Frequently Asked Questions
The following Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can help
you answer some common questions. If you do not find your question listed below
or the answer is not what you are looking for, please feel free to contact
StrikeIron at support or call StrikeIron at +1-919-467-4545 opt. 3.
Click here to see the entire list of FAQs.
Partner Programs
- Q: Why Partner with
StrikeIron?
A: The StrikeIron Web Services Marketplace is built
around the fundamental concept of creating a community that brings together
partners, customers and data providers. Within this overall
marketplace community, the StrikeIron Marketplace provides a channel through which to
purchase commercial Web services. This value is especially important
as more customers want to have on-demand access to real-time data for improved
customer and business intelligence, improved customer contact productivity and
more efficient ecommerce capabilities.
For partners, this represents a
breakthrough opportunity to take advantage of the fast growing commercial Web
services market to build new revenue opportunities. The opportunities, to name
just a few, include the following:
- Expand into new markets and business opportunities.
- Create new added value with the integration of Web services into
applications.
- Offer new types of solutions that take advantage of Web services.
- Provide greater self-service on the desktop with drag-and-drop
capabilities for Excel.
- Generate more revenue through referrals.
- Create a competitive edge by using the StrikeIron Web Services
Marketplace as an extension of your consulting and integration offerings.
More information is available on the Partner page via the top navigation bar.
- Q: How can StrikeIron help me enable
on-demand solutions?
A: StrikeIron Marketplace Web Services provide
the fastest and lowest cost way to provide added value in your offerings and
build a competitive advantage with the fastest time to market and lowest
investment.
The following are just some of the reasons you should take
advantage of this opportunity:
- Fastest and easiest way to provide additional “Plug and Play” on-demand
capabilities for added value to your customers.
- Fastest and most effective way to build a competitive edge and provide
differentiation.
- Leverage a sophisticated Web services commercialization platform and
take advantage of all the subscription, billing, accounting, and tracking
for micro-transaction usage.
- Capitalize on the leading trend of SOA developments by providing
on-demand capabilities as part of your application.
- Expanded market opportunities by providing new capabilities for small to
large business markets.
- Easier management – Pricing, billing, collections, tracking, and
reporting are handled for you.
- Save time and money – Take advantage of StrikeIron’s volume and
automation to provide what you need at a lower cost than you could do on
your own.
To learn more contact StrikeIron at partners@strikeiron.com or
+1.919.467.4545 ext. 102.
- Q: How can StrikeIron help me with
desktop integration of Web services?
A: The implementation of SOAs
and the underlying Web services is being driven by the need for more flexible,
lower cost ways of integrating systems and providing self-service
applications.
Current desktop integration solutions today are still
relegated to the professional developer requiring API integration and custom
report development. These applications are usually static and require
significant I.T. time for development, customization and support.
StrikeIron SOA Express for Excel
provides real-time integration of both internal and external data directly
into Excel with NO programming. This enables a much broader user base with a
self-service solution that takes advantage of the customer’s Web services and
SOA investment.
- Q: How can StrikeIron enhance your
Business Intelligence, CRM and SOA practices?
A: Now there is a way
to take the value of real-time business process implementation to a more
competitive level, improve productivity, and build competitive advantage while
still reducing costs.
Most real-time business implementations have
struggled with significant delays and costs because of the cumbersome database
migrations, cleanup and integration cycles. Using Web services to implement
access to data can change all that and result in “enhanced customer data” in
real-time for more value than could be provided using more traditional
methods.
For example, external financial, company and individual
customer data can be accessed via Web services in real-time and easily
integrated with your Data Warehouse for more effective “business intelligence
farming”.
For CRM applications, the StrikeIron Marketplace can provide
Do Not Call compliance, address and email verification, reverse personal and
business look up and much more. You can eliminate the traditional large
database importation and migration cycles because you only have to integrate
once and the customer has value forever in real-time at a much lower internal
cost.
To learn more contact StrikeIron at partners@strikeiron.com or
+1.919.467.4545 opt. 5.
- Q: What is the "Invoke-through compensation model?
