Azaleos Achieves Renewed Microsoft Gold Competency In Both Unified Communications and Portals and Collaboration

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Azaleos^® Corporation, the managed messaging, collaboration and unified communications services company, today announced that it has renewed its Gold Partner standing and achieved a Gold Certification in both the Unified Communications and Portals and Collaboration Competencies. Coupled with its existing unique status as a National Systems Integrator (NSI) in the Microsoft Partner Network, Azaleos continues to demonstrate its ability to meet Microsoft customers’ evolving needs in today’s dynamic business environment. There are fewer than 40 NSI partners within the United States. NSI Partners receive premier access to Microsoft technical and marketing resources in exchange for their leadership role in developing and delivering advanced solutions on the Microsoft Platform.

“The Microsoft Partner Network is designed to empower solution providers to succeed in today’s business environment. By achieving the prestigious Gold competency, participating companies are provided with a rich set of benefits, including increased customer visibility through branding and accessibility, training and support”

To qualify as an NSI partner, companies must commit to a certain level of investment in growing their Microsoft practice, must have more than 40 Microsoft-focused employees across some mix of engineers, consultants and developers, and must demonstrate the ability to create demand through dedicated marketing staff. NSI partners are one tier below Microsoft global system integration partners, such as Accenture, CapGemini, Computer Sciences Corp., and Hewlett Packard. Azaleos has been a Microsoft NSI partner since 2007. To earn a Microsoft Gold Competency, organizations must complete a rigorous set of tests to prove their level of technology expertise, have the right number of Microsoft Certified Professionals, submit customer references and demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction by participating in an annual survey.

In addition to helping migrate customers to Exchange 2010, SharePoint 2010 and Lync for private cloud or on-premise infrastructures, Azaleos is also a key Microsoft expert and deployment partner for BPOS/Office365. Azaleos Corporation provides managed email, collaboration and unified communications services available in private cloud, on-premise or mixed/hybrid deployment architectures. Azaleos’ 24x7 managed services for Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Active Directory, Lync, and BlackBerry Enterprise Server improve availability, security and performance, while reducing maintenance time and costs. The patented AzaleosX technology platform enables customers to maintain control over servers and data including their location, while uptime, maintenance, and support is proactively handled by certified experts in its network operations centers. Azaleos’ East and West coast network operations centers serve as an extension of our customers’ IT department.

“This set of Gold Microsoft Competencies combined with our National Systems Integrator (NSI) partner status renews Azaleos’ reputation as one of the nation’s leading Microsoft technology service providers,” said Phil Van Etten, CEO of Azaleos. “Our enterprise and Fortune 500 customers, who rely on complex and robust unified communications environments to keep their businesses connected, will continue to benefit from one of the largest and most experienced teams of Microsoft UC experts in the industry.”

“The Microsoft Partner Network is designed to empower solution providers to succeed in today’s business environment. By achieving the prestigious Gold competency, participating companies are provided with a rich set of benefits, including increased customer visibility through branding and accessibility, training and support,” said Jon Roskill, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “We are proud to put forth a program that provides the right resources to help a company develop the expertise customers demand in today’s competitive market and also provides the community and infrastructure that can connect them to one another, lowering costs for all parties.”

The Microsoft Gold Competency signifies to the market that a company has demonstrated the highest level of skill and achievement within a given technology specialization. All 29 Microsoft competencies are designed to help differentiate a partner’s specific technology capabilities, helping customers find solution providers quickly and easily. Each competency has a unique set of requirements and benefits, formulated to accurately represent the specific skills and services that partners bring to the industry.

About Azaleos

Azaleos Corporation provides managed email, collaboration and unified communications services available in private cloud, on-premise or mixed deployment architectures. Azaleos’ 24x7 managed services for Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Active Directory, OCS/Lync, and BlackBerry Enterprise Server improve availability, security and performance, while reducing maintenance time and costs. The patented AzaleosX technology platform enables customers to maintain control over servers and data including their location, while uptime, maintenance, and support is proactively handled by certified experts in its network operations centers. Hundreds of companies from Fortune 500 to mid-market enterprises rely on Azaleos to manage their collaboration infrastructures and address issues before users ever know they exist. A member of the National Systems Integrator program (NSI), Azaleos is one of Microsoft’s top 40 partners in the U.S. For more information visit www.azaleos.com.