MDeC together with Microsoft Malaysia have announced their partnership in the MSC Malaysia Cloud On-Boarding Program to accelerate the development and production of made-in-Malaysia software and services in the Cloud, in response to the growing impetus to increase the competitiveness of Malaysian small-and-medium businesses (SMEs) through Cloud Computing adoption. The partnership, in the form of The Azure Power Program, will see an investment of RM1.1 million to boost the Cloud ecosystem for SMEs.
[Partnership for Azure Power Program – Datuk Badlisham Ghazali and Ananth Lazarus]
With this partnership, the Microsoft Azure Program will be a key industry partner in the MSC Malaysia Cloud Onboarding Program, designed to provide comprehensive end-to-end assistance for Malaysian ISVs(independent software vendors) to develop and produce Cloud-based software and services on Microsoft’s open and flexible Windows Azure platform. The Windows Azure platform allows developers to build applications using various programming languages that they are already familiar with, like Microsoft’s .Net and Visual Studio as well as Python, Ruby, Eclipse, Java, and PHP.
The entire program comprises three steps. The first step of the program is known as the Cloud Onboarding Phase, which helps ISVs accelerate their transition to the Cloud-based business models along with comprehensive technical training and assistance.
Once ISVs have completed the first step, they move on to the next step called the SaaS Acceleration Phase, which is designed to reduce initial operation costs and risks. Here, ISVs can receive up to RM27,000 worth of subscription funding for Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform to develop their application and solution products. ISVs completing this second step will also receive product certification to help them establish credibility in preparation of going to market.
With products ready to market, ISVs will then be taken through the third step, called the Cloud to Market Phase, which seeks to assist ISVs in bringing their products to market. Here, ISVs will receive the necessary commercialization support to create visibility and to market their products on a local and global level.
The Azure Power Program is open to MSC Status companies all stages from start-ups to established ISVs. To participate, ISVs need to complete an application form with the necessary supporting documents to the Program Center at [email protected], call 03-6205 3389 or fax 03-6205 5513.
For more information on Windows Azure, please visit: www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/windowsazure.