Claranet wins innovation award for midsize enterprise initiative

"clara NetPhonie Hosted PBX" most innovative solution and most promising solution for midsize companies from the State of Hessian, Germany

Today at CeBIT the Innovation Award for the Midsize Enterprise Initiative for the year 2008 was announced. The winner for the State of Hessian was Claranet GmbH from Frankfurt. The provider of managed services for business customers was given the distinction for its hosted PBX solution.

The dedicated VoIP solution "clara NetPhonie Hosted PBX" is set up individually for each customer and adapted to individual needs. The PBX is physically located in Claranet's computer centre and is directly connected with the IP network. The infrastructure is designed for a high level of availability and security, making it possible to operate the remote switchboard reliably. Claranet is responsible for the entire implementation process, from design through installation to operation, maintenance, upgrades and configuration changes.

A decisive point for the jury's decision was the possibility of extending telephone systems easily with this modern solution without extensive new wiring and without having to physically set up additional ports.

Midsize companies will benefit from the high flexibility and easy operation of clara NetPhonie combined with preconfigured, user-friendly VoIP telephones.

The Innovation Award has been given annually since 2004 for special services in information technology. This year the competition was under the auspices of Professor Dr. Andreas Pinkwart. He is the Minister for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology, and Vice-Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the Federal Vice-President of the FDP.

According to information released about the Midsize Enterprise Initiative, more companies than ever before competed for the coveted distinctions in 2008: Over 1,600 applicants were evaluated by an impressive jury consisting of professors, industry experts, professional journalists and scientists. Judges rated products and solutions that were submitted by criteria such as innovative content (novelty, product maturity and forward thinking), benefits (recognisable benefits, effect on profitability, increased efficiency) and suitability for midsize companies (relevance for SME, practicality, implementation).

This prize we have been awarded for innovation proves that we have correctly identified the IT needs of midsize companies in the market. We see this distinction as a clear confirmation of our solution, which will also motivate us in the future to work with our products and services to continue to be the dedicated IT partner for midsize companies.

Tarkan Akman, Marketing Director of Claranet GmbH, accepted the award in Hanover

About Claranet

Claranet is a European Managed Services Provider for business customers. As a partner well versed in technical issues, Claranet offers high performance and reliable managed services for more than 36,000 business customers in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and the USA. Claranet has established itself as a highly innovative company on the market with stable growth. Clarenet's comprehensive range of managed services and infrastructure services include access, hosting, network, application and storage services. For more information, please visit www.clara.net.

Company contact
Claranet GmbH
Tarkan Akman
Marketing Director
Hanauer Landstrasse 196
60314 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: +49 (69) 408018-200
Fax: +49 (69) 408018-229
Email:presse@de.clara.net
www.clara.net

Press contact
HFN Kommunikation GmbH
Andrea Fischedick/Jochen Rössner
Hanauer Landstrasse 161-173
60314 Frankfurt am Main
Tel. +49 (69) 923186-0
Fax +49 (69) 923186-22
Email:afischedick@hfn.de
www.hfn.de