A: StrikeIron’s Web Services Commerce Platform has the ability to provide you
with unique custom WSDL URL addresses to use within your application. These
custom WSDLs indicate to StrikeIron in real-time which application is invoking a
given Web service so that usage can be tracked, and also provide revenue to you
based on that usage.
Every time a non-trial transaction occurs through a commercial Web service
available within the StrikeIron Marketplace, the provider of the data for that Web service
gets paid, StrikeIron gets a percentage, and the creator of the application that
calls that Web service gets a percentage.
Click here to learn more.
- Q: How is usage tracked from my
application using the Marketplace API?
A: Once you receive access
to the StrikeIron Marketplace API from StrikeIron Support (support@strikeiron.com), you will be
assigned an ISV code. This ISV code will most likely be the name of your
company.
For example, if the name of your company was GaggleSoft, the
assigned ISV code would be “gagglesoft”, or perhaps just “gaggle”. We will use
“gaggle” for the example.
This ISV code would then become part of the
physical WSDL URL that is provided back to you from a call to
GetMarketplaceServices (if the UseCustomWSDL parameter is set to
“true”). It is this “custom WSDL” that will associate usage of a given Web
service from the Marketplace to you, the creator of the consuming
application.
For example, if the generic Web service has the following
WSDL address:
http://ws.strikeiron.com/taxdatabasic?WSDL
Then the
customized ISV WSDL address would be:
http://ws.strikeiron.com/gaggle.strikeiron/taxdatabasic?WSDL
With a
custom WSDL address, both the ISV identification “gaggle” and the provider of
the Web service “strikeiron” is included. The Web service is the same, just
the access point is different, and the WSDL document at the customized address
location can be utilized in the same way the generic one can be (for code
generation for example). Again, it is purely translated and logged at
invocation time.
Of course, any ISV can have multiple ISV codes to
track usage through multiple products if so desired.
- Q: How much do I earn on commissions
through the Marketplace API?
A: ISVs who integrate StrikeIron
Marketplace Web Services earn 5-20% per invocation that is part of a paid
subscription, depending on the Web service
- Q: How do I enable trials of Web services
through the Marketplace with my my application?
A: Registering a user to the StrikeIron Marketplace
via the API will provide that user with a free trial of your application and
also of every Web service in the Marketplace. Click here for more information
on trials
This operation
provides the ability to register a user for StrikeIron’s Web Services
Marketplace. This enables Web services access in the Marketplace to be
available to the user of your application. Once a user is registered, they
will have access to free trials of every Web service available in the
Marketplace. When this operation is invoked, an activation email with a
validation link is sent to the email address that is supplied as input to the
operation. Once this email is received by the user that is being registered,
the user must click on the activation link within the received email to
complete the process. This will enable trial access to every single Web
service in the Marketplace.
- Q: How do I get started integrating the
Marketplace API into my ISV solution?
A: StrikeIron believes that
personal service and customization provides more value to you and your
customers because we can tailor your program for the best market effect.
StrikeIron will work with you to complete the necessary agreements,
help you identify where and how to best utilize these services, provide help
on implementation and can even do development if additional Web services need
to be created to facilitate your implementation and match your business
model.
There are no upfront fees but you must apply and be accepted into
the program. Here are the simple steps to taking advantage of the Web services
market.
- Download
the Marketplace API Kit for ISVs. It has everything you need to get started
working with the StrikeIron Marketplace API.
- Contact StrikeIron at partners@strikeiron.com
or +1.919.467.4545 opt. 5 and let us know you want to become an ISV partner.
- Complete the Partner agreement.
- Simply integrate the ability to access the StrikeIron
Marketplace Web Services through the StrikeIron Marketplace API.
- Q: Which services can I integrate through the Marketplace API?
A: All of the Web services in the StrikeIron Marketplace can be integrated with any application. To see a complete listing of all the Marketplace Web Services Click here.
- Q: Who handles the billing for usage of a Web service through the Marketplace API?
A: StrikeIron handles all the billing directly with the customer.
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