Light at the End of the Tunnel

  • Article

Putting a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application up in the cloud is all well and good but what about making money from that application?

There has to be light at the end of the tunnel for any commercial application development.

The business decision to choose a platform on which to publish a commercial cloud application has to made in tandem with a clear view of how to sell, transact and procure the application.

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The Windows Azure Marketplace is a global online market for customers and partners to share, buy, and sell finished SaaS applications.

It is free to list applications in the marketplace. For applications that are commerce enabled, Microsoft uses a 20/80 revenue sharing model.

The steps to get in to the marketplace are fairly straightforward.

https://datamarket.azure.com/publishing 

Getting Started:
  1. Get your data/app ready Download the App or Data Publishing Kit below for a simple guide to readying your data or application.
  2. Sign and return the agreement Download the Windows Azure Marketplace Agreement Package below. The Agreement defines the terms and conditions for being a publisher in the Windows Azure Marketplace. You need to fill in all of the blanks on the first page, sign TWO original copies, and mail them to the address included in the package.
  3. Complete and return the questionnaire The App and Data Publishing Kits include a questionnaire to gather all of the technical information we need to get you set up. Complete the questionnaire following the included instructions for each offering you would like us to publish in the marketplace. Once we have the executed agreement and completed questionnaire(s) we will queue your offering(s) for verification and publication into the marketplace.