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(The Hosting News) – Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email and collaboration software for cloud providers, announced today the appointment of Carsten Dirks as chief operating officer (COO).

Responsible for engineering, professional services, support, key account management and administration, Dirks joins a company that grew to more than 42 million users in 2011 – an increase of 75 percent over the prior year – with plans to increase to more than 80 million in 2012.

“We have enormous growth potential as our products serve the increasing demand for communication and collaboration software delivered via the cloud,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO, Open-Xchange. “In combination with the mobile and web-based computing opportunities, Open-Xchange is growing to support the market demand. Carsten will help us move ahead from our pole position in this market to further grow our business with our worldwide partner ecosystem.”

Most recently, Dirks was managing director and chairman of the executive board of Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. Also, he was responsible globally for the “Wealth Management” business unit within Interactive Data Corporation, Inc.

He has held positions with responsibility for client activities and sales, as well as product development at other software companies and began his career at SAP AG where he worked in Germany, as well as Boston and Palo Alto.

Carsten Dirks holds a degree in economics from the University of Frankfurt / Main and Clemson University.

Open-Xchange is a pioneer in enabling service providers to offer Software as a Service (SaaS) to customers. Its software reaches customers through partners worldwide that include web hosting companies, telecoms, cable carriers, system integrators, value added resellers and distributors.

Open-Xchange integrates email, calendar, contact and task management with advanced collaboration features such as information management and document sharing, along with cutting-edge social network integration. By adding the Open-Xchange mobility capabilities, users can receive push email and synchronization of contacts, calendar and other information from their Open-Xchange account to their smartphones, including iPhone, Android-based devices, Nokia, Windows Mobile and others.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Open-Xchange Adds Chief Operating Officer

(The Hosting News) – Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email and collaboration software for cloud providers, announced today it expects to again double its number of users — reaching 80 million paid mailboxes by the end of 2012, making it among the world’s largest providers.

The company is a pioneer in enabling service providers to offer a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to their customers – from consumers to businesses of all sizes – and is now entering its fifth year since the introduction with 1&1 in Europe and the U.S. Open-Xchange gives service providers of all kinds and sizes the ability to compete with global and local cloud mail offerings.

In 2011, Open-Xchange announced agreements with 15 partners in North America, Europe and Asia growing to more than 42 million users — an increase of 75 percent over the prior year.Its software reaches end customers through partners worldwide that include web hosting companies, telecoms, cable carriers, system integrators, value added resellers and distributors.

“With five of the top 10 hosters in the world as our partners, this quest will now continue with more focus on the telecom, mobile and cable industries, as well as very large distributors and system integrators in the year ahead,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “The decision of Openwave to use Open-Xchange as the foundation for its Rich Mail 4 product gives us access to its 150 million email seats deployed at companies like Time Warner Cable, NTT DoCoMo, UPC and others. We create a complete carrier-grade solution stack with their proven messaging back-ends.“

The company plans to open an office in the greater San Francisco Bay area as part of its focus on the U.S. telecommunications market. Recently, Bob Pacheco was hired to lead this initiative as senior vice president of sales and general manager Americas.

At its third annual Summit held last month, Open-Xchange demonstrated a preview of the next-generation of its software that is scheduled for the second half of 2012. Focusing on content, speed and simplicity, the new release will be the first “Web age” mail available to the mass market, leaving 20 years of fat client software and unnecessary chrome behind. It will also vastly improve the experience on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones — used more and more for mobile access to emails, contacts and calendars.

Important engagements announced by Open-Xchange this year included:

• STRATO, Europe’s second-largest web host and services provider, with customers in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, U.K., France and Italy;
• Host Europe Group, a leader in domain name registration and web hosting in the U.K. and Germany;
• iomart Group, based in the U.K.;
• Acens, one of Spain’s largest web hosting service providers.

In terms of product development, Open-Xchange implemented the OAuth standard for authentication of external services like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook so that users only need to authorize once and not login each time they want to access that service. With the “Social OX” feature in Open-Xchange, users are able to merge their contact information from LinkedIn and Facebook into a single Open-Xchange contact book and even manage their information anywhere and with virtually any device via Open-Xchange’s mobility solution.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Open-Xchange to Double Again to 80 Million Users

(The Hosting News) – Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email and collaboration software for cloud providers, announced today it expects to again double its number of users — reaching 80 million paid mailboxes by the end of 2012, making it among the world’s largest providers.

