In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, monetizing digital marketplaces and subscription services has never been more crucial for enterprises seeking growth and profitability. With the latest release of CloudBlue Platform 21.14, we’re proud to introduce an array of new enhancements that make the monetization process easier and more effective than ever before.
Join us as we dive into the key improvements that empower enterprises to monetize their business effortlessly and enhance their subscription offerings. Discover the future of cloud monetization with CloudBlue Platform 21.14.
Key elements of this update comprise:
1. A product-centric marketplace experience
CloudBlue’s marketplace is embracing the latest trends and advanced technologies to shift toward a product-centric user experience, thereby enhancing the intuitiveness of the purchasing process. This shift introduces two significant changes that improve the way users interact with the platform:
- Product page: Clicking on a product from the plan page opens a dedicated product page, providing a wealth of product-specific information. This includes unit pricing for volume- and tier-based pricing models, available offers, minimum purchase requirements within the plan, comprehensive product descriptions, and policies related to cancellation and downsizing.
- Plan page: When accessing a plan from the catalog, users will now encounter a more detailed plan page. This page highlights crucial plan-specific information such as minimum pricing, plan descriptions, cancellation and downsizing policies, and a list of products that can be purchased within that plan.
Moreover, the platform has also enhanced the search experience, with suggestions and search results displaying actual products, plans and categories to help users find the information they need faster. Switching to this product-centric marketplace is a breeze with just a click of a button.
2. Seamless subscription migration
CloudBlue now empowers users with the ability to migrate subscriptions while overriding the cancellation and refund policies defined in the service plan. This functionality is accessible through the platform’s API and can be performed using a specific privilege. By specifying a particular processing mode for the cancellation order, users can seamlessly migrate their subscriptions while maintaining control over their subscription policies.
3. Precision in tax reimbursement
To ensure fairness and accuracy in financial transactions, CloudBlue has introduced a tax reimbursement system. This system calculates full or partial refunds for customers and resellers based on the tax rate that was in effect at the time the service plan or resource was purchased. For instance, if an order was invoiced at a 7% tax rate in 2022 and subsequently canceled in 2023 when the tax rate increased to 8%, the automated credit note will be generated at the original 7% tax rate, ensuring transparency and consistency.
4. Microsoft NCE seamless move
The seamless move component empowers you to seamlessly import Microsoft NCE subscriptions into the CloudBlue ecosystem, irrespective of product subtypes or partner qualifications, while also preserving all the existing attributes of the subscription.
5. New granular delegated administrator privileges (GDAP) capabilities for Microsoft direct-billed partners
GDAP serves as a security measure adhering to the zero trust cybersecurity protocol, offering partners least-privileged access. It allows partners to set precise and time-limited access to their customers’ workloads in both production and sandbox environments. Partners must explicitly receive permission from their customers to obtain this least-privileged access.
This release includes “Microsoft Default GDAP Relationship with New Customers,” roles auto-approved for new customers (option to disable) and admin agent security group automatic assignment for all the default roles. Moreover, the “Extending Custom GDAP Relationship with Customers” feature extends custom GDAP relationships by default for 180 days after expiration. All GDAP settings are available in the CloudBlue Microsoft Management Extension.
6. Enhanced special pricing via API
CloudBlue now streamlines the process of specifying special prices using the API. Users can pass the price value as a discount percentage, utilizing new price attributes.
7. Extending special pricing to multi-resource volume models
CloudBlue subscription management extends the functionality of special pricing to products featuring a multi-resource volume pricing model. This enhancement enables resellers to modify product discounts for subscriptions. Special pricing can be applied to both flat pricing and multi-resource volume pricing models by adjusting the product margin in the subscription details interface and during subscription changes.
This real-time calculation ensures users can see the immediate impact of their changes and make informed decisions about retaining the specified price after subscription renewal.
8. Optimized reseller synchronization
Reseller synchronization within CloudBlue reseller management solution has seen significant improvements:
- Improved synchronization performance: CloudBlue has reduced the overall synchronization time, enhancing efficiency across the platform.
- Customized price preservation: Resellers with customized prices can now maintain their price configurations by disabling price synchronization with their parent account. Both providers and resellers can apply this for their child accounts.
Additional information about this release is available here.
In conclusion, our commitment to innovation remains unwavering, driven by our dedication to meeting the diverse needs of our customers spanning various industries. By continually evolving our solutions and staying at the forefront of technological advancements, we empower enterprises to monetize their businesses consistently and effectively.
