SAN MATEO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/14/12 -- CloudSpokes, the crowdsourcing community that matches companies who need cloud development work with a worldwide community of specialist developers, has attracted more than 30,000 developers, fulfilled more than 150 challenges, and created innovative solutions for companies like Suntech, Medtronic and Glocap in its inaugural year. The community, created and managed by Appirio, takes advantage of the unique elements of cloud computing -- specifically the ability of developers anywhere to work with cloud platforms instantly -- to enable the crowdsourcing of development.

The community provides an alternate approach to development for the enterprise cloud development market. At a time when interest in cloud platforms has never been higher, companies are looking for specialized skills in cloud platforms and APIs like Amazon Web Services, Cloud Foundry, Force.com, Google and Heroku. CloudSpokes enables companies to tap into and foster an international base of cloud developers that can deliver applications and code more quickly, cost effectively and on-demand.

CloudSpokes produces applications and code more creatively and cost effectively than the traditional mix of an onshore and offshore enterprise development process. The community produces innovative solutions and saves, on average, 50-70 percent of the development effort per project.

To celebrate the community, CloudSpokes will be giving away U.S. $1,000 a day to contest winners during a series of March Madness contests. Find out more about the daily quick quizzes here.

Serving the Cloud Development Community

• CloudSpokes has attracted more than 32,000 members, in six of the seven continents. Sadly, we haven't attracted any developers from Antarctica yet.
• The community produced a number of social applications that were bundled into a social enterprise toolkit. Applications included a Chatter to Twitter integration and Facebook "Like" button VisualForce component, among others.
• The community has open sourced numerous applications and components (available through the CloudSpokes open GitHub repository), including creative applications like:
  • Account Check-In iPad App: Geolocation app to help sales reps in the field track customer visits.
  • Commute Calculator: Helps companies determine the best location for new offices.
  • Automated Home Security System: An alarm system that texts the home owner when the system detects an intruder.
• CloudSpokes has helped the cloud and developer communities enhance their partying and gift giving experience by creating apps such as:
  • The Dreamforce Mobile Party App to keep track of social events during the show
  • The Valentine's Day Gift of Love App allows users to send anonymous SMS messages using Twilio to a person of interest, and also allows the person of interest to message their admirer back.

Other CloudSpokes Highlights

• To create a faster, more dynamic website, CloudSpokes crowdsourced the re-platforming of its website from Azure to Database.com using its own community.
• To streamline the hackathon judging process, CloudSpokes hosted U.S.-based hackathons for Dreamforce, Docusign E-Sign Hackathon, Angelhack and the Box.net mobile challenge.
• CloudSpokes has spoken at and sponsored more than seven events in its inaugural year. Visit the events page to see where our community team is headed next.

Supporting quotes
"We've seen a swell in demand for enterprise cloud development and, in less than twelve months, CloudSpokes has proven that crowdsourcing can help meet that demand for service providers like Appirio and enterprise customers. From mobile applications to PaaS integrations, the community has proven to cost-effectively deliver innovative cloud solutions."
- Narinder Singh, Chief Strategy Officer, Appirio

"Enterprise development is increasingly decentralized by nature, which can make it difficult for businesses to harness the power of their own talent let alone the support and energy of external communities. CloudSpokes is about enabling the crowdsourcing model while incenting and rewarding the individual developer."
- Stephen O'Grady, Principal Analyst, RedMonk

"Although I was apprehensive about CloudSpokes at first, I am completely infested with the 'CloudSpokes' bug and have participated in a handful of challenges. The community provides a great platform to be a better developer and the cash prizes have enabled me to supply materials for and expand my own developer training programs."
- Romin Irani, CloudSpokes Community Member

Online Resources

• CloudSpokes community site
• CloudSpokes blog
• CloