Software developer Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) in collaboration with 21Vianet Group, Inc. (VNET) recently rolled out WebDirect payment services for Windows Azure services in China.
Chinese users can now buy public cloud services of global standards directly from 21Vianet’s website. Unlike traditional offline purchase services, WebDirect payment services are a self-serviced, simple pre-paid payment process. The rollout of the new service will allow customers to avail the cloud services soon after the payments are made through Alipay and UnionPay payment systems. Moreover, the service is an easy and low-cost method for the small & medium enterprises (SMEs), startups, and developers to adopt public cloud services.
Window’s Azure is Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, launched in 2010, for creating, deploying and managing applications and services through the worldwide network of Microsoft’s datacenters. Microsoft launched Azure in China in March 2014 through partner 21Vianet Group, becoming the first major U.S. provider to launch a public cloud in China.
21Vianet Group, Inc., a China-based company, is a provider of carrier-neutral Internet data center services to Internet enterprises, government units and blue-chip companies in China. 21Vianet acts as an operation unit for Azure, hosting the service in its data centers and managing customer relationships.
The "One RMB Trial" promotion is available in 21Vianet website for new customers. It offers customers a comprehensive public cloud Windows Azure services package for one month that would normally cost RMB 2,000.
In a bid to benefit from the growing Chinese market, Microsoft has been making investments in the country, expecting to sell more services to Chinese companies and government agencies. We believe that Microsoft’s current investments are supported by its strong balance sheet and expect these to drive growth, improving prospects of market share gains.
Companies with better prospects at this time are Inuvo, Inc. (INUV) and Facebook, Inc. (FB).
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