REDWOOD SHORES, CA--(Marketwire - October 5, 2010) - Zuora, the company that defined and leads the subscription billing industry, today announced that it has successfully implemented its SaaS billing solution in under 45 days for Ning, the leading platform for creating your own social network. This rapid implementation helped Ning execute on one of the most closely watched shift to a paid subscription revenue model in the technology industry. As part of this move, Ning tripled its paying user-base since going live with Zuora's Z-Commerce billing solution on July 20th.
"Ning is going through an exciting transition in our business, and to date our main focus has been on delivering features and functionality that our communities most want," said Jason Rosenthal, CEO, Ning. "By offering us a billing platform that was risk-free, and easy to deploy, Zuora freed us to focus our energies on launching our new plans; Ning Mini, Plus and Pro, and supporting our customers in their conversion activities instead of spending months working out a billing system flexible enough to meet our needs."
As part of the change in business strategy, Ning required a billing and subscription management platform to reach its deadline and provide its customers with more of the easy-to-use, advanced features that enhance their user experience.
Ning selected Zuora for its expertise in subscription management and proven experience in delivering mission-critical recurring billing systems. With Zuora, Ning has been able to remain focused on its core competency in building custom social networks, and retain best-in-class features to support its growing user base and product suite. Zuora gave Ning the flexibility to add new products, services and promotions, easily modify or adjust rate plans, making it an ideal partner during this rollout. Ning also knew that the flexibility of the Z-Commerce platform could meet its aggressive go-to-market goals and grow with the evolving needs of Network Creators.
Zuora completed its implementation of Ning's new billing platform on time, under an aggressive timeline, within a complex infrastructure that included multiple integration points in the company's ecosystem. This integration enables Ning to:
- connect the sales and finance departments in one system;
- allow the sales team to view all aspects of customer base and recommend new offerings on a real time basis; and
- identify upcoming renewals, ensure up to date credit card information, and avoid unnecessary charges to increase overall customer satisfaction.
"Ning is now THE model for all other freemium providers to follow," said Zuora co-founder and CEO Tien Tzuo. "More and more, customers are adapting to subscription models to access the products and solutions that they depend on. While some wring their hands over the 'Pandora's Box' of pay walls, companies like Ning have positioned themselves for dynamic growth."
About Zuora, Inc.
Zuora's subscription billing and commerce platform changes the way subscription businesses manage and sell to customers, allowing them to bring new products to market in less time, with more flexibility and less hassle. Zuora customers are up and running within 90 days and often recognize 200% ROI within weeks. Zuora is built from the ground up by SaaS industry visionaries and veterans from salesforce.com, WebEx, Accenture, Google, eBay, Oracle and Vitria. Zuora customers include Reed Business Information, Coremetrics, InsideView, Marketo, Ricoh, Box.net, Xactly, Cloud Central and EMC.
To learn more about Zuora, please visit www.zuora.com.
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Bronwyn Saglimbeni
Reidy Communications for Zuora
408-414-7250