The company is a pioneer in enabling service providers to offer a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to their customers – from consumers to businesses of all sizes – and is now entering its fifth year since the introduction with 1&1 in Europe and the U.S. Open-Xchange gives service providers of all kinds and sizes the ability to compete with global and local cloud mail offerings.

In 2011, Open-Xchange announced agreements with 15 partners in North America, Europe and Asia growing to more than 42 million users — an increase of 75 percent over the prior year.Its software reaches end customers through partners worldwide that include web hosting companies, telecoms, cable carriers, system integrators, value added resellers and distributors.

“With five of the top 10 hosters in the world as our partners, this quest will now continue with more focus on the telecom, mobile and cable industries, as well as very large distributors and system integrators in the year ahead,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “The decision of Openwave to use Open-Xchange as the foundation for its Rich Mail 4 product gives us access to its 150 million email seats deployed at companies like Time Warner Cable, NTT DoCoMo, UPC and others. We create a complete carrier-grade solution stack with their proven messaging back-ends.“

The company plans to open an office in the greater San Francisco Bay area as part of its focus on the U.S. telecommunications market. Recently, Bob Pacheco was hired to lead this initiative as senior vice president of sales and general manager Americas.

At its third annual Summit held last month, Open-Xchange demonstrated a preview of the next-generation of its software that is scheduled for the second half of 2012. Focusing on content, speed and simplicity, the new release will be the first “Web age” mail available to the mass market, leaving 20 years of fat client software and unnecessary chrome behind. It will also vastly improve the experience on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones — used more and more for mobile access to emails, contacts and calendars.

Important engagements announced by Open-Xchange this year included:

• STRATO, Europe’s second-largest web host and services provider, with customers in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, U.K., France and Italy;
• Host Europe Group, a leader in domain name registration and web hosting in the U.K. and Germany;
• iomart Group, based in the U.K.;
• Acens, one of Spain’s largest web hosting service providers.

In terms of product development, Open-Xchange implemented the OAuth standard for authentication of external services like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook so that users only need to authorize once and not login each time they want to access that service. With the “Social OX” feature in Open-Xchange, users are able to merge their contact information from LinkedIn and Facebook into a single Open-Xchange contact book and even manage their information anywhere and with virtually any device via Open-Xchange’s mobility solution.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Open-Xchange to Double Again to 80 Million Users

(The Hosting News) - Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email and collaboration software for cloud providers, announced today an agreement with Openprovider to be the exclusive distributor of Open-Xchange in The Netherlands. Openprovider will make hosted Open-Xchange available to resellers, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and small web hosting companies.

Openproviders partners now are able to provide collaboration and mobility services to consumers and small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). In the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model, customers subscribe to the application instead of purchasing them, typically on a monthly basis. In this pay-as-you go approach, SMEs are afforded an easy-to-use, low-cost service.

“Communication and collaboration are leading the way for the adoption of cloud applications with small business owners and private users, in particular, looking for an affordable alternative to Microsoft Exchange and Sharepoint,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange.

“As email, calendars and address management are all key for digital communications, we think that the Open-Xchange solution will give our customers excellent upsell capabilities,” said Arno Vis, CEO of Openprovider. “Hosted communication services based on Open-Xchange are ideal for  resellers, ISPs and webhosters to build additional revenue with their existing customers and attract new customers.”

Open-Xchange integrates email, calendar and contact functionality — with advanced document management capabilities — into a single, intuitive interface. Unique Social OX features give users the ability to consolidate any kind of existing webmail accounts right within the application. Users can automatically add contact details from social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn into a single Open-Xchange contact book and even manage their information anywhere and with virtually any device via Open-Xchange’s mobility solution.

Open-Xchange integrates fully with other products Openprovider delivers like, for example, Parallels Plesk Panel and SpamExperts.

For more information, resellers, ISPs and webhosters are invited to visit www.openprovider.com.

About Openprovider

Openprovider is the leading wholesale provider of domain names, SSL certificates, Parallels licenses and SpamExperts in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain with offices in Rotterdam, Barcelona, León, Paramaribo and Novosibirsk.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Open-Xchange Signs Agreement with Openprovider

(The Hosting News) – Open-Xchange CEO, Rafael Laguna, will join market research firm Radicati Group and a panel of email platform experts to discuss key trends in the evolution of email platforms.

The free web conference, “Email Platforms for Service Providers” is scheduled for Thursday, December 1 at 12:30 pm Eastern for anyone who needs to make decisions about email platform selection and management.

