Open-Xchange, the supplier of business-class email and collaboration software for cloud providers, has announced the appointment of Carsten Dirks as chief operating officer (COO).

Responsible for engineering, professional services, support, key account management and administration, Dirks joins a company that grew to more than 42 million users in 2011 - an increase of 75 percent over the prior year - with plans to increase to more than 80 million in 2012.

"We have enormous growth potential as our products serve the increasing demand for communication and collaboration software delivered via the cloud," said Rafael Laguna, CEO, Open-Xchange. "In combination with the mobile and web-based computing opportunities, Open-Xchange is growing to support the market demand. Carsten will help us move ahead from our pole position in this market to further grow our business with our worldwide partner ecosystem."

Most recently, Dirks was managing director and chairman of the executive board of Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. Also, he was responsible globally for the "Wealth Management" business unit within Interactive Data Corporation, Inc.

He has held positions with responsibility for client activities and sales, as well as product development at other software companies and began his career at SAP AG where he worked in Germany, as well as Boston and Palo Alto.

Carsten Dirks holds a degree in economics from the University of Frankfurt / Main and Clemson University.

Open-Xchange is a pioneer in enabling service providers to offer Software as a Service (SaaS) to customers. Its software reaches customers through partners worldwide that include web hosting companies, telecoms, cable carriers, system integrators, value added resellers and distributors.

Open-Xchange integrates email, calendar, contact and task management with advanced collaboration features such as information management and document sharing, along with cutting-edge social network integration. By adding the Open-Xchange mobility capabilities, users can receive push email and synchronization of contacts, calendar and other information from their Open-Xchange account to their smartphones, including iPhone, Android-based devices, Nokia, Windows Mobile and others.

About Open-Xchange
For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost-effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS (software as a service) and now a leading email and collaboration cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is a privately-held company headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany with offices in Olpe, Germany and Tarrytown, N.Y. For more information, please visit www.open-xchange.com.

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