Azaleos continues UK expansion

US managed email provider Azaleos is on the hunt for channel partners in the UK as part of its European expansion plans.

The firm recently opened its European headquarters in London, and says it expects increased customer demand for its services following the launch of the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

“There’ll be a lot of activity,” Azaleos CEO, Phil Van Etten told Channel Pro, predicting that organisations will outsource complex migrations to Exchange 2010. “There are 240 million Exchange users, and there’ll be a big number of early movers looking to migrate.”

Azaleos offers its clients hosted email and collaboration services while keeping their data on-premise, while uptime, maintenance and support are handled by Azaleos’ network operation centres. The firm typically manages organisations’ email systems in “large, robust, complex email environments,” according to Van Etten.

The Microsoft Gold Certified partner manages the delivery of roughly 10.5 million messages each day, and has relationships with vendors such as IBM, RIM, VMware, and HP among others. Customers include Yahoo!, Barclays Capital, Research in Motion and The Weather Channel.

The firm is firstly looking for system integrators that can add consulting to the service offering, as well as existing Microsoft resellers, OEM and technology partners. “More companies are outsourcing email, and we don’t focus on consultancy so it’s a good complimentary business,” says Van Etten.

“There are so many things that touch email today. We want to partner with technology partners that can offer enhanced security, better archiving – even players in voice management,” he adds.

In North America Azaleos currently does 40 percent of its business through the channel. Its goal is to “try to have closer to 70 percent” in the UK and Europe, says Van Etten.