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Reliable and scalable hosting platform helps software specialist capture new markets.“By hosting with Azure, we have been able to make WebXact accessible to students wherever they are studying. Now we plan to develop the courseware model for other educational institutions, including MBAs around the country.”Philip Jackson, General Manager, WorkXact/WebXact

The Master Builders Association of Victoria (MBAV) wanted an on-line courseware tool to help train builders how to develop estimates, turn estimates into quotes and then turn the quote into a complete works schedule. They needed it to be secure, extremely reliable and rapidly scalable to meet both fluctuating student demand and subscription models.WorkXact, a subsidiary of LogicalTech, used its experience from the enterprise market and input from MBAV training groups to develop a Web-based application called WebXact. This is offered as an online Software as a Service for MBAV students hosted on the Windows Azure platform. With a 99.99% uptime service level agreement, self-managed scalability and per-user charging, WebXact can provide a cost-effective service, confident that teachers, students and subscribers have virtually 24-hour, security-controlled access. The online estimating and scheduling tool proved so attractive, WebXact have signed a long-term partnering agreement with MBAV to provide the courseware and a subscription version that attendees can use after completion of their course on real jobs – also hosted using Windows Azure.

WebXact Pty Ltd

Industry: Software

Location:Melbourne, Australia

Organisation size:9

Organisation ProfileWebXact is a software development and sales company that has created an end-to-end works management tool for the building and construction industry. They are a subsidiary of LogicalTech WorkXact, a software developer with 10 years’ experience in the enterprise works management market.

Business SituationIn 2009 WorkXact was invited to build a simplified cloud-based version of their enterprise product specifically for Master Builders Association of Victoria (MBAV). MBAV wanted a cloud-based estimating and scheduling tool as part of their courseware, to help train up to 1,500 builders per year.

SolutionWorkXact/WebXact deployed its online courseware tool and new subscription software on the hosting platform, Windows Azure. Today all MBAV trainee builders can work on their schedules and courseware with security protections at any time using an Internet-connected computer.

Benefits• Reliable services• Customers relieved of

compatibility issues• Greater scope for partner

services• New commercial

prospects• A faster route to market

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Business NeedsPart of the LogicalTech Group of technology companies, WorkXact produces works-management applications for the construction and utility industries. The company was founded 11 years ago in Geelong, Victoria and employs nine full-time staff.The company’s principal product, WorkXact, is an enterprise level works-management solution, with a strong following in the utilities, construction and infrastructure industries. “Our works management tool gives builders the ability to control all the core aspects of a construction project; it is simple to use, reliable, provides data security protections and can be accessed from any Internet-ready computer,” says Philip Jackson, General Manager, WorkXact/WebXact. “It includes access to quality assurance and organisational health and safety documents that bring important management elements into one package.” The WorkXact tool was built as a server-based product, which meant customers purchased licences, installed the software on-site and then paid annual maintenance fees. “The fact our product was server-based meant businesses had to carry additional costs,” says Jackson. “They had to remember to backup their business records and keep their equipment up to date. In the event of damage, loss or theft, they would have to replace and reload both the applications and their records.“Although the sales model had proved highly successful, we wanted to bring our construction software expertise into the general domestic and commercial building space – at an affordable price with no hidden costs.”

In mid-2009, the company’s founder and his colleagues attended a trade fare in the Middle East sponsored by Austrade. There they met representatives from Master Builders Association Victoria (MBAV), which is the leading membership-based industry association that provides registration assistance, professional development, legal advice and training to builders and subcontractors. “We coach approximately 125 potential builders a month through our registration process, and were looking for an online estimating and scheduling tool to help us teach,” says Marc Lyons, Operations Manager, Master Builders Association of Victoria. “We teach in classrooms, but we wanted more of our teaching material online or in software format, so that trainees could access and complete work outside of class.”MBAV had successfully moved some of its teaching resources online, including the tool that taught student builders how to correctly populate contracts. However, learning how to construct schedules is extremely complex, so MBAV were looking for a partner to turn them into an online learning tool.“We needed a cutting-edge product and the product suite developed by WorkXact was very sophisticated,” says Lyons. “We believed a simplified version would be perfect for training, however we wanted it to be available online. We didn’t want something that had to be downloaded on hundreds of different devices; and we didn’t want students to have to deal with compatibility issues.”For WorkXact, collaboration with MBAV held the prospect of expanding their product into a whole new market. A hosted version of WorkXact would be

“Our works management tool gives builders the ability to control all the core aspects of a construction project; it is simple to use, reliable, secure and can be accessed from any Internet-ready computer.” Philip Jackson, General Manager, WorkXact/WebXact

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far simpler to take to market. It could be sold profitably at a lower cost, which would make it viable for small and medium sized construction companies. And by introducing trainee builders to its software through MBAV, WorkXact could tap into a potentially huge source of new customers.

