App stores were the ingredient that fueled the smartphone explosion a decade ago. Cloud marketplaces are an enterprise version of that same concept that provide nearly limitless opportunities for users to build upon their cloud investments.
A cloud marketplace is a collection of software applications and services that are built on, integrate with, or complement a cloud provider’s core offerings. Applications in a cloud marketplace have been designed to be easily deployed on the host vendor’s platform, in many cases with just a few clicks. This permits customers to test and assess new functionality, often on a free-trial basis or for a modest fee.
Applications in a cloud marketplace use published cloud interfaces to ensure they don’t conflict with each other or the host application while adding or extending functionality with a minimum of user involvement. The combination of guaranteed compatibility and simple deployment is revolutionary. Not long ago, evaluating software was a manually intensive process that required users to pay the full licensing fee in advance, regardless of whether they ultimately used the software. They were also responsible for installation, configuration, and testing, a process that can consume many hours in the case of enterprise applications.
In contrast, “try before you buy” is the norm in a cloud marketplace. Marketplaces reduce cost and foster innovation by promoting competition among marketplace partners to deliver a customer experience that earns positive ratings and word-of-mouth awareness, as peer reviews are an essential feature of marketplaces.
Marketplace applications enable continuous innovation at scale. In the case of cloud-native software-as-a-service, functionality can be enhanced and extended without modifying the core application code. An enterprise resource planning customer, for example, can choose from hundreds of options for functions like marketing, finance, e-commerce, and field service. This enables them to customize the features and user experience without the need to modify underlying code and risk locking themselves into a particular version of the host application.
Cloud platform marketplaces allow customers to assemble their operating environments from a wide variety of business applications, databases, analytics tools, infrastructure software, machine learning libraries, and security suites, to name just a few.
Microsoft AppSource, which is an online store that contains thousands of business applications and services built by industry-leading software providers, catalogs more than 6,000 applications and consulting services for Microsoft 365 alone and the list continually grows. Many are available on a free-trial basis. Available applications run the gamut from personal productivity to collaboration, email enhancement, customer service, human resources, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things.
Customers enjoy a wide variety of choices. For example, Veritas’s Merge1 archive messaging software, NetBackup SaaS Protection for Microsoft 365, and Enterprise Vault cloud archiving solutions for Office 365 are all available for rapid provisioning.
For organizations that have invested in Microsoft 365, the marketplace ensures they receive a continuous supply of innovative new features from a vibrant third-party marketplace. This protects their investment, extends the life of their software, and ensures nearly infinite choice in their ability to tune their environment to their specific needs. Moreover, through the marketplace, Veritas has made procuring and deploying its software easier and more cost-effective by leveraging an organization’s Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment.
- Microsoft teams up with Veritas to provide proven data protection and compliance solutions: https://youtu.be/O2ovue2GpB0
- Visit Veritas on the Azure Marketplace: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps?page=1&search=veritas
- Learn more: https://www.veritas.com/partners/microsoft-azure