1. Internet Firm Speeds Time-to-Market
by 40 Percent with Startup Support,
“Cloud” Computing
Overview “The faster time-to-market that we got
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Education with BizSpark and Azure are crucial to
our success. It gives us an important
Customer Profile
Eduify, based in San Francisco, competitive advantage, and it helps
California, provides Web-based prove our business strategy with
solutions that help students
conduct research faster, write investors.”
better papers, and get help on
demand. Eduify was founded to provide students with
educational technology that can assist them in
Business Situation
Eduify wanted to speed time-to- researching topics faster and writing better. To
market for a software-plus- create its solution, Eduify received assistance as
services solution that would
give students more effective well, from Microsoft® technologies and services
assistance with writing such as the Azure™ Services Platform, the
assignments than they could
get over the Web alone. Microsoft BizSpark™ ecosystem, and Windows
Mobile® 6. Eduify took advantage of these
Solution
The company achieved fast technological and business resources to create a
time-to-market by adopting the software-plus-services solution that delivers
Azure™ Services Platform and
Windows Mobile® 6, and online writing help to students anywhere, anytime,
participating in the Microsoft® with functionality and a user experience not
BizSpark™ program for startup
companies. possible from the Web alone. At the same time,
Eduify gained a 40 percent faster time-to-market,
Benefits
 Cuts time-to-market by 40
U.S.$500,000 in development and other savings,
percent and easier access to the largest market of mobile
 Enables more effective
software development device users.
 Provides access to largest
market for mobile devices

2. Internet Firm Speeds Time-to-Market
by 40 Percent with Startup Support,
“Cloud” Computing

3. “These were Situation students, a solution has to
More than 32 million students in provide the technologies that
bright kids, but the United States struggle with they might otherwise lack at any
they lacked the writing assignments because given moment: appropriate word
they lack the technology and processing software, file storage,
productivity tools immediate help they need to and research tools.
they needed to be succeed, according to research
cited. Furthermore, nearly four Another key requirement is the
successful.” out of five high school students ability to address problems that
Dan Merritts, Vice President of are not proficient writers, students might have at any
Marketing, Eduify according to the National junction during the typical
Assessment of Educational academic writing process:
Progress. formulating an outline, writing a
draft, discovering and capturing
“Eduify’s founder saw these research, and managing peer
problems up close a few years edits or multiple drafts. Eduify
ago, when he worked to place wanted its solution to include
promising high school and college writing tutorials and examples,
interns with business mentors in safeguards against plagiarism,
Silicon Valley,” says Dan Merritts, and expert writing coaching on
Vice President of Marketing at demand. Because students often
Eduify. At the end of each work in groups or seek advice
summer, the students were from friends on social networks
assigned a paper to write about such as Facebook, Eduify also
the experience. “Students wanted its solution to include
continually encountered problems connections into students’ social
when completing the assign- environments.
ment,” Merritts explains. “These
were bright kids, but they lacked The Internet is a natural platform
the productivity tools they needed for this anywhere-anytime
to be successful, and they lacked service. Yet, the Internet alone
access to help when and where cannot support all the features
they needed it most—which could and services that Eduify
be at home, at 2:00 A.M., the envisioned. For example, the
night before the assignment was company wanted to help students
due.” capture research from physical
sources, such as books in school
Eduify was founded to address libraries, which suggested a role
these problems. The company’s for mobile devices. And it wanted
primary business goal was to its solution to be accessible from
create a solution that students the productivity tools that
could access anytime and students already used, such as
anywhere to help them write word processing software.
better. “The days of students
doing all of their research and As a startup company, Eduify
schoolwork in the library are long needed technology that was as
gone,” says Merritts. For cost-effective as possible. At the

4. same time, it needed that
technology to be easy to use and
scalable to support what the
company hoped would be
massive growth over the next
few years.
Solution
To address its needs for a
solution that would function from
the Internet and also provide
software resources for services
that could not be based on the
Web, Eduify adopted a software-
plus-services approach. This
approach makes it possible to
take advantage of capabilities
both of the Web and of the
software on a student’s local PC
or device, wherever that might
be. At the heart of the Eduify
solution are:
 Collaborative workspaces with
file storage, a student-focused
document editor, sharing
through Facebook, instant
messaging, and much more.
 Research tools to discover
relevant quotes and resources
as a student writes, to share
references with peers, and to
automatically capture new
content with its bibliographic
information.
 Help services to identify experts
in a student’s network, to
become a help to others, and to
obtain fee-based expert writing
help.
“Cloud Services” Platform

