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 * The proliferation of cloud computing services has radically enhanced the way businesses operate. This has increased the need for companies such as AppDirect to come up with a common platform to manage cloud-based applications.

AppDirect is a cloud service company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It serves as a platform that allows businesses to find, buy and manage web-based applications. AppDirect offers a cloud service marketplace and management platform that enables companies to disseminate cloud-based applications. AppDirect operates as a Software as a Service (SaaS) and is executed entirely on the internet.

AppDirect was founded in 2009 by Nicolas Desmarais and Daniel Saks as an entrepreneurial venture. Companies who have adopted AppDirect's techonology includes Comcast, Deutsche Telekom, Samsung and ADP. AppDirect connects 20 million businesses, brands, and developers of partner marketplaces.

Founding
AppDirect founder Daniel Saks developed the concept of AppDirect after failing to receive any job offers after his graduation from Harvard University in 2009. This was partly due to a recession, which led to a shrinkage of jobs available. In addition, Sak’s 100-year old family furniture business had also shut down due to the recession. The idea of AppDirect was established as Sak felt that his family business could have remained competitive if they had more connection to information and capital, which was possible if they had the access to cloud. During this period, Sak met up with Desmarais who was a long time friend. Desmarais was working at Bain & Company as a consultant in the area of cloud strategies. Sak on the other hand, also had some knowledge and experience with cloud from a summer internship at an investment bank in Silicon Valley.

With the knowledge on cloud, Saks and Desmarais began their business venture, with the believe that cloud computing could transform the way businesses operated. They conceptualized AppDirect’s strategy and garnered more experience from people in the industry. In July 17, 2009, AppDirect was created. Today, AppDirect has its headquarters located at San Francisco and has a presence in Boulder, Ottawa, London, Munich, and Montreal.

Vision & Values
AppDirect’s core vision is to enhance the ability of businesses to have access to the technology they need to grow. AppDirect functions on five core values which its founders have collaboratively established. This includes humility, long-term commitment, positive mental attitude, intensity and ownership.

Application Programming Interface (API)
The Application Programming Interface, known as the API, allows for the mutual communication amongst different applications that are present in a device.

AppDirect has launched an API platform in order to bring developers and resellers of applications in the cloud service market together. From its beta version of the API program, AppDirect has already signed a whooping 1,000 developers.

Through this program, developers who are making legal software are able to connect with resellers selling the technology who are also using the platform.

This program service surrounds the key ideas of:
 * Identity, where AppDirect can work alongside identity solutions such as SAML,
 * Provisioning, where a reseller can provide a service without a custom set-up, and
 * Billing, where pricing can be fixed or variable

AppDirect also provides information of developers using the cloud service to the different marketplaces through its distribution API, following which they will have to pay according to the rates the reseller quote.

The progress of AppDirect’s API program was due to the rising number of third-party cloud service providers such as itself which provided a different market for developers to sell their applications.

AppDirect Express
AppDirect Express is an example of the use of AppDirect’s cloud service in bringing various cloud productivity software into the market efficiently.

Kickstarted in 2015, the AppDirect Express program provides Microsoft Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) with the resources to select a combination of security products and other cloud services for their individual customers. The program is created to market the uniqueness of Microsoft, and sell the solutions provided through the cloud service platforms which AppDirect own.

The progress of AppDirect Express can be attributed to the timing of its launch, AppDirect entered the market when cloud service was gaining increasing importance with email business accounts on the rise. The productivity suite market was also forecasted to achieve a two-time growth to $17 billion by 2016.

AppDirect Express offers the following services to its clients:
 * Cloud SaaS, a cloud service marketplace to sell the different cloud services offered by Microsoft,
 * Self-Service Management, where billing and payment for services are automated, and promotions with other parties can be effected
 * Customer Support, where technology allows the increase of sales of cloud services of Microsoft, as well as the provision of support to customers for its cloud services.

Funding
Since its inception, AppDirect has been through five cycles of funding. On 28th April 2011, The first funding was sourced from the seed funding which raised a total of $3.25 Million. This funding was obtained from Stingray Digital and iNovia Capital and was used primarily for the expansion of AppDirect’s cloud based applications.

The remaining four cycles was separated into four different series of funding, namely Series A, Series B, Series C and Series D.

On 18th July 2011, AppDirect raised $8.5 Million of funds which constituted Series A of funding. Similarly, this funding was contributed by Stingray Digital and iNovia Capital, who led the investment. AppDirect planned on using these funds collected to widen partnerships and aid the company in becoming the leading company in the cloud services arena.

On 10th September 2013, AppDirect announced that they have raised $9 Million under Series B of funding. The main contributors of this funding were StarVest Partners and iNovia Capital. The global cloud computing sector is expected to expand to $241 billion by 2020, therefore, led by iNovia Capital, Series B will enable AppDirect to keep up with its accelerated and aggressive growth and grasp hold of the multiplied global cloud computing market.