Along with Rafael Laguna from Open-Xchange and the moderator and event organizer, Sara Radicati, speakers from Openwave and VMware Zimbra will join the panel.

“Email platforms aimed at ISPs and service providers now deliver all-encompassing communication environments that bring together email, mobile connectivity, instant messaging, social networking, unified communications, sophisticated address book functionality, security, archiving and highly accurate search and retrieval functionality,” said moderator Sara Radicati, CEO, Radicati Group. “In addition, user interfaces have evolved dramatically to make it easier for service providers to offer a user experience on par with the latest on-premises messaging and collaboration solutions.”

“Our webmail has become the starting point for many providers to enter into the cloud application market,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “We’re seeing hosting companies continue to extend their domains and website hosting services by adding messaging and collaboration as software as a service (SaaS), as well as telcos, cable providers and mobile network operators adding to their product portfolio to support demand for consumers and small businesses who are looking to purchase all their communication and IT services from a single source.”

Open-Xchange integrates email, calendar, contact and task management with advanced collaboration features such as information management and document sharing. Appointments and team meetings can be scheduled efficiently with team calendars. Using shared folders, team members get access to all important documents, tasks, appointments and contacts. Central storage of documents prevents duplicated work and reduces the amount of email traffic. Cutting-edge social network integration enables aggregation of email and contact information from external mail services and social networks.

Open-Xchange’s unique Social OX features give users the ability to consolidate any kind of existing webmail accounts — for example from Google and Yahoo — into a folder in Open-Xchange so they can be managed more easily. Plus, contact details from social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Xing can be added automatically to the Open-Xchange address book — giving users easy access to the latest contact information within their personal network. Also, users can merge their calendar and address books from Google into Open-Xchange.

For more information on the event, please visit: http://www.radicati.com/?p=7845

About Radicati

The Radicati Group is an independent market research firm focused on the computer and telecommunications industry. Started in 1993, with an initial focus on messaging and collaboration, the company has expanded to cover all aspects of email, security, archiving, regulatory compliance, wireless technologies, web services, instant messaging, social networks, unified communications, voice over IP, and more.

The privately-held firm is not aligned with any particular vendor, technology or industry group and its research is funded internally to ensure objectivity. The Radicati Group, Inc. has clients throughout the US, Europe and the Pacific Rim. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with a European office in London.

For more information, please visit: http://www.radicati.com/

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Email Platform Experts to Discuss Trends

(The Hosting News) – LuxCloud, one of the first vendor-independent SaaS distribution platforms in Europe, announced today the availability of white-labeled Open-Xchange email and collaboration delivered as Software as a Service (SaaS).

Open-Xchange – which will be unbranded — is a key part of LuxCloud´s automated cloud service delivery and billing platform enabling resellers and system integrators to bring their small and mid-sized business (SMB) customers into the cloud.

LuxCloud operates a software services distribution platform allowing reseller partners to rapidly launch and profitably deliver cloud services. An increasing number of SMBs are opting for cloud services moving from a traditional and expensive on-premises licensing model to the new and affordable SaaS (Software as a Service) or “pay as you go” model. Instead of requiring resellers to set up their own infrastructure to participate in the cloud, they can utilize the LuxCloud platform. This modern cloud infrastructure provides fast time-to-market, greater flexibility and low investment risk; it can even be tested prior to ordering.

“With the rise of the cloud, traditional resellers and system integrators find it hard to retain customer loyalty as cloud giants Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft go after their customers,” said Marco Houwen, CEO of LuxCloud. “Business-class email is a killer application for small and midsized businesses and Open-Xchange is the proven category leader in cloud email and collaboration. The partnership between Open-Xchange and LuxCloud helps resellers generate new business in the under-served SMB market and remain visible in front of customers with individually branded services.”

LuxCloud’s platform automates the back office tasks involved with selling SaaS, and encompasses sales order placement, service provisioning and the management of service billing. LuxCloud´s automation services are characterized by high levels of flexibility, scalability and security, and include integration tools for control, compliance and resource accountability.

”Small businesses are increasingly looking to purchase multiple services — such as domains, website hosting, messaging and collaboration services and SaaS applications — from a single source,“ said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “Resellers can be up and running on LuxCloud´s white-labeled cloud platform in a few days instead of months. The platform is a great way for resellers to easily expand their product portfolio, solidify their relationship with existing customers and attract new customer audiences.”

