A new technology deal combines DataCore's storage virtualization software with Parallels' desktop and server virtualization solutions. Parallels continues to advance the company’s presence and market share by signing yet another key technology alliance. Last month, the virtualization company formed a technology alliance with DataCore Software, a leading provider of storage virtualization software. And a few months prior to that, the company signed a deal with Quest Software that launched a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure bundle and offered enterprises a centralized Windows desktop deployment and management platform.The new alliance deal with DataCore is expected to provide mutual customers with an enhanced “complete virtualization” user experience by combining both vendor’s best-of-breed solutions — server virtualization plus storage virtualization. The deal is also expected to facilitate cross-qualification of their respective solutions on an ongoing basis.“Businesses want to increase the efficiency and return on investment from their IT infrastructure and are recognizing the role virtualization plays in generating greater utilization, both in terms of storage and on their servers,” said Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels. “Together, Parallels and DataCore can provide customers with an immediate return on their virtualization investment and tremendous flexibility to meet or exceed tomorrow’s needs.” DataCore’s manufacturer-independent, software-based storage solutions run on any standard physical or virtual server, abstracting away the underlying hardware and freeing up the consumer from standardizing on one single hardware platform. According to both companies, this low-cost networked storage combined with Parallel’s virtual server infrastructure enables benefits such as no downtime maintenance, automatic capacity management, and business continuity without a heavy hardware investment.“Our objective is to work together to give our mutual customers the very best that the combination of storage and server virtualization can offer,” said George Teixeira, president and CEO of DataCore Software. “A DataCore and Parallels combination is a great choice for customers because they each offer significant capability, performance, and price advantages and have strong track records of highly satisfied customers.”Working together and forming technology alliances like these give Parallels a better foothold when trying to go head-to-head with VMware. Software Development