Parallels Summit 2008 Opens to Record Attendance

PARALLELS SUMMIT 2008, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2008 – Virtualization, software as a service (SaaS) and "green" hosting were among some of the important computing trends addressed by industry leaders and innovators yesterday at the Parallels Summit 2008, which opened to a record number of attendees from more than 20 countries worldwide.  

 Highlights from day one of the Summit include: 

·         Serguei Beloussov, Chairman and CEO of Parallels, shared "Parallels' Vision for the Service Provider World," describing how hosting providers and independent software vendors (ISVs) can take advantage of optimized computing and opportunities around the development of SaaS.

·         Michael van Dijken from Microsoft's Communications Sector explained how next generation web solutions can help service providers grow their customer base in his presentation, "Revolutionize Your Hosting Business with Windows Server 2008."

·         Dylan Larson from Intel's Server Platforms Group shared his observations about emerging usage models and technologies related to virtualization, and the opportunities they create in "Virtualization Trends and Opportunities."

·         Presentations by industry executives from Tier1 Research, Open X-change, Pinnacle Cart, 4PSA and Smart Online provided perspectives on SaaS, virtualization, open source technologies, VoIP and the Application Packaging Standard (APS).

·         Breakout sessions were offered in three tracks:  Business, Technical and Industry.

·         A sunset dinner cruise on the scenic Potomac River was sponsored by Microsoft.

The Parallels Summit 2008 features keynotes and in-depth product, strategy and networking sessions for business and technical professionals interested in learning more about how virtualization and automation software can optimize their use of technology. The event is May 19-20 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Sponsors for this year's event include Platinum sponsor Microsoft, Gold sponsors Intel and Acronis, and Silver sponsors spreed, Open-Xchange, e.pages, Mesh Solutions and SoftLayer. The annual event also includes hands-on technical labs for Parallels solutions, sponsored by HP.

The Parallels Summit 2008 concludes this evening following a closing ceremony that is highlighted with giveaways from Apple, Microsoft and Magellan, and an evening networking event at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. A detailed agenda of planned sessions and activities is available at www.parallels.com/summit/agenda.

About Parallels – Optimized Computing

Parallels is a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software that optimizes computing for consumers, businesses, and service providers across all major hardware, operating systems, and virtualization platforms. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with 900 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.parallels.com.

# # #

Parallels Press Contact:

Ben Rudolph

Director of Corp Communications, Parallels Inc

(425) 282 – 6446

ben@parallels.com