Open Source Groupware Comes to Japan

NUREMBERG, GERMANY, September 15, 2010 (Press-News.org) Open-Xchange, provider of business-class open source collaboration software, announced today an exclusive distribution agreement with Next IT for hosted and on-premises Open-Xchange products in Japan.

Next IT will expand its portfolio with Open-Xchange by offering customers either: Open-Xchange Hosting Edition to web-hosting companies, ISPs, telecommunication companies and IT service companies; or an on-premises version to be installed and run on the enterprises', educational institutions' and government authorities' own computers.

"We see fast-growing demand for new SaaS applications from millions of small- and medium-size enterprises that can improve their competitiveness by utilizing improved webmail and new groupware capabilities," said Toshio Nakanishi, CEO of NEXT IT. "Open-Xchange is the ideal platform for service providers to extend our SaaS products. With flexible volume pricing and low entry costs, we are able to have compelling offerings for the fast-growing SaaS e-mail and groupware market."

In cooperation with Next IT, Open-Xchange added Japanese language support to existing support for Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish.

"We are looking forward to extending our sales into Asia, partnering with Next IT, a leading software distributor in Japan," said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. "With Next IT's market position and experience, together we can offer collaborative solutions that provide enterprise-class capabilities with a very attractive price point."

In November 2010, hosting provider Enet Solutions (www.enets.jp) will be the first hosting provider to offer Open-Xchange hosted e-mail and groupware, with full Japanese language support.

Open-Xchange provides e-mail, calendar, address book, document and task management. To simplify teamwork and project work with external business partners, Open-Xchange can share contacts, calendar information and documents securely outside the enterprise and those users do not require an Open-Xchange account. With Open-Xchange mobility support, users can receive push e-mail and synchronization of contacts, calendar and other information from their Open-Xchange account to their smartphones, including Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia, Windows Mobile and others.

About NEXT IT
Next IT addresses customers' IT requirements and is a one-stop solution provider with the ability to implement and integrate core technologies including networking, security and storage. The company's customers range from large to small enterprises in Japan. For more information, please visit http://www.nextit.jp/company/english.html.

About Open-Xchange
Open-Xchange is the innovator of scalable and integrated open source e-mail and collaboration solutions for enterprises, academic institutions, and government authorities. The company provides on-premises versions called Open-Xchange Server Edition and Open-Xchange Appliance Edition, along with Open-Xchange Hosting Edition, which enables web hosting companies to provide an easy-to-use and feature-rich application delivered as Software as a Service (SaaS). The Open-Xchange Hosting Edition is architected to integrate into a hosting provider's existing infrastructure, such as authentication, provisioning, billing, and e-mail storage and does not require that these systems be replaced.

Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit http://www.open-xchange.com.