for Web Hosting Service Providers:
- Transfer customer accounts between resellers and between customers without disruption of connected services
- Implement more sophisticated pricing models with tiered volume pricing
- Simplify tax issues for accounting and finance with integrated EZtax service
- Improve order-to-cash processes with prescriptive indicators
User Experience Enhancements for End Customers:
- Implement trial conversions with visible reminders and an updated trial conversion wizard
- Increased performance for provisioning, task management and user interface by up to 50 percent
- “Simple” user log-on experience between multiple services with SSO
- “Straight-forward” employee and service management
Microsoft Cloud Service Support:
- Launch Windows Shared hosting with latest Windows 2012 & SQL 2014
- Launch Hosted Exchange (HEX) 2013 and migrate customers from HEX 2007/2010
At the same time, Parallels has announced that Parallels Cloud Server is now officially accepted into OpenStack, Kilo release as a server virtualization infrastructure product. The recognition would ensure that web hosting service providers who use OpenStack as an infrastructure solution will be able to deploy Parallels Cloud Server. Also, more than 150 companies that support the global open source initiative would now be able to confidently integrate the technology into their own offerings.
