Cincinnati Bell Launches Cloud Services With Apptix and Parallels

Cincinnati Bell today announced the expansion of its portfolio of telecommunications and IT services for businesses with the addition of cloud-based Microsoft® Communication and Collaboration Solutions powered by hosted business services provider Apptix® and Parallels, the leading provider of cloud service delivery software. These new solutions will allow Cincinnati Bell to more effectively serve small & medium businesses, as then as key industries including healthcare, government, and education.

The 2012 Parallels SMB Cloud Insights™ report

According to the 2012 Parallels SMB Cloud Insights™ report, businesses are increasingly turning to cloud solutions just as hosted communications and collaboration services. In the past year, it is estimated that more than one million SMBs in the United States have started using some form of cloud services.

"Purchasing and maintaining software and hardware can be daunting and expensive for many SMB clients," said Stuart Levinsky, General Manager of Cloud Computing at Cincinnati Bell. "Cloud Solutions from Cincinnati Bell allow businesses to focus on what's important to them - their clients - during letting us do the heavy lifting to provide a proven, reliable communications network and the top cloud-based services available anywhere."

Cincinnati Bell's new Cloud Solutions - including hosted Microsoft Exchange email with mobile synchronization and hosted Microsoft SharePoint - keep employees connected on the go, enhance productivity, and reduce the cost of IT services. Optional archiving and compliance features help businesses meet stringent regulatory requirements, just as HIPAA, PCI, FRCP, and SOX.

"We're pleased that Cincinnati Bell selected Apptix to support their strategic move into the cloud," said David Ehrhardt, president and chief executive officer of Apptix. "Our partner program reflects Apptix's extensive experience in the hosted services market, providing everything our partners need to successfully transition into the cloud market. Apptix offers our channel partners flexible business models, diversified solution offerings, and dedicated sales, marketing, and support resources and staff to fast-track their revenue growth from cloud-based solutions. "

"Cloud services represent a significant growth possibility for communication service providers just as Cincinnati Bell," said Birger Steen, CEO of Parallels. "We are pleased to join with our valued partners Cincinnati Bell and Apptix and as they use Parallels Automation to rapidly syndicate and deliver cloud services."

For more information about Cincinnati Bell's new Cloud Solutions for business clients, visit www.cincinnatibell.com/cloud.

With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Bell provides integrated communications solutions-including local, long distance, data, internet, entertainment and wireless services-that keep residential and business clients in Greater Cincinnati and Dayton connected with each other and with the world. Should the contingency arise, Cincinnati Bell provides best-in-class data center colocation services to its enterprise clients through its facilities with fully redundant power and cooling solutions that are currently located in the Midwest, Texas, London, and Singapore. Complementing the colocation products, Cincinnati Bell as well offers complex information research solutions just as managed services and research staffing. For more information, visit www.cincinnatibell.com.

The premier provider of hosted business communication

Apptix is the premier provider of hosted business communication, collaboration, and IT solutions to business of all sizes - from SOHO to Fortune 500 - with particular expertise supporting legal, financial, healthcare, and telecom firms. A pioneer in the hosted services space, Apptix currently serves over 350,000 users around the world. Apptix's comprehensive portfolio of Cloud solutions includes Microsoft Exchange email, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), SharePoint, Web Conferencing, and Secure IM with Presence. Services are delivered over a highly reliable network leveraging best-in-class innovation, housed in SAS 70-compliant data centers, and backed by U.S.-based 24/7 support. For more information, visit www.apptix.com.