TOKYO, Oct. 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ) (Nasdaq:IIJI) (TSE1:3774) and Cybozu Research Institute, Inc. (Cybozu Research), a member of the Cybozu Inc.'s Group and developer of Cloud/SaaS businesses primarily using Cybozu products, today announced the formation of a partnership between the two companies to promote cloud businesses. This partnership was formed through the Cybozu Research's partner support program called Cybozu(R) CloudBusiness Partner, of which IIJ is the first member.

Following is a description of their joint activities.

1. Cybozu Groupware, Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS, offered on the IIJ GIO platform

Starting in November 2009, Cybozu Research's SaaS-based large-scale groupware called Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS will be released on the IIJ GIO cloud business platform which is announced by IIJ on October 5, 2009. This new service provides companies with a stable system with a high level of service and without the need to purchase hardware or software resources. This not only pushes down initial investment costs, but greatly reduces equipment costs, personnel costs, and other operating costs.

2. Integration of iiMail Suite and Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS

iiMail Suite provided by IIJ Technology, Inc., an IIJ Group company, and Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS provided by Cybozu Research will be offered as an integrated solution. This integrated solution will be an SaaS-based service and include features from iiMail Suite -- such as mail server functions, archive, audit, misaddressing prevention, and mail encryption -- as well as features from Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS -- such as schedule planner, address book, and other groupware features. As a result, users of the iiMail Suite have easy access to a rich array of groupware features in one account. Similarly, Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS users can quickly introduce a secure mail environment that is compatible with internal compliance.

IIJ and Cybozu Research will continue to provide optimized solutions for our customers' businesses.

About iiMail Suite (see http://www.iij-tech.co.jp/iimail/)

iiMail Suite is a total-support integrated mail security solution that includes a range of features from basic corporate mail system functions to information leak prevention, strengthened internal compliance, and other security measures.

About Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS (see http://cybozu-ri.co.jp/business/saas.html)

Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) SaaS includes all the features of the enterprise-level groupware Cybozu(R) Garoon(R) Version 2 as well as enterprise-level SaaS groupware that can be scaled down for medium-size businesses or scaled up to a large corporation with up to 10,000 people.

About IIJ

Founded in 1992, Internet Initiative Japan Inc.