Business Software

Cloud-based business software provider NetSuite and cloud subscription billing solutions provider, Zuora have announced a new partnership under which they will develop and offer combined solutions for companies seeking to meter, price and bill for subscription and usage-based products.

Zuroa already acts as the preferred partner for NetSuite (News - Alert) for subscription and usage-based businesses. During the first stage of the partnership, the companies plan to integrate Zuora's Z-Commerce Platform with NetSuite and NetSuite's native cloud-based billing engine.

The solution is designed to support any subscription pricing model, such as one-time, recurring, usage and metering charges, as well as volume tier pricing. The solution enables companies to tailor products and pricing according to specific market segments.

Customers already working with NetSuite will be able to leverage the integrated capabilities that allow for the rapid expansion of subscription-based products and services. It will also automatically meter and bill customers through Zuora's (News - Alert) Z-Billing capabilities.

'Zuora is an ideal NetSuite partner -- a company built by and for cloud computing, the future of business,' said Zach Nelson (News - Alert), NetSuite CEO, in a statement. 'Zuora's extensive experience in subscription services billing and management will make it easy for NetSuite customers to innovate and develop new revenue streams, while relying on the power and transparency of the cloud to support those initiatives.'

With this partnership in place, both companies with be equipped to address the growing shift to a subscription-based economy. Customers today are driving the trend to move products and services to the cloud. Users access software as a service (SaaS (News - Alert)) applications, computing power, telecom services, travel services, digital media and content, textbooks and more.

Such a shift holds considerable promise, but it is also requiring that businesses adopt fundamentally different business models and new infrastructures for the management of large transaction volumes with variable, fragmented and usage-based, pay-as-you-go pricing structures.

'Technology companies are rushing to get new cloud offerings to market but until they solve the metering, pricing and billing problem, they are in for a world of pain,' said Zuora President and General Manager Shawn Price. 'By partnering with NetSuite, we are combining two of the most powerful solutions to address this new market reality. NetSuite pioneered financial and billing solutions for the cloud, and together we can address many of the opportunities created by the shift to the Subscription Economy.'

NetSuite and Zuora will present an integrated solution that will address the needs of companies adopting the new business model. Powerful capabilities and benefits that will be offered to drive key business and revenue-generating initiatives.

'As cloud service providers continue to link services the way that NetSuite and Zuora are doing, enterprises benefit from a constant flow of new capabilities and functionality, without the need to retain additional IT expertise or build out hardware infrastructure,' said Vinnie Mirchandani, founder of Deal Architect, a leading industry analyst and published author. 'Integrated cloud ecosystems demonstrate it is time for 'AND not OR' in technology - a point emphasized at many points in my new book, The New Polymath.'

In other NetSuite news, the company announced last month the details of a special London-based event designed to help UK and European-based professional services firms and workgroups leverage the power of cloud computing solutions to survive and thrive in the current challenging economic environment.

This event, 'A Cloud Computing Wake-Up Call for Professional Services," will take place July 8 at One Whitehall Place, London, from 3 to 6:30 PM. To register for this complimentary event, please click here.