Rise, the US and UK based provider of Cloud Computing and hosted IT services, is proud to announce it has been singled out of 3000 companies to be named as the Hosting Solutions Partner of the Year, at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Awards. The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions over the last year.

Rise, and its revolutionary DataCenter on Demand™ service, was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and service. The Hosting Partner of the Year Award honors a partner who has demonstrated solution innovation and a commitment to engaging with Microsoft. This award recognizes Rise as hosting a solution focused on an end customer's business challenge, either by identifying a new market opportunity or by using technology innovation to address the need.

Through its strategic relationship with Microsoft and utilization of its technology, Rise is able to offer key hosted IT and cloud services including virtual private server, dedicated server, networking infrastructure, exchange email hosting and disaster recovery services. The Rise Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform also enables resellers to install and run any application they require from the cloud on a white-label basis, enabling them to offer their customers the best of on-premise or online solutions without any capital investment.

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Awards are the ultimate recognition for Microsoft Partners. The awards themselves are fiercely contested with winners and finalists chosen from over 3,000 entrants across the world.

Austen Mulinder, corporate vice president of Operator Channels at Microsoft congratulated Rise on its achievements by commenting: “Over the past year, Rise has shown continuing and growing commitment to partnering with Microsoft and has demonstrated innovation in bringing private cloud services to market through a reseller channel model offering white-label partner hosted services. Rise enables channel partners to expand their portfolio of offerings with cloud services targeting small and medium size businesses. We are pleased to present Rise with the Hosting Partner of the Year Award.”

Twelve months ago Rise was named as a finalist at the same awards, however this year it has managed to go one better, and combined with it being awarded the Hyper-V Cloud Partner for 2010 by Microsoft in May, this really emphasizes the strides it has made over the past year.

Darren Stahl, VP Channel Services at Rise, said: “Rises’ alliance with Microsoft Corp is a fundamental part of our offering and key to our future growth. This award is a testament to that relationship and we are thrilled to be officially recognized on the global stage as Microsoft's Hosting Solutions Partner of the Year.  This award demonstrates our commitment to our customers worldwide by offering them the most flexible, affordable and manageable platform possible, and we delighted to reinforce that through this acknowledgment.”

Rise will be presented the award at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, taking place in Los Angeles on July, 10 -14, 2011. It will also be exhibiting at the event and can be found at Booth #735