At the recent Parallels summit in Las Vegas attendees were learning about many topics with a particular emphasis on Cloud Computing, Virtualization and the various products of Parallels. One product certainly stands out, the product that started it all “Parallels Plesk Panel”.
Over the past 9 years we have all seen how a hosted dedicated server has gone from being an intangible command line driven server to a highly sophisticated system capable of performing various tasks with a few simple clicks. The competition was strong for a while but now that Parallels has acquired all of the major panels except the other great server control panel from cPanel things are starting to get interesting from the customers perspective.
Traditionally a control panel user was a reseller looking for an easy way to offer hosting services and other traditional users included less technical Web designers who were looking for an easy way to satisfy their clients’ needs. With Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0’s integration with Parallels Plesk Billing 6, APS, and reseller functionality we now have a complete system which can run on one server and perform many tasks.
Parallels realized that many shared Web hosting customers are outgrowing shared hosting. Customer’s expectations from their Website functionality has increased dramatically in the last few years. A simple Website, form and blog are no longer enough for a business to confidently claim a Web presence. Both resellers and designers more than ever need to integrate and bill for the many new functions found on a Website in 2009 and Parallels has these customers covered 100%.
At the conference Andrew Andriatis and Jon McCarick delivered back to back roadmap sessions on Parallels Plesk Panel and Parallels Plesk Billing respectively. They clearly sense, and rightly so, that as small business customers outgrow shared hosting (more so than ever for functionality than performance/space), they will need an easier and more streamlined control panel to empower business owners with the ultimate in functionality and a whole new level of ease of use. The next version of Parallels Plesk Panel promises to have the ultimate interface for a DIY toolset making it simpler adventurous small business owner.
Another new customer segment for Parallels can be found through the growing number of applications available in APS. Now more than ever resellers who specialize in one application can easily sell the services enabled by Parallels Plesk Panel. Imagine an agency that manages blogs and online customer service for a SMB – now that agency can easily offer a full service “Web hosting” account to their clients.
It’s great to see the forward thinking that is being applied in the next version of Parallels Plesk Panel and Parallels Plesk Billing.
NaviSite is excited to see the momentum around our new discounted bundle of Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 and Parallels Billing 6.0 for our Dedicated Server offerings.
