Rackspace awarded Microsoft Gold Partner Certification

Managed Hosting, a leading managed hosting provider, has announced that its Intensive Hosting division has been awarded Microsoft Gold Partner Certification for Hosting and Application Services. Intensive Hosting is a division of

that provides enterprise hosting for business applications that run on Microsoft technology. The Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Programme for Hosting and Application Services brings market recognition to companies providing a consistent, high-quality delivery of hosted services built on the Microsoft platform.

"To achieve Microsoft Gold Certification for Hosting and Application Services, Intensive Hosting passed a rigorous on-site evaluation conducted by independent assessors who measured operational expertise against the high-bar programme standards. The results demonstrated that Intensive delivers a high calibre of hosted service readiness, competency and capacity on the Microsoft platform," said Pascal Martin, general manager for Microsoft`s Communications and Mobility Solutions Group. "IT decision-makers who evaluate service providers for enterprise hosting can be assured that Intensive Hosting has achieved Microsoft`s most prestigious endorsement in the arena of hosted services."

Rackspace and Intensive Hosting have achieved tremendous growth over the past year. Rackspace has become Microsoft`s fastest-growing hosting provider. In the past 15 months, the company`s Microsoft customer base has grown 125 percent, with 60 percent of all new company-wide revenue coming from customers selecting to run their hosted servers on the Windows operating system.

"Intensive Hosting demonstrates our commitment to providing the most reliable, scaleable and proactive hosting solution available for the Microsoft platform," said Graham Weston, Rackspace chief executive officer and president of Intensive Hosting. "As a result, we`ve accelerated our growth while increasing our profitability. Microsoft has been a big part of our success."

The Microsoft Gold Certified distinction helps end users and other critical players in the hosting and application services value chain identify organisations that meet a high level of service readiness, competency, and capacity for deploying Microsoft technology. The programme only awards certification status for those specific hosted or application services and solutions that meet eligibility qualifications, proven service quality, and operational readiness benchmarks. The programme distinguishes certified partners` quality of services and commitment to customers and partners.