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December 19, 2007

Server automation software giant SW-Soft says that early next year it will begin re-branding its services under the new corporate name Parallels, taken from the well-known desktop virtualization company it quietly acquired in 2003.

SW-Soft's re-branding move is part of an effort the company is undertaking to create a more consolidated message for its far-reaching suite of automation and server virtualization solutions.

SW-Soft CEO Serguei Beloussov says "the single, unified brand could help clear up some possible confusion for potential customers, and will hopefully better communicate the integration process between its various products."

Beloussov added that "as part of that process, all of the company's individual brands will be re-named to fall under the umbrella of Parallels, which is already the company's best-known brand, if not necessarily in the hosting space."

"Server automation software such as SWsoft PEM and HSPcomplete will be renamed Parallels System Automation and Parallels Business Automation, for instance. Even well-worn names like Plesk and Virtuozzo may eventually be phased out in favor of more descriptive names like Parallels Control Panel in the long run," said Beloussov.

Accompanying the new brand name is a new vision of "optimized computing," which attempts to communicate SWsoft's focus on providing businesses, consumers and service providers with "the industry's broadest portfolio of multi-platform virtualization and automation software," according to SWsoft's official announcement.

"It's still not clear how our products will fit together, and they actually fit together very well. They integrate together and in most cases sell together. For example, Virtuozzo is almost always sold with Plesk, and most Plesk customers also buy Virtuozzo," said Beloussov.

He added "However, we do look like a collection of separate companies. And what we want is to look like a single company with a single vision, so we need a single name."

The change is not meant to communicate a change in direction for the company, but rather a unifying of the message for a company that had, up to this point, been perhaps more recognizable for the products themselves than for the overarching organization's brand.

"There is absolutely no change in the company's direction," reassured Beloussov. "It's still the same company. We just want to look clearer for our various channels and customers. We're not dropping or stopping support for any products. Everything remains the same - just the names and brands are different."

Early next year, the existing Parallels and SWsoft websites will be consolidated under www.parallels.com.

Beloussov closed by saying "since we're changing the name and integrating the companies, we needed to be real clear about company vision and assertion, so we have a new tagline, 'optimized computing,' which is broad enough that it fits service providers, and the consumer and business channel."

"We're heterogeneous, we use virtualization and automation to optimize information technology infrastructure and we do it for service providers and for consumers and business," said Beloussov.

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Source: The WHIR