Cisco courts Parallels and “desktop virtualisation” in the cloud

Parallels is a global firm reputed in offering cloud service enablement, hosting and desktop visualisation. The company was founded in 1999 and currently boasts of over 900 employees spanning across the globe- North America, Asia and Europe.


To capitalise on Parallels’ success story, Cisco, the global networking giant, of recent has made an equity investment of $11 million to the desktop virtualisation firm. The investment was done through Almaz Capital Partners.

According to Hilton Romanski, V.P., Corporate Business Development Cisco, “Cisco is continuing its commitment to technology development and innovation through strategic investments. ” The collaboration with Parallels is geared to deliver easier to use and efficient cloud services.

In addition, Cisco is hoping to leverage on Parallels’ global presence – especially in Russia – to fuel innovation worldwide. The investment is a viable acquisition for Cisco, especially if the cloud infrastructure giant intends to incorporate virtualisation in its Cisco Unified Computing …