On 10th April 2014, AppDirect announced that it has raised $35 Miliion under Series C of funding. The main contributors were StarVest Partners, Mithril Capital Management, iNovia Capital and the Foundry Group. Similarly, the large investment keeps AppDirect’s leadership in cloud services brokerage rooted, which is the fastest growing sector of cloud computing, and will enable the company to continue its accelerated, competitive growth.

On 11 February 2015, Appdirect announced $50 million in Series D funding led by Mithril Capital Management. New investors like Henry Kravis and Paul Fribourg join existing investors Mithril, Foundry Group, iNovia Capital and StarVest Partners to bring the cloud commerce company’s total capital raised to $110 million. This huge fund with continue to fuel growth and innovation in cloud service commerce. It will also aid AppDirect to continue their geographical expansion and increase their market share in Europe, Asia and Latin American Countries.

jBilling (2012)
AppDirect acquired jBilling after raising funds which amounted to a price of $8.5 million.

Following this move, AppDirect is able to work with jBilling to reach out to more users in various markets and cloud service platforms while providing market solutions internationally. Making use of the flexibility that jBilling’s current open source platform provides, a brand-new business model can be proposed. This model enhances the cloud service by increasing speed and ease in using.

The Ottawa-based billing solution has a long history, and is also known for its simplicity in billing. Thus, this acquisition allows AppDirect to tap on the robust billing system which jBilling is currently using to improve its billing engine to better facilitate the resale of cloud applications in the cloud service platform.

Standing Cloud (2013)
In September 2013, AppDirect bought over Standing Cloud, a Foundry Group investment, at a price of $9 million.

The Standing Cloud technology combines both physical applications for use and cloud services to make it easier for users by reducing the trouble of managing several applications. Through this buy over, AppDirect will be able to market its applications and manage the introduction of these applications into the different platforms to reach out to the various users. AppDirect and Standing Cloud will also be able to work together to create new technological methods which will increase the accessibility of cloud service to its users.

Moreover, AppDirect will act as an add-on service for Cloud Foundry, where it will link customers to various services, such as New Relic and other applications which have been added to its cloud service platform, according to their needs.

Leftronic (2015)
Founded in 2010, Leftronic, in collaboration with services such as Google Analytics and Salesforce, provides a dashboard for its customers, where they are able to retrieve real-time data.

The acquisition of Leftronic allows AppDirect to monitor their KPIs from every aspect of their business just by observing the dashboard which is customized to their needs. This increases the effectiveness in improving the engagement of all their users, as they will be able to come up with a solution which is best suited to the performance of their cloud service.

Development
Since the initiation of AppDirect, cloud user businesses has developed from a market size valued at $4 Billion to $180 Billion today. This has accelerated the growth of AppDirect.

Currently, The total revenue generated by AppDirect-powered marketplaces is expected to increase by more than a factor of ten, year-over-year. The number of business utilizing AppDirect powered marketplace is projected to grow 870% year on year. Also, the number of marketplaces powered by AppDirect has increased by 100% in 2014. AppDirect has also nearly doubled the size of its San Francisco-based headquarters, allowing the company to swiftly magnify its team to meet surging demand. In 2014, AppDirect opened an office in Munich, Germany, expanding its global presence that now includes San Francisco, Boulder, Colo., Ottawa, Montreal, and London.

In respect to future growth, AppDirect aims to increase the number employees from the current 200 to 300 with more people involved in sales, marketing and client services. AppDirect also aims to open a new offices in Silicon Valley while also enhancing its presence in Asia, Latin America, North America and Europe. Additionally, in view of the potential expansion of the global cloud computing sector to $240 Billion by 2020, AppDirect will be expected to keep up with its rapid growth to improve its innovation, diversity and to streamline its efficiency to cater to the increasing demands of the changing market landscape

AppDirect and Samsung
AppDirect has collaborated with Samsung in 2014 to launch the Samsung KNOX Marketplace, which is a mobile application store that offers business applications for employees to use on their mobile phones. AppDirect’s role in the collaboration is the powering of the marketplace, and the objective is to help companies who are employing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approaches keep their information safe.]

AppDirect and Telstra
Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications and media company cooperated with AppDirect to power an application store for cloud-based applications for businesses. Services initially offered were cloud based storage by Box as well as digital signing software by DocuSign. This collaboration is also AppDirect’s first venture into the Asia Pacific region.

AppDirect and ADP
AppDirect has also collaborated with ADP, a dominant global provider of Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions, to come up with a new cloud-based marketplace in 2014. This ADP Marketplace seeks to enhance the quality of their HCM solutions for businesses. It will allow businesses to not only locate ADP applications, but also credible applications from other providers all from a single point.

AppDirect and Deutsche Telekom
Another partner of AppDirect is Deutsche Telekom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies. Deutsche Telekom developed a Business Marketplace for small to medium enterprises where business applications are made available through the cloud. The platform on which the Business Marketplace runs is powered by AppDirect.

AppDirect and TeliaSonera
AppDirect cooperated with TeliaSonera, the second largest supplier of mobile and broadband services in Norway. The purpose was to develop a marketplace whereby small to medium sized businesses in the Nordic and Baltic regions can buy applications through the cloud. Similarly, the role of AppDirect is to power the marketplace for TeliaSonera.