News & Events

StrongMail Brings On-Premise Email Marketing to the "Cloud"

New cloud version of StrongMail Message Studio 5.0 combines the benefits of installed software and SaaS in one versatile solution offering superior economy, reliability and ease of ownership

Redwood City, Calif., April 22, 2009 – StrongMail Systems, Inc., the leading provider of commercial-grade solutions for marketing and transactional email, today announced new "cloud-ready" versions of StrongMail Message Studio 5.0, which was officially launched today in a separate announcement.

By offering cloud-hosted versions of StrongMail Message Studio, StrongMail is the first email solution provider to fully leverage cloud computing and offer companies all the benefits of installed software and SaaS in one versatile solution. This major new release includes a cloud-hosted version of StrongMail On-Demand offered as a dedicated solution via an enhanced SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model, and as a cloud-hosted version of StrongMail Message Studio offered via a licensed product model. Both versions leverage cloud-hosting services from market-leaders, including Rackspace Hosting.

By taking advantage of new, commercial-grade virtual servers offered via the cloud, StrongMail's email marketing solutions offer the following benefits:

• Dedicated System – Each system is a single instance that can be customized to suit the individual needs of the business.
• Flexible Data Integration via "Hybrid Option" – StrongMail can be "split" to reside partially in the cloud and partially on-premise, providing ultimate flexibility to meet specific business requirements (e.g. maintain sensitive data behind a firewall).
• Lowest Total Cost of Ownership – Businesses have the option to purchase a one-time cost, perpetual license for StrongMail in the cloud. This gives them the best of both worlds: the cost benefits of a software solution, with the ease of ownership of a SaaS solution.
• Future Proof – Cloud computing provides unparalleled flexibility for seamless expansion and contraction to accommodate seasonal changes in volume and business requirements. Additionally, StrongMail's solutions can be easily converted from a cloud model to an on-premise license model and vice versa to grow with each business as their needs change.

QUOTES AND ANALYST COMMENTARY

This announcement comes at a time when businesses of all sizes are investigating opportunities to leverage cloud computing for its inherent cost effectiveness and elasticity.

“Almost half of enterprises are interested in pay-per-use hosting of virtual servers (cloud computing) offered by service providers."

- Forrester Research, Cloud Computing, Compute-As-A-Service: Interest And Adoption By Company Size, February 2009

One of the truly unique value propositions that StrongMail brings to the cloud is the ability to place part of its email marketing solution on-premise behind a business' firewall, while the rest of the solution resides in the cloud. For example, a business might want to retain sensitive customer data behind its firewall while hosting its marketing application and delivery servers (MTAs) in the cloud.

“The use of on-premise technology in conjunction with cloud-based technologies and platforms will extend what is possible when using the cloud.”

- Gartner Research, "Risks and Rewards: Examining Cloud Computing's Effect on Vendors and Users," by Daryl C. Plummer, June 24 2008

“Virtual servers offered via the cloud represent a game-changing shift with significant implications that we can’t yet begin to fully appreciate. For example, elastic, low-cost virtual servers that can be quickly and easily provisioned make it possible for a traditional software vendor to offer their product as SaaS without re-architecting it for multi-tenancy, creating a best-of-both-worlds scenario for businesses.”

- Bill Wagner, EVP of business operations, StrongMail Systems

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

• Message Studio 5.0 can now be deployed on-premise, in the cloud or both.
• StrongMail On-Demand now delivers its dedicated solution via the cloud.
• Deploying Message Studio in the cloud offers the same control and economy of an on-premise deployment but with superior flexibility, scalability, reliability and ease of ownership
• A hybrid StrongMail deployment enables sensitive data integration to remain on-premise while delivery and campaign management can run in the cloud for maximum efficiency.
• StrongMail's cloud versions leverage cloud-hosting services from market-leaders, including Rackspace Hosting

RELATED RESOURCES

StrongMail Message Studio
StrongMail On-Demand

About StrongMail Systems, Inc.
StrongMail Systems provides businesses with commercial-grade, on-premise solutions for marketing and transactional email. StrongMail integrates its proven email delivery, tracking and campaign management software on high-performance servers that are optimized for maximum deliverability. In addition to providing superior control, security and integration capabilities, StrongMail's in-house approach offers companies a more powerful and cost-effective alternative to homegrown or outsourced solutions. Hundreds of companies worldwide rely on StrongMail's solutions to power their mission-critical customer communications. A Silicon Valley company, StrongMail is headquartered in Redwood City, CA, and is funded by Sequoia Capital, Evercore Partners, Globespan Capital Partners and DAG Ventures. To learn more about StrongMail Systems, visit www.strongmail.com.

Media Contact
Andrea Cousens
Eastwick Communications
650-480-4019