Open-Xchange integrates email, calendar, contact and task management with advanced collaboration features such as information management and document sharing. Appointments and team meetings can be scheduled efficiently with team calendars. Using shared folders, team members get access to all important documents, tasks, appointments and contacts. Central storage of documents prevents duplicated work and reduces the amount of email traffic. Cutting-edge social network integration enables aggregation of email and contact information from external mail services and social networks.

Open-Xchange’s unique Social OX features give users the ability to consolidate any kind of existing webmail accounts — for example from Google and Yahoo — into a folder in Open-Xchange so they can be managed more easily. Plus, contact details from social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Xing can be added automatically to the Open-Xchange address book — giving users easy access to the latest contact information within their personal network. Also, users can merge their calendar and address books from Google into Open-Xchange.

With more than 42 million users, Open-Xchange is the world’s leading technology supplier of hosted groupware. SaaS partners include 1&1 Internet, STRATO, Network Solutions, Host Europe, Dotster, Surftown and Hostpoint.

About LuxCloud

LuxCloud is a market leading provider of cloud computing services, allowing companies to quickly launch and profitably deliver the cloud services demanded by small- and medium-sized businesses. LuxCloud offers customizable branded solutions enabling resellers, system integrators and service providers to sell online any and all of the services and applications available on the platform. The range of applications is constantly evolving reflecting the needs of the market and includes web and application hosting, messaging and collaboration, business processes and infrastructure packages. Part of the DCL Group, LuxCloud was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Luxembourg. LuxCloud currently operates throughout Europe enabling a smooth transition of business to the cloud. For more information, please visitwww.luxcloud.com.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Open-Xchange Announces Agreement with LuxCloud

(The Hosting News) – At its third annual Summit in Cologne, Germany, Open-Xchange announced that its number of users will increase to more than 42 million by year end – an increase of 75 percent over the prior year.

“Open-Xchange´s world-class webmail and mobile solutions have become the starting point for many providers to enter into the cloud application market,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “As consumers and small businesses are increasingly looking to purchase all key communication and IT services from a single source, we are starting to see telcos, cable providers and mobile network operators adding Open-Xchange to their product portfolio to support this demand.”

Hosting companies continue to extend their domains and website hosting services by adding messaging and collaboration as software as a service (SaaS). Open-Xchange has become the defacto standard for business-class webmail for the hosting industry. Open-Xchange partners include leading hosting companies: 1&1 Internet (U.S., U.K., Germany); Network Solutions (U.S.); STRATO (Germany); Host Europe (Germany, U.K.); Dotster (U. S.); Acens (Spain); Surftown (Scandinavia) and Hostpoint (Switzerland).

With the recently announced integration of Open-Xchange´s graphical user interface into the Openwave Rich Mail product, Open-Xchange is gaining momentum with service providers and operators looking for software to personalize, brand and monetize their messaging offerings. Openwave has deployed 150 million email seats to its customers, among them Time Warner Cable, NTT DoCoMo, UPC and others. In the coming months, a leading mobile network operator in Asia will base its new business-class webmail services on Open-Xchange.

Next-Generation Cloud Email Previews at Open-Xchange Summit

Open-Xchange demonstrated an exclusive preview of the next-generation of its software to Summit attendees. Scheduled for the second half of 2012, the new version is focused on providing a much improved user experience. The all-new web user interface incorporates the latest developments in web application technology. Focusing on content, speed and simplicity, the new release will be the first “Web age” mail available to the mass market, leaving 20 years of fat client software and chrome behind. It will also vastly improve the experience on mobile devices like tablets — used more and more for mobile access to emails, contacts and calendars.

Sponsors of the event included: LuxCloud, Parallels, Scality, Univention, Digitec, eleven, nfon, Openwave, Reddoxx, SpamExperts, and SUSE Linux.

For presentations, videos and pictures of the third Open-Xchange Summit go to www.open-xchange.com/en/partner/summit-2011.html.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Open-Xchange Expected to Grow

(The Hosting News) – Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email and collaboration software for cloud providers is holding its third annual Open-Xchange Summit. The event will take place November 4, in Cologne at the KölnSKY tower. SpamExperts the leading provider of email security products from Amsterdam will be a sponsor at the event.

SpamExperts delivers e-mail security products tailored for webhosts and offers smooth integration with Open-Xchange.  The integration increases the productivity and usability of professional email-security for Open-Xchange users. The Open-Xchange interface enables clients  to open the webinterface of their email security products from SpamExperts with a simple click and from there manage all their email security related issues.  By integrating the Open-Xchange and SpamExperts software, considerable cost-savings accrue that improve service providers’ competitive position.

