Parallels Automation Gets Office 365 Syndication Support

Parallels Automation, the service delivery, provisioning and billing automation platform for service providers, now supports syndication of the Microsoft Office 365 cloud productivity suite. In other words, MSPs and cloud service providers using Parallels Automation potentially can quickly and easily deploy Office 365 bundled with other cloud services.

Here’s Parallels’ own bullet-point list of why Microsoft-partnered service providers should look into using Automation for Office 365:

• Launch services in weeks rather than months
• Integrate with existing operational and business support systems leveraging a set of open APIs
• Deliver hundreds of integrated IaaS and SaaS cloud services with a single automated platform

The catch — and you knew there had to be one — is that you have to be a Microsoft Office 365 Syndication Partner to take advantage.

Syndication is a privilege Microsoft usually reserves for the biggest, most deeply embedded service providers, since it means the partners handle Office 365 billing themselves. And while TalkinCloud knows that many, many smaller MSPs would love to have that privilege, Redmond has no plans to extend that capability to its partner ecosystem at large.

In addition to that Office 365 syndication announcement, Parallels has also revealed enhanced integration with other Microsoft cloud products, including Hyper-V Cloud, Exchange Server 2010 SP1 and SharePoint Foundation 2010. The Microsoft System Center Hyper-V cloud is of special interest to VARs since it enables them to offer a full IaaS cloud from within Automation, according to Parallels.

One more thing: Parallels also announced an ISV enablement program for Microsoft developer partners, letting them use their applications in the Application Packaging Standard (APS) format. The benefit? Compatibility with the Parallels Automation and Plesk control panels, and the ability to seek a listing in the Parallels Partner Storefront app store so the products can be purchased and deployed easily by service providers.

Parallels is showing off these products and more at this week’s Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2011. TalkinCloud will be here all week with updates and insights, so don’t touch that dial.

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