Rackspace to Broaden Channel Reach With Fanatical Support for Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office 365 Reseller and Referral Program

SAN ANTONIO, CA--(Marketwired - July 07, 2016) - Rackspace^® (RAX) today announced ahead of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference that it will offer companies in the Rackspace Partner Network the ability to resell and refer both Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office 365 from Rackspace as a 2-Tier Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP). This new offering will allow channel partners to deliver Azure and Office 365 to their customers, while receiving industry-leading Fanatical Support® from Rackspace.

The Microsoft CSP program extends to organizations that have the resources and expertise to manage customers' application life cycles with Microsoft Cloud Services, including direct billing, provisioning, management and support. Rackspace launched Fanatical Support for Office 365 in May 2015 and Fanatical Support for Azure in July 2015 as a 1-Tier Microsoft CSP. These offerings allow customers to take advantage of Rackspace expertise, guidance and support on both platforms, so they can focus on innovating their core business.

Now, as one of less than 10 hosting providers globally enabled with 2-Tier distribution across the entire Microsoft cloud suite, Rackspace will expand the reach of its Fanatical Support on both platforms by offering Microsoft technology acumen and operational expertise to its extensive partner ecosystem. These companies will be able to utilize 24x7x365 Fanatical Support for Office 365 and Azure, including customer migration and deployment assistance, support escalations, a dedicated reseller program team and support for sales and marketing.

"As a leading managed cloud company, Rackspace strives to provide the best expertise and service across the world's leading clouds -- including a broad selection of Microsoft products," said Blake Wetzel, VP of channel sales at Rackspace. "We have seen strong demand and positive feedback from customers for Fanatical Support for Office 365 and Microsoft Azure, and Rackspace is excited to extend our support for both platforms to our broad channel community. Together, Rackspace and our partners can continue to help customers get the most out of Office 365 and Azure during this time of unprecedented growth in the cloud industry."

By reselling Azure and Office 365 directly from Rackspace, partners will have access to benefits including:

• Microsoft Expertise - With 14 years of collaboration with Microsoft, and as the only five-time Microsoft Hosting Partner of the Year, Rackspace has deep expertise in supporting Microsoft technologies. A global support team with hundreds of Microsoft Certified Professionals is available to support partners and their customers.

• Fanatical Support - Companies in the Rackspace Partner Network have 24x7x365 access to Rackspace industry-leading service, branded Fanatical Support, as well as Microsoft premiere support escalations, a feature that is typically cost-prohibitive for businesses that operate at a smaller scale.

• Bundles and Hybrid Capabilities - Resellers can create unique product packages for customers with additional complementary products and services from Rackspace including Microsoft Private Cloud, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Exchange.

• Flexible Offers and Opportunities - Rackspace provides these companies with flexibility related to setting margins, bundling and establishing recurring compensation streams.

The Rackspace Reseller and Referral Program for Fanatical Support for Azure and Office 365 is available to all partners in the US. The Rackspace Reseller and Referral Program for Fanatical Support for Azure is also available to all partners in the EU/EFTA. To learn more about the features and capabilities for each product, visit http://go.rackspace.com/microsoft-COF_MSA_WPC.html. To connect with Rackspace at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, see a list of speaking sessions and booth location on the Rackspace Blog at http://blog.rackspace.com/reselling-office-365-rackspace.

Supporting Quotes:

"Rackspace has already proven that its management for hosted products is superior to other vendors we have tested, and the company's Reseller and Referral Program for Office 365 is no different," said Tanner Fox, lead PC tech at Consolidated Telecom, Inc. "The fact that everything can be consolidated into one portal and is easy to setup and deploy makes this offering very convenient. This ease-of-use combined with Fanatical Support creates a win-win situation for anyone looking at getting into the cloud hosting market."

"By reselling Office 365 and Microsoft Azure from Rackspace directly to our customers, Forget Computers can provide our clients a streamlined experience from billing to support, while utilizing Microsoft expertise and Fanatical Support from Rackspace," said Ben Greiner, president at Forget Computers, an early access partner in the program. "Rackspace helps reduce the complexity of offering Office 365 and Microsoft Azure at scale, through unmatched operational guidance, training opportunities and premiere escalation support for our customers. This level of partner support plays a huge role in allowing Forget Computers to effectively deliver these Microsoft solutions to our clients."

About Rackspace
Rackspace (RAX), the #1 managed cloud company, helps businesses tap the power of cloud computing without the complexity and cost of managing it on their own. Rackspace engineers deliver specialized expertise, easy-to-use tools, and Fanatical Support® for leading technologies developed by AWS, Google, Microsoft, OpenStack, VMware and others. The company serves customers in 120 countries, including a majority of the FORTUNE 100. Rackspace was named a leader in the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Enabled Managed Hosting, and has been honored by Fortune, Forbes, and others as one of the best companies to work for. Learn more at www.rackspace.com.

Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of Rackspace Hosting could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any statements concerning expected development, performance or market acceptance associated with the Rackspace Channel Partner Program; anticipated operational and financial benefits from the Rackspace Channel Partner Program; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that expected benefits from the Rackspace Channel Partner Program may not materialize because this Program is not generally accepted in the marketplace, which could occur due to certain factors including (i) a failure to market the services cost effectively, differentiate the services from competitive products or services or to communicate differentiations effectively, (ii) the reliability, quality or compatibility associated with the services, (iii) changes in technology which adversely affect the service's benefit, (iv) slowdowns in the general economy or technology industry that impact consumer spending habits, (v) internal strategy decisions that impact the services, and (vi) other risks that are described in Rackspace Hosting's 10-Q for the quarter year ended March 31, 2016, filed with the SEC on May 10, 2016. Except as required by law, Rackspace Hosting assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Rackspace and Fanatical Support are either service marks or registered service marks of Rackspace US, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks, products and brands remain the sole property of their respective holders and do not imply endorsement or sponsorship. The use of the word 'partner' or 'channel partner' does not imply a partnership relationship between Rackspace and any other company.