“With more than 24 millions users, Open-Xchange is a global technology supplier of hosted cloud email and we are proud to be a partner of Open-Xchange and be a sponsor at the Summit next week”: says Sam Renkema, CEO of SpamExperts.  “We look forward to show our new product innovations and the integration we offer with Open-Xchange at the Summit. Moreover, the Summit is expected to have more than 300 representatives from web hosting companies, SaaS providers and on premise channel partners, which sounds like the perfect place to network”.

“We are really excited to have SpamExperts join us again up in the Cologne tower this year. Our partner community is an important part of how we go-to-market and offer value to hosters and via our partnerships, like with SpamExperts” says: Chris Latterell Vice President Marketing of Open-Xchange. “Through the partnership with Open-Xchange customers can easily benefit of the integration we offer with SpamExperts and in this way get easily access to the spamfilter and get rid of  viruses, spam, malware in their email”.

For the detailed agenda and free registration, visit http://www.open-xchange.com/en/partner/summit-2011.html

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

SpamExperts Sponsors the Open-Xchange Summit

(The Hosting News) – Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email and collaboration software for cloud providers, will demo an exclusive preview of its next-generation web-based communication software to attendees at its third annual Summit, on November 4, in Cologne, Germany.

While built on existing server architecture, the next version of Open-Xchange Server (scheduled for launch in the second half of 2012) features a redesigned web-based interface, which works the way users do without the disruption of moving from one part of an application to another. It will also improve compatibility with smart phones and tablet PCs — used more and more for mobile access to emails, contacts and calendars.

“Social messaging, collaboration and mobility are the three key aspects driving the development of the next generation of products from Open-Xchange,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “Our next Open-Xchange Server uses the concept of a web desktop where the user’s home screen runs inside a single browser window, yet appears to be their desktop running different applications. Those applications can all be integrated and – like on a smartphone – that makes navigation from one app to another quite simple.”

New features also help users more easily manage daily tasks. For example, the totally reengineered InfoStore used to manage and share pictures, videos and all kinds of documents. In addition, all data and information (email, messages from social networks, appointments, files, contacts, tasks) that relate to a particular person can be found quickly and easily.

The Summit at the KölnSKY tower is expected to draw more than 300 representatives from web hosting companies, telecoms, SaaS providers and on-premises channel partners.

Featured speakers for the free event include keynotes by Tier 1 Research analyst, Daniel Beazer, and Open-Xchange CEO, Rafael Laguna. Breakout sessions are divided into two tracks focused on: business issues, such as growing profitability and improving customer loyalty; along with a technical track that addresses deployment best practices and integration with existing infrastructure.

Sponsors of the event include: LuxCloud, Parallels, Scality, Univention, Digitec, eleven, nfon, Openwave, Reddoxx, SpamExperts, and SuSE Linux.

For more information on the event and free registration, go to www.open-xchange.com/en/partner/summit-2011.html.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Next-Generation Cloud Email Previews at Open-Xchange Summit

(The Hosting News) – Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email for cloud providers, has turned its sights on expansion in the U.S. by hiring a senior vice president of sales and general manager Americas.

Bob Pacheco was area vice president (AVP), broadband and wireless at Openwave since 2007 and joins Open-Xchange immediately based in San Francisco. Open-Xchange also plans to open an office in the greater San Francisco Bay area as part of its focus on the U.S. telecommunications market. The company has grown to more than 40 million users worldwide in 2011 — an increase of nearly 70 percent year-over-year.

“Bob brings to Open-Xchange a wealth of knowledge of the multiple system operator (MSO) market and more than 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry,“ said Frank Hoberg, founder and executive vice president sales, Open-Xchange. “Bringing a strong leader into our sales organization is part of our plan for organic growth and a foundation for additional expansion activities.”

Prior to Openwave, Pacheco was senior vice president of worldwide sales at Azaire Networks, a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) company. He has a Bachelors in Engineering degree from Pratt Institute in New York.

Open-Xchange integrates email, calendar and contact functionality — with advanced document management capabilities — into a single, intuitive interface. Unique Social OX features give users the ability to consolidate any kind of existing webmail accounts right within the application. Users can automatically add contact details from social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn into a single Open-Xchange address book and even manage their information anywhere and with virtually any device via Open-Xchange’s mobility solution.

About Open-Xchange

For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading business-class email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

Cloud Email Provider Expands U.S. Presence