“With Windows Azure, we can interoperate with any system and any devices the customer has. So, we can focus on engineering great mobile solutions and not have to worry about infrastructure support.” Randy Starr, Vice President of Technology, Blue Dot Solutions Independent software vendor Blue Dot Solutions wanted to streamline installation and support of its mobile applications so that it could reduce costs, accelerate sales cycles, reach new customers, and create a more predictable revenue stream. By using Windows Azure to support its Cyan mobile solutions framework, Blue Dot can lower sales barriers, ease its installation and support costs, and develop a new revenue model. Business Needs Based in Denver, Colorado, Blue Dot Solutions is an independent software vendor (ISV) that delivers mobile workforce management solutions that extend enterprise management systems developed by other ISVs. More than 900 asset-intensive organizations in more than 10 countries use Blue Dot mobile workforce management solutions. For example, for the enterprise application software vendor Infor, Blue Dot delivers a mobile extension for the flagship Infor Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solution that allows field workers to connect to their company’s Infor EAM system from mobile devices. Infor brands the Blue Dot mobile workforce management solution as an extension to Infor EAM, and pays royalties to Blue Dot on the upfront license and per-device fees paid by Infor customers. Blue Dot then typically charges the Infor customer to configure, install, and support the extended mobile solution in the customer’s on-premises IT environment. But deploying a high-performance Blue Dot mobile solution in an on-premises environment could require a relatively significant investment in infrastructure and support that creates a sales barrier for some small to midsize end customers. For enterprise customers, Blue Dot often drew high-level involvement from its IT departments, which sometimes slowed decision and sales cycles. It usually took Blue Dot 3 to 10 days to install a mobile solution in an end customer’s on-premises environment, but it could take a few weeks. Ongoing support for each end customer often required multiple Blue Dot resources. “It took a lot of work to support all of those unique infrastructures,” says Randy Starr, Vice President of Technology at Blue Dot Solutions. “It was a complex and time- consuming logistical challenge that was eating into the profitability of each project.” Blue Dot wanted to reduce its own costs, accelerate sales cycles, reach new end customers, and create a more predictable revenue stream. The company recognized that it could use cloud technology—off- site computing resources delivered as services over the Internet—to explore new sales and revenue models and make it faster and easier to develop, deploy, and manage its mobile applications. Solution In 2010, after evaluating several cloud- based solutions, Blue Dot developed a multitenant framework for mobile applications, called Cyan, with Windows Azure , the Microsoft cloud services development, hosting, and management environment. Windows Azure provides on- demand compute, storage, networking, Partner: Blue Dot Solutions Website: www.bluedotsolutions.com Country or Region: United States Industry: Professional services—IT services Partner Profile Blue Dot Solutions delivers mobile workforce management solutions to asset-intensive organizations. With offices in Colorado, Texas, South Carolina, and Scotland, Blue Dot serves more than 900 customers. Software and Services Windows Azure Platform − Windows Azure − Microsoft SQL Azure Technologies − Microsoft .NET Framework − Windows Communication Foundation Solutions − Software-plus-services For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies Windows Azure Partner Solution Case Study ISV Powers Mobile Framework and Enhances Revenue with Cloud Services