"During his six months with Parallels, Birger has proven himself to be an incisive decision-maker and capable leader for all areas of our business," said executive chairman Serguei Beloussov.



"The Board is confident that Birger, with his global experience and proven track record in building and developing strong partner communities, is the right leader at the right time to help Parallels scale and accelerate our worldwide growth plans. He will enable Parallels to be the best partner for service providers at an even larger scale and will lead the successful execution of our strategy," added Mr Beloussov.

Before joining Parallels, Mr Steen was vice president of small and medium business and distribution at Microsoft, and previously held various senior positions including general manager for Norway, and general manager and vice president for Russia.

He holds a degree in Russian, a Master of Science in computer science and industrial engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim, and an MBA from INSEAD in France. Mr Steen was named "Best Top Manager" in the Russian IT industry in 2008 by the Russian Association of Managers.

Mr Beloussov, his predecessor as Parallels CEO, will continue in a full time role at the company as chief architect as well as executive chairman.