How to purchase a Third-party service on the Windows Azure store

I haven't written a blog for a long time since last November. A lot of exciting things have happened during this period. I attended Microsoft TechED and held a meeting on http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/13375.html ">node.js and Windows Azure." I also organized a small meeting of Microsoft China New Year party in January this year. Then my wife and I in the Chinese New Year, which is located in the Bohai Bay, a quiet and beautiful city, that is my wife's hometown.

I want to write something when I read this article. In February, Microsoft announced that Windows Azure store had expanded 25 new markets, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which is the area of my Windows Azure account. This means that I can try this magical function with my subscription.

Windows Azure Store

Windows Azure Store is a new service provided by the Windows Azure platform. Like a service market where you can buy a lot of third-party game developers to provide services. With the Windows Azure Store, as a developer we can:

1. Select popular application services, including: AppDynamics (monitoring and measurement services), New Relic (performance management and monitoring), SendGrid (mail delivery service), etc.

2. Find the data your application needs from the data provider: Dun &bradstreet (Business Watch), Loqate (worldwide address validation and cleanup services), Strikeiron (phone number verification service, sales and usage tax Rate Lookup service), and so on.

3. Connect and manage on the developer Portal: an integrated store user interface that makes it easy for you to find, purchase, and manage the services and data you need directly from the portal site. The integration charge allows you to add the store flagship service directly to your Windows Azure account. We also provide connection strings and sample code, and help you get started quickly, as well as usage data directly from the Windows Azure management portal.

In addition, there are other benefits to using Windows Azure store.

1. Use a similar UI as the Windows Azure portal, which means it is easier to select, view, and purchase.

2. All services are stored in the Windows Azure Data center. So we can choose the best area to minimize our cost.

3. You can view the billing report on our Windows Azure subscription management page.

4. Almost all services on the Windows Azure store offer multiple subscription schedules, and most subscriptions are free.

Windows Azure Store and Windows Azure Marketplace

If you have used Windows Azure for some time, you may have heard that another feature of Windows Azure is called Windows Azure Marketplace, which allows you to purchase data and published applications from other vendors. This sounds very similar to the Windows Azure Store. So, what's the difference between them? Will Windows Azure Store replace Windows Azure Marketplace?

Here I quote some clarifications from Microsoft Ryan McGee.

Windows Azure Store and Windows Azure Marketplace will continue to coexist; The reason is that they serve different audiences and contain different kinds of products.

Using Windows Azure Store makes it easy to find and purchase plug-ins and use them to create your application. Windows Azure Marketplace is an online marketplace where ISVs and data publishers can publish and sell completed applications and extra datasets to commercial customers.

My understanding is that if you plan to build your application in Windows Azure and want to take advantage of some services not provided by Windows Azure, you'd better find it on the Windows Azure store. However, if you plan to use some data, or if you want to find some applications, you can look for them in Windows Azure marketplace.