By supplying Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, Portland offers its customers – IT resellers and service providers – the opportunity to virtualise Windows 2003 Server and Linux environments in the most efficient way available today. Parallels Virtuozzo Containers makes this efficiency possible by virtualising the operating system itself, thus eliminating the usual overhead of hypervisor-based virtualisation solutions. The virtualised environments (or containers) offer unrivalled speed, which makes the solution eminently suitable for highly I/O-intensive applications as well as virtual workspaces.
Parallels Virtuozzo Containers helps reduce the IT costs (such as installation, management, energy and hardware costs) substantially by enforcing a homogeneous environment and offering various integrated tools, including backup and migration tools and the Parallels Infrastructure Manager. In addition, Parallels offers a selection of automation tools that have made the virtualisation provider a highly regarded player, particularly in the hosting sector.
“Our VDI solution makes it possible to install 150 virtual desktops on a standard server, which means we easily outperform the other VDI players in the market by factor three,” comments Stefan Hölzl, Director of EMEA and International Sales at Parallels. “Our technology makes it possible to create a fully functional virtual desktop with all applications within a minute. And a full backup of a virtual desktop that normally results in a size of 50 to 100 MB is done below a minute, too.” According to Hölzl, it was a logical step to select Portland Europe as the distributor for its VDI solutions in the Benelux region. “During the past few years, Portland has shown itself eminently capable of delivering innovative software with an excellent price/quality ratio. They have the know-how that is required to help their resellers become familiar with their applications — virtualisation applications, in this case — and thus help us to achieve our objectives.”
For the coming years, Portland expects a strong growth in desktop virtualisation. It is convinced that it will be able to set the standard by marketing the Parallels Virtuozzo Containers and VAS bundles. Needless to say, Portland not only offers the licenses, but also offers training sessions and consultancy services and provides implementation support where necessary.
Kim van Brugge, Portland’s General Manager, has no second thoughts about the success of Parallels’ desktop solution. “Our portfolio includes several managed services tools that allow resellers to provide their customers with more and better IT services. It is not a big step from ‘Software as a Service’ to ‘Desktop as a Service’. With the Parallels virtualisation bundles, we can offer resellers the resources they need to efficiently include hosted desktops in their portfolio. The bundles make optimal use of the server hardware, and are able to create thousands of containers running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition, so that the licensing costs remain highly transparent.”
About Portland Europe
Portland Europe is Europe’s first independent online vendor of software licenses. Its electronically distributed product portfolio is characterised by its unrivalled ease of use and management. The software is particularly suited to small and mid-sized companies. Portland also delivers products to resellers. Organisations can apply to Portland for the purchase as well as implementation of end-to-end web solutions. Besides know-how, Portland’s approach is characterised by speed, accuracy and dedication to the solution of the IT issues of its customers. Based in Zoetermeer in the Netherlands, Portland employs a staff of 15. The company was founded in 1998 and has grown rapidly since its inception. In the past year, its revenues increased by 30 per cent, while its profits grew by 15 per cent and the number of employees grew by 20 per cent.
About Parallels
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, visit www.parallels.com.