January 14, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Open source collaboration software provider Open-Xchange (open-xchange.com) recently announced that it has named co-founder and chairman of the board, Rafael Laguna, its new CEO. The company has also appointed Richard Seibt its new chairman of the board and Bernhard Woebker as a new board member.

In 2001, Laguna initiated the technology partnership between Open-Xchange's development team and SUSE Linux. As a result of this partnership, SUSE Linux Openexchange Server became the best-selling Linux-based groupware solution, says the company. Most recently, Laguna was crucial to the extension of Open-Xchange's product portfolio and formed the partnership with Web hosting provider 1&1 Internet.

"Open-Xchange is positioned at the crossroads of three mega-trends: software as a service, open source and mobile devices," says Laguna. "Enterprises and system integrators have known for years the cost efficiencies and business benefits of Open-Xchange. Now, Open-Xchange also delivers what the telcos, hosters and service providers need to compete with Google, Microsoft, RIM and others to deliver higher level services to their customers."

Seibt, who was already an Open-Xchange board member, replaces Laguna as chairman of the board. A former president of Novell EMEA and CEO of SUSE Linux, Seibt was an executive board member at United Internet. Woebker is a consultant to various investment banking and venture capital firms in Europe and the United States and joins Open-Xchange's board of directors.

Last month, Nexthaus, the SyncML technology unit of Web hosting provider Hostopia.com collaborated with Open-Xchange to enable Open-Xchange Server 5 to sync contacts, calendars and tasks with Blackberry devices.

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April 3, 2007 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Open source collaboration software developer Open-Xchange (open-xchange.com) announced on Monday it has named Gerald Labie as the company's new CEO. The company has also appointed Jürgen Geck to the position of CTO. The moves provide Open-Xchange with a seasoned management team to lead the company through a period of rapid growth.

Former CEO Frank Hoberg, who co-founded the company and grew it successfully in two years at the helm, will work with Labie and Geck as GM of the company's European operations, where he will oversee sales and marketing in the company's core market. Labie brings more than 20 years of diversified executive management experience in the IT industry to Open-Xchange, most recently serving as president and CEO of operational intelligence software provider CXO Systems. 

"The growth we are seeing indicates that Open-Xchange is quickly becoming the open source alternative to expensive and inflexible proprietary systems," says Rafael Laguna, chairman for Open-Xchange. "The addition of these executives adds the experience Open-Xchange needs to rapidly scale the company to capitalize on the growth potential in the SMB market accelerated by SaaS."

Open-Xchange recently announced a partnership with 1&1 Internet to offer Open-Xchange?s collaboration software as a service, a deal that represents one of the largest open source customer wins in the industry.