AppDirect Introduces Monetization Suite to Drive Software Sales for Global Cloud Economy

San Francisco, Calif. – August 5, 2015 —AppDirect, the leader in cloud service commerce, today introduced its Monetization Suite for software developers and service providers – the first end-to-end solution for driving cloud software sales through easy access to billing and distribution, marketplace and reseller services. Zendesk, a customer service platform, is one of the Monetization Suite’s launch partners by piloting AppDirect’s Reseller Management Service.

The Monetization Suite sets a new standard for how software is sold in the cloud by offering developers a complete revenue engine for their products while driving down costs.

Whether considering direct billing or a reseller program, many Software-as-a-Service companies are unable to focus on the business and technical challenges associated with sales. Using services in the AppDirect suite, companies of any size can now integrate with the AppDirect platform through one set of APIs to launch self-service commerce from their web sites, grow reseller networks or distribute their applications across provider-run marketplaces.

The Monetization Suite will help companies more efficiently provision and sell cloud software and services to business customers, bring cloud products to market quickly and at a lower cost, broaden reach by building strong business partners, and drive retention through a unified customer experience.

“With our proven track record monetizing cloud services, developers are turning to us for tools to support each stage of their business growth. For many SaaS companies, we’re helping them build an API for the first time for an integration that will automate a commerce effort, power a marketplace presence, a channel strategy or all of these combined,” said Daniel Saks, co-Founder and co-CEO, AppDirect. “Through our Monetization Suite, we’re making a difference in a young company’s path to success while also enabling later stage companies to reach a higher level much more quickly.”

"Selling SaaS solutions is deceptively complex. From a technology standpoint, it's critical to be able to support an evolving go-to-market strategy in a way that's fast, secure, and scalable,” said Mindy Lieberman, Vice President of Information Technology, Zendesk. "AppDirect's Reseller Management Service gives us the ability to sell through our partner ecosystem, enabling both reseller and referral partners to close deals, while giving us the internal visibility we need. Zendesk has had a great experience working with AppDirect's team and technology on our pilot program. We look forward to continuing to expand our offering as the platform matures."

In addition to Zendesk, Cakemail, UnifiedInbox, and AODocs are among the first SaaS companies to use the services to either launch new reseller programs, expand distribution through new marketplaces, or drive self-service commerce from their web sites using subscription billing.

“We struggled to sell our product internationally with our previous billing solution," said Julien Seguin, VP Operations, CakeMail, an email marketing provider for small businesses. "AppDirect's APIs allow us to sell CakeMail to international customers without introducing unnecessary red tape. Since we were already integrated with AppDirect’s network of marketplaces, integrating the Billing & Distribution Service was very straightforward. Ultimately, AppDirect makes it easier for our customers to purchase and use our software, no matter where they are or what devices they use.”

The Monetization Suite’s solution includes:

• New Billing & Distribution Service: A comprehensive billing solution enabling companies to drive cloud software sales directly from their web sites and indirectly by leveraging AppDirect’s network of marketplaces. With a single integration to the AppDirect platform and its APIs, the service automates everything needed to offer subscription billing, accept different payment methods, process transactions, control payment operations, support global sales, access data and engage with customers. End users can also manage, upgrade or adjust their own subscriptions.

• New Reseller Management Service: An end-to-end solution enabling robust partner relationship management and subscription commerce. Reseller Management Service empowers developers to drive indirect sales and adoption of applications through their reseller and referral partner networks. It gives resellers and referral partners the tools required to sell to and manage customers accounts, register leads and deals with software vendors, create software subscriptions, and manage the customer lifecycle.

• Marketplace & Management Service: Through hosted, branded marketplaces, companies can offer end users one central location to easily find, buy and manage cloud services. End users can access the marketplace from any device and easily view and compare listings, profiles, ratings and reviews of cloud software. The service aggregates multiple cloud applications into a unified product catalog with secure identity and billing, fast provisioning for core or third-party services, back-end management, and self-service tools for end users to manage their services.

The AppDirect Monetization Suite is available now. For more information, visit info.appdirect.com/monetization.

About AppDirect

AppDirect is the cloud service commerce leader making software and products accessible globally. The AppDirect cloud service commerce platform unites providers, developers and consumers of cloud services into a single ecosystem. This makes it easy for businesses to find, buy, manage and monitor cloud services from a central location and delivers new opportunities to distribute, sell, and market cloud services. AppDirect-powered marketplaces, billing and distribution, and reselling services help providers – including Telstra, ADP, Samsung, Deutsche Telekom and others – connect millions of businesses to solutions from Microsoft, Google, Box and more. AppDirect is headquartered in San Francisco with global offices. Learn more at www.AppDirect.com.

AppDirect Media Contact

Victor White
victor.white@appdirect.com
415-852-3945