Open-Source Collaboration Project Seeks Partners

Open-source collaboration software provider Open-Xchange launches a partner program in an effort to promote its latest set of applications.

Open-Xchange, which markets open-source collaboration tools, introduced a partner program offering new product support and marketing opportunities for companies interested in helping it distribute its applications.

For a fee of just under $800, the company said it would offer its existing and current partners extended product support, as well as sales and marketing expertise.

The software maker is extending the program to resellers, systems integrators and other consultants, and any other independent software vendors working with its platform.

Launched in 2005, its commercial flagship product Open-Xchange Server 5 offers e-mail, calendar, contact management and project-oriented tools, or groupware, including document sharing and so-called knowledge base data management capabilities.

Accessible via most common Web browsers and open-source clients, the platform supports the two leading enterprise Linux distributions, Red Hat and SUSE.

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Open-Xchange claims that the popularity of its software is growing quickly, with the GPL version of Open-Xchange Server downloaded roughly 9,000 times per month.

The company reported that it has lured users in more than 55 countries with the strongest demand coming from German-speaking countries, the United States and France.

The software maker said that it has already signed up more than 300 partners in 40 countries.

"As we add significant enhancements, there is a growing call for partners to increase market penetration, support and migration," Petra Heinrich, the efforts chief sales officer, said in a statement.

"This program offers training, technical and presales support, marketing materials, regular communication and customer leads to make Open-Xchange the cornerstone of a very successful business."

Click here to read more about Open-Xchange.

Specifically, Open-Xchange said it would offer technical and sales support for resellers, formal consulting for systems integrators, and new distribution of beta software to applications developers working with its programs.

The company is offering two levels of partnership, with a certified designation for associates who "show technical qualification and great contribution" to the projects software development and extension.

Open-Xchange claims that its server software ranks among the most active and fastest growing open-source projects and largest such document repositories launched to date.

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