5. Eduify did not want to reinvent the Among the Azure services that
wheel nor, in this case, the Web Eduify used are ones that:
platform and services it would  Authenticate users and provide
need for its solution. Several access to its solution.
commercially available Internet  Integrate the solution with the
“cloud services” platforms exist cloud environment and enable
that can both host a Web-based the solution to integrate with
solution and provide many of the third-party systems such as
building blocks comprised by that Facebook.
solution. Eduify chose the Azure™  Help to rapidly extend the
Services Platform, an Internet- solution across mobile devices
scale cloud services platform and the Web.
hosted in Microsoft® data  Enable users to connect with
centers, because it was the more than 320 million Windows
fastest to deploy and scale, as Live™ Messenger users
Figure 1: The Eduify well as to integrate value-added worldwide to collaborate and
architecture combines Azure services, such as file solicit help on writing projects.
and cloud services with local synchronization or instant  Enable users to store their work
software and services to give messaging. in the “cloud,” to access it
users the best of each. later from any Internet-
connected PC or device.

6. To gain the benefits of Microsoft
No-Cost License Support for technol-ogies with the cost
Startups advantages of open source
Eduify faced the need to buy software, Eduify joined the Micro-
licenses for the Windows Server® soft BizSpark™ program, which
software and various Microsoft was designed especially for
application platform components startup companies. The BizSpark
it would need for its solution— program provided Eduify with
expenses that could have limited access to software, support, and
its development speed and hurt a rich, vibrant ecosystem of
time-to-market, and that it would peers, partners, and support
not have incurred with another resources around the globe.
software choice, such as Linux-
based open source software. The development tools, platform
Figure 2: The software-plus- technologies, and production
services approach enables licenses available through
Eduify to take maximum BizSpark include the full Microsoft
advantage of the software Visual Studio® Team System 2008
capabilities of mobile devices. Team Suite with MSDN® Premium
subscription, production use
rights to host a Web-based
solution using many of the latest
components of the Microsoft
application platform, and eligibility
for Azure and other Microsoft
offerings.
Mobile and Office Business
Application Support
Of course, students interact not
only with the online environment,
but also with the physical
environment. To enable students
to capture and use physical
research materials such as library
books, Eduify used the Microsoft
Compact Framework to put its
solution on Windows Mobile®
phones.
With an Eduify mobile application
on their Windows Mobile phone,
students can capture a source
and add it to their research
bibliography by taking a picture of
the book’s ISBN barcode. Then,
students can take a picture of the

7. page with the quote they want to have taken otherwise, saving 83
cite in their papers. Students can percent of development time.
add the quote to their papers with
a single click and the bibliography “The faster time-to-market that
is automatically created for them. we got with BizSpark and Azure
are crucial to our success,” says
The Eduify solution thrives on the Merritts. “It gives us an
Web, but students may not be on important competitive advantage,
the Web when they want to use and it helps prove our business
it; for instance, they may be strategy with investors. Saving
working in their word processor. half a million dollars would be
To make it possible for students huge for any company—for a
to access the rich resources of startup, it can make the
the Eduify solution from within difference between success and
Microsoft Office 2007 programs— failure.”
in this case, from within Microsoft
Office Word 2007—Eduify plans to Eduify took advantage all of the
create an Office Business key advantages of BizSpark; most
Application that gives students notably, software licensing
access to its services right from benefits, priority access to
the Microsoft Office Fluent™ Microsoft support, and access to
Ribbon. the global BizSpark community.
Benefits For example, it has teamed with
By using such resources as the another business in the education
BizSpark program, the Azure market—one that it met through
Services Platform, and Windows BizSpark—that offers services to
Mobile to build its solution, Eduify schools for analyzing student
attained faster and more cost- performance. The two companies
effective time-to-market; the plan to provide virtual, or online,
scalability, availability, and schools with the Eduify writing-
security its solution required; and help platform to improve writing
access to the largest market for proficiency.
mobile devices.
Eduify also gained important
Cuts Time-to-Market by 40 benefits when it chose to develop
Percent, Saves $500,000 in the Microsoft .NET
Merritts estimates that the environment, as opposed to
combination of the Microsoft competing environments, such as
BizSpark program and the Azure Java.“The ecosystem for
Services Platform shaved five Microsoft .NET developers is
months and U.S.$500,000 off his vastly larger than the ecosystem
company’s development time for Java,” says Merritts. “That
and marketing budget. The Eduify meant we were able to find
mobile application, for example, quality developers more easily, at
was developed in just one month more cost-effective rates. The
—compared to the six months choice of Microsoft enabled us to
that Merritts estimates it would go with an offshore development