SolutionExecutives from MBAV and WorkXact signed a heads of agreement in July 2009. Over the following twelve months, a WorkXact team created a new subsidiary called WebXact, which was specifically tasked with building a scaled-down, builder-specific and Web-based version of the tool for MBAV. WebXact used Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 to create a sample database for students to work from. They also used the application programming framework Microsoft Silverlight to develop the wizard-driven Web-based estimating, scheduling and works management tool.In August 2010, Jackson and his colleagues made the estimating and scheduling tool available for new MBAV builder registration classes. However, the issue of how or where to host the solution remained. The development team knew that hosting was not their speciality, and so continued their search for a long-term hosting partner.“The key criteria was a very high level of redundancy,” says Jackson. “Students needed to be able to log in at any time, and MBAV stipulated a 99.99% uptime service level. So we were looking for someone with the credentials and experience to deliver this quality of service, who could also offer exceptional scalability because we knew that students and subscribers were likely to be logging in at similar times.“Additionally, we required world’s best disaster recovery

capabilities. In the event the application crashed, we needed to know our hosting partner had the capability to recover data without students noticing. Lastly, security was essential. MBAV needed to be confident that their data, and student information, was safe. Their brand was at stake.”The Windows Azure application hosting platform met all Jackson’s criteria. It provided high-level security protections, the service could be scaled to match student and subscriber numbers, and it would enable WebXact to remain in control of key areas of service delivery.“Azure is flexible and scalable,” says Jackson. “Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute, storage, networking and content delivery capabilities to host, scale and manage Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centres.”The WebXact team spent two months familiarising themselves with Windows Azure, and then transferred the Web-based estimating and scheduling tool, called WebXact Courseware, onto the Windows Azure platform in April 2011.

BenefitsUsing Windows Azure, WebXact has been able to deliver a rich, interactive version of their successful jobs management suite to an entirely new market. The product and partnership has proved so successful that WebXact and MBAV signed an agreement to provide a fee-based version of the estimating and scheduling tool for MBAV students to use in their own businesses after completing the registration course. This fee-based version is also being made available to all MBAV members. Reliable services

“Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute, storage, networking and content delivery capabilities to host, scale and manage Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centres.” Philip Jackson, General Manager, WorkXact/WebXact

“Because WebXact Courseware is cloud-based, not client-based, it’s much more dependable.”

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According to Jackson, Windows Azure has delivered the high availability and confidence MBAV need to reliably deliver training. Azure also features the on-demand scalability he needs to deliver the service cost-effectively.“By hosting with Azure, we have been able to make WebXact accessible to students wherever they are studying,” says Jackson. “Now we plan to develop the courseware model for other educational institutions, including MBAs around the country.”Azure has also proved reliable. “It’s been available one hundred per cent of the time,” adds Lyons.Customers relieved of compatibility issuesHosted estimating and scheduling ensures that the tool is reliable in a broader sense. Delivered as a service, WebXact can ensure the product is always correctly configured for its audience, no matter what computers they use.“Because WebXact Courseware is cloud-based, not client-based, it’s much more dependable,” says Lyons. “We would be caught in a nightmare if we had to go and install updates on every desktop or mobile every time, for example, a new version of Java was released. The Azure-based service provides us with the opportunity to ensure our estimating and scheduling technology will work wherever customers can access online applications.”New commercial prospectsBesides providing MBAV with a better educational tool, WebXact look set to expand their specialist intellectual property into a new market.In late June 2011, Jackson and his colleagues reached an agreement with MBAV to jointly offer an augmented version of

the estimating and scheduling tool as a subscription service to all MBAV students after completion of the registration course. Called WebXact Retail, the subscription product enables new builders to start their practices with an estimating, scheduling and job management tool they already know how to use. It also provides WebXact with potentially thousands of long-term, fee-paying customers.“Builders have a poor work-life balance, because they complete paperwork at the end of their on-site working day,” says Lyons. “WebXact Retail will give them the ability to submit paperwork remotely, which is a huge advantage.” A faster route to marketBy hosting the subscription service with Windows Azure, WebXact will also streamline its sales cycle.“The hosted model provides us with an easier route to market,” says Jackson. “Customers can download and trial the product for free. If they like it then they can choose to sign up, whereupon we issue them with login details and they commit to pay a yearly subscription fee. There’s no maintenance, no updates and no need to backup. They can access their security-protected business information from any Internet-connected PC or notebook.“And it’s a growing market. As Azure delivers our services reliably month after month, customers are becoming more and more confident about receiving mission critical services from the cloud.”

“Because WebXact Courseware is cloud-based, not client-based, it’s much more dependable.”

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Microsoft product that was featured Windows Azure is a cloud platform used to build, host and scale web applications using Microsoft data centres.It provides companies with a simplified way of developing and deploying applications rapidly without the concern of

managing technology infrastructure. The platform is built on Windows, and therefore is reliable, highly secure and trustworthy. It can be scaled up and down instantly in response to demand, and can easily be implemented alongside a company’s current environment.

For More Information For more information about Microsoft products and services call the sales and information line on 13 20 58 Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm AEST. To find a partner or solution, visit www.microsoft.com/australia/findapartner/ This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published November 201115064-1111/WebXact

Technical InformationSoftware and ServicesWindows AzureMicrosoft SilverlightMicrosoft SQL Server 2008 R2IT IssuesFinding a reliable hosting partner for a new cloud-based application.