MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire - October 25, 2010) - Microsoft VC Summit --
Company News
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Zuora, the leader in subscription billing, today announced that sharpcloud has successfully implemented the Zuora Z-Commerce for the Cloud platform in 20 days. sharpcloud provides visual, social roadmapping which is used by customers to manage knowledge and networks around their strategic planning and innovation programs. sharpcloud is developed and hosted on Windows Azure.
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sharpcloud leveraged Windows Azure's platform and tools to bring their solution to life, and quickly set about the task of monetizing, namely, enabling sharpcloud for subscriptions. It quickly became clear that building such a complicated solution in-house was not an option.
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Through the Microsoft Windows Azure and BizSpark One programs, sharpcloud was able to get started quickly with the Zuora team, which was already well versed and integrated into the Windows Azure ecosystem.
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sharpcloud is now using Zuora to enable billing, payments and subscription management for its Windows Azure-based application, specifically:
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Multiple pricing plans to sell to individuals and businesses
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Support for multiple currencies -- GBP, USD, and Euros
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Online commerce capabilities
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Support for credit cards; PCI compliance
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Seamless integration to PayPal for payment processing
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A platform to handle subscription orders from different partners, including Fujitsu
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sharpcloud deployed the Zuora Toolkit for Windows Azure to dramatically accelerate time-to-market and automate the pricing and web orders for its Windows Azure platform cloud-based application with seamless integration to PayPal.
Commentary
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"Microsoft and BizSpark One have given us the tools, platform and program to research, develop and release to web our social business application," said Sarim Khan, CEO and Co-Founder, sharpcloud. "Zuora has filled the missing link by enabling billing, payments and subscription management for our application, giving us the flexibility to price and package and in the future expand to new markets."
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"Cloud computing has dramatically improved the way that ISVs can develop, deliver and support innovative business solutions," said Michael Maggs, senior director, Windows Azure partner strategy at Microsoft. "Zuora enables Windows Azure developers to rapidly monetize those applications with the right billing infrastructure so they can spend more effort on building successful cloud businesses."
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"Billing is the lifeblood of ISVs in the cloud, and Zuora is the leader in helping companies like sharpcloud rapidly monetize their solutions on Windows Azure," said Shawn Price, president at Zuora. "Zuora is committed to working closely with Microsoft to deliver on the cloud commerce capabilities that the more than 10,000 Windows Azure developers and customers require."
Enabling the Cloud Computing Business Model on Windows Azure
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Based on Zuora's industry-leading on-demand subscription billing and commerce platform, Z-Commerce for the Cloud enables the new business models introduced by cloud computing such as usage and pay-as-you-go pricing as their existing infrastructures were built for one-time and perpetual pricing models. Prior to Zuora, cloud providers and ISVs were could not deliver on the need to meter, price, and bill for cloud services -- the heart of the new cloud business model.
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At this week's Microsoft VC Summit, Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo will be presenting a session that illustrates this shift entitled "Azure: Microsoft Cloud Computing Strategy - How to Successfully Build, Deploy and Monetize the Windows Azure Platform" that will describe how cloud computing is creating significant opportunities for ISVs to build and monetize a range of new applications with Zuora and Microsoft technologies.
Zuora Toolkit for Windows Azure
- To drive success and adoption for the Windows Azure ecosystem, Zuora has delivered the Zuora Toolkit for Windows Azure in conjuncture with Microsoft to enable developers and ISVs to easily automate commerce from within their Windows Azure application and/or website in a matter of minutes. With the Zuora Toolkit for Windows Azure, developers and ISVs can:
- create flexible price plans and packages;
- support usage and pay-as-you-go pricing models;
- initiate a subscription order online;
- accept credit cards with PCI Level 1 compliance; and
- manage the customers, recurring subscriptions, and invoicing.
- The Zuora Toolkit for Windows Azure can be accessed at http://developer.zuora.com/. Zuora is also providing a Z-Commerce for the Cloud code sample for developers to embed in their cloud solutions at http://developer.zuora.com/samplecode.html.
About Zuora, Inc.
Zuora's subscription billing and commerce platform changes the way subscription businesses manage and sell to customers, allowing them to bring new products to market in less time, with more flexibility and less hassle. Zuora customers are up and running within 90 days and often recognize 200% ROI within weeks. Zuora is built from the ground up by SaaS industry visionaries and veterans from salesforce.com, WebEx, Accenture, Google, eBay, Oracle and Vitria. Zuora customers include Reed Business Information, Coremetrics, InsideView, Marketo, Ricoh, Box.net, Xactly, HD Cloud, Cloud Central and Sun Microsystems. To learn more about Zuora, please visit www.zuora.com.
About sharpcloud
sharpcloud was founded on a revolutionary idea: to provide a visually appealing user experience to communities involved in the process of managing knowledge and networks around strategy and innovation. We provide enterprise communities with all the best elements of social networking, visual analytics and business intelligence in a simple to use and share application and is of value to both public and private user communities.
Typical client & partner user cases for sharpcloud include:
- Strategic presentations & planning
- Technology roadmapping
- Open innovation and new product development
- Partnership, bid, major accounts, and contracts management
- Public crowdsourcing
Delivered in-browser via Silverlight, sharpcloud is a Microsoft BizSpark One partner and Windows Azure Front Runner. For more information visit www.sharpcloud.com (twitter: @sharpcloud)
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Bronwyn Saglimbeni
Reidy Communications for Zuora
408-414-7250