8. model that saved us money at a Merritts says he sees those
time when cash was at a benefits extending into the future.
premium.” “The Azure platform makes it
possible for us to grow our
Enables More Effective solution as fast as the market
Development requires,” he says. “Technology
Choosing Azure over competing isn’t going to hold us back; it’s
cloud services environments, going to be a key driver of our
such as Amazon, was also an business growth.”
important choice, for several
reasons. For one, it enabled Provides Access to Largest
developers to work more Market for Mobile Devices
effectively. “We wanted a best- Using Windows Mobile as the
of-breed platform,” says platform for the Eduify mobile
Merritts. “Azure gave our solution is beneficial to both
developers a way to develop Eduify and its customers. The
Eduify locally, on their own company takes full advantage of
computers, rather than having to Windows Mobile phone features—
go back to the cloud for each including keyboard and superior
step of development. We knew cameras—to deliver a solution
that would speed development.” that goes beyond the capabilities
of the Web alone.
Beyond faster time-to-market,
the choice of Azure also delivered Windows Mobile gives Eduify
key technical benefits for Eduify, access to the platform’s 30
including cost-effective scalability million customers, up to two-
and enhanced availability and thirds larger than the markets for
security. “Azure gives us all the competing mobile platforms.
building blocks we need for a “Windows Mobile helps us to
superior cloud computing solu- capture a larger share of the
tion,” says Merritts. “It allows us market faster,” says Merritts. “It
to focus on the added value we also gives our customers more
bring to education, rather than choice in the phones they use.
having to create the ‘plumbing’ Microsoft is investing in the edu-
for ourselves. We know that this cation market with Windows
solution is going to be fast and Mobile, which further extends our
available 24/7, which is essential reach and distribution. From a
to our offering. Additionally, and technology standpoint, going with
more importantly for upholding Windows Mobile was a way to
privacy standards, we know that exploit our existing expertise with
it will have the security of .NET to easily extend our services
Microsoft-based authentication to the mobile world.”
and access control, another key
requirement in getting students to
be comfortable with Eduify.”

9. For More Information Software-plus-Services
For more information about Software-plus-services is an
Microsoft products and industry shift driven by the fast-
services, call the Microsoft growing recognition that
Sales Information Center at combining Internet services with
(800) 426-9400. In Canada, call client and server software can
the Microsoft Canada deliver exciting new
Information Centre at (877) opportunities. Microsoft is
568-2495. Customers who are dedicated to helping individuals
deaf or hard-of-hearing can and businesses take advantage
reach Microsoft text telephone of these opportunities. By
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) bringing together the best of both
892-5234 in the United States software and services, we
or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. maximize capabilities, choice,
Outside the 50 United States and flexibility for our customers.
and Canada, please contact The broad software-plus-services
your local Microsoft subsidiary. approach unites multiple industry
To access information using the phenomena including software as
World Wide Web, go to: a service, service-oriented
www.microsoft.com development, and the Web 2.0
user experience under a common
For more information about umbrella.
Eduify products and services,
visit the Web site at: For more information about
www.eduify.com software-plus-services, go to:
www.microsoft.com/softwareplus
services
Software and Services  Services
 Azure Services Platform − Microsoft BizSpark
 Microsoft Server Product  Solutions
Portfolio − Software-plus-services
− Windows Server 2003  Technologies
− Microsoft SQL Server 2005 − Microsoft .NET Framework
 Windows Mobile 6 3.5 SP1
− Microsoft .NET Compact
Framework 3.5
This case study is for informational purposes
only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published July 2009