HostSeries

So I wanted to share my thoughts on Parallel’s recent activity, or perhaps it’s not so recent.

SWSoft is renamed Parallels.
I have mixed feelings about this move by Parallels. To me, I think they will always be SWSoft. And why not? SWSoft makes me think of a software company, which is basically what Parallels is. Other obvious reasons that I wouldn’t have left the brand behind is of course the massive amount of money was was poured into building the previous brand name.

I understand Parallel’s reasons for the change. They want to unify their offerings. It seems they are renaming everything to “Parallels BlahBlah.” Seems like another way to confuse customers with your offerings. Anyway, more power to them, they seem to know what they are doing. And with over $100Million in revenues last year, I’m not going to question their tactics.

Parallels Aquires ModernBill.
This is a rather interesting move for Parallels. In my honest opinion Modernbill had alot to be desired before the acquisition. Their support was fairly useless, with their rather confusing documentation. Shortly after the acquisition, the site is moved, and the old documentation is taken offline. They have started to put a new one online, but even after weeks it’s still mainly incomplete.

I only hope that Modernbill turns around from it’s previous self. At Parallels Summit 2008, they announced ModernBill will be integrated more fully into other Parallels products. Maybe at the sametime they will start reworking the core product, without losing support for the other control panels - namely cPanel.

Parallels Summit 2008
Overall I think it’s a good conference. The speakers most be good, as the exhibit hall was only full during the coffee breaks and during lunch. Otherwise, it was rather slow. The number in attendance was around 500-600 including Parallels employees. The food was good, and the boat ride Monday evening was entertaining.

You can really tell from the conference that Parallels is really working to improve their image and their company relationships. They repeatedly mentioned they want to help their customers and partners grow their business - not worrying about Parallels pocket books - which I find hard to believe, but I’m buying into it. I’m still rather bias to cPanel, but will be keeping a closer eye on Parallels and what they are doing for the next coming years. The industry is moving forward, and Parallels is keeping right up with it I believe.

Feel free to post your comments and opinions on Parallels as well.