CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J., Aug. 24, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CloudStrategies, LLC, a leading cloud-computing solutions provider and one of Microsoft's Top 10 U.S. Cloud Partners, announced today that it has raised $1.5 million in Series B funding from Cloudburst Investors, LLC. The new capital will be used to accelerate growth through the expansion of sales, marketing and delivery capabilities. Bridge Global Advisors advised CloudStrategies on the Series B funding round, which followed the Series A funding round that was led by its investment affiliate, BG Ventures, in June 2010.
CloudStrategies has been a very early entrant into what is now an exploding market for "cloud-based" information technology services. Company leadership, including CloudStrategies President & CEO Peter J. Zarras, include past employees of cloud-services leaders such as Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq:MSFT).
"Our team," explained Zarras, "represents decades of experience integrating high-quality on-premise IT solutions. We were among the first to recognize that cloud-computing would deliver an irresistible customer value proposition. Cloud customers enjoy dramatically increased service levels, along with the agility to have their people work with maximum productivity and security wherever they may be and on whatever computer or device they may have. Since cloud removes most of their investments in internal infrastructure, and reduces operating costs to a simple monthly fee, their CapEx and OpEx savings are outstanding. Cloud is truly reinventing business!"
In their latest release on the state of cloud services, IDC reports that the growth of cloud services revenue from $16 billion last year to $55.5 billion by 2014 will represent a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.4 percent, and that this rapid growth rate is over five times the projected rate of growth for traditional IT products (5%). "Cloud-based" refers to information technology services which are delivered from remote data centers via the internet and other communication facilities. Peter Zarras observed that, "With the recent release of comprehensive solutions like Microsoft Office 365 and Azure, and continuing growth of services from Rackspace and our other partners, CloudStrategies is poised to take full advantage of this incredible growth opportunity."
According to sources close to Microsoft, CloudStrategies is one of Microsoft's Top 10 U.S. Cloud Partners. Zarras commented that, "We were one of the first to join the Microsoft Cloud Champions Club, which today includes over 1,800 partners nationwide. Most of them are existing players looking to make a transition, which means they will face the inertia of overcoming their own brand. CloudStrategies has surprised many Microsoft executives with the sheer volume of customers we have already attracted to this exciting new business compute model and how many we have signed up for their cloud-service offerings such as BPOS and now Office 365. We are confident that these results are driven by our careful crafting of our brand, our focus on being uniquely a provider of cloud computing services, and strict adherence to our business plan which is driven by proper and adequate capitalization."
About CloudStrategies
Recognized as one of Microsoft's Top 10 Cloud Champions, CloudStrategies, LLC delivers on cloud computing's promise of higher service levels at reduced cost by designing and delivering custom solutions to corporate, industrial, and institutional customers nationwide. Through carefully developed partnerships, CloudStrategies solutions integrate online services from Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT), Rackspace (NYSE:RAX), NeverFail, and many other top cloud-industry providers. CloudStrategies' team of experienced information technologists is augmented by a global network of implementation partners. Learn more about CloudStrategies at www.cloudstrategies.net.
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About Cloudburst Investors, LLC
Cloudburst Investors, LLC is a venture capital firm focused on investing in high potential commercial opportunities that are well planned and led by experienced and motivated entrepreneurs. In addition to capital, Cloudburst provides entrepreneurs with experience, connections and resources to help build successful businesses. Cloudburst considers investment opportunities in a variety of areas, including technology, social media, energy and alternative energy, real estate, healthcare and food services.
About Bridge Global Capital Group
Established in 2007, Bridge Global Capital Group focuses on assisting well-positioned entrepreneurial commercial initiatives accelerate growth and create value for stakeholders through an integrate offering of strategic advisory, access to capital and business acceleration. Bridge Global Capital Group is comprised of three entities: BG Ventures (seed and early stage venture capital investment); Bridge Global Advisors (investment banking and strategic advisory); and 360Acceleration (business acceleration). In addition to experienced advice and access to capital, Bridge Global Capital Group facilitates connections and exposure to commercial opportunities for its partner companies. Please visit www.bgcapgroup.com and www.bgventures.com for more information.