Parallels opens Aussie arm

Virtualisation specialist Parallels, best known for its software that lets Mac users run Windows applications on their Apple desktop, has opened an office in Australia, on the back of strong local interest in its products.

Parallels' Asia-Pacific vice president of marketing and alliances, John Eng, said the company has seen the rapid local adoption of its products in Australia since it first started selling its software locally in 2006. The company has two Australian distributors, Conexus and Software Only.

"The desire to open offices in Australia/New Zealand was a direct result of this success and the identification of potential business in the consumer, business and service provider markets," said Eng in a statement.

"The large majority of businesses in Australia and New Zealand are small-to-medium enterprises in need of high-quality IT services, but lacking the budgets to manage them in-house. Parallels enables [small- to medium-sized enterprises] to take advantage of the best technology when they need it and without complexity, so that they can stay focused on business," said Eng.

Eng claimed the company was increasingly seeing the need for customers to have the ability to run Windows on their Mac, "for various reasons relating to personal and business use".

The latest version 5 of Parallels Desktop sells for AU$119 locally. That sum is slightly more than the equivalent US price. Parallels can be bought in the US for US$79.99, which translates to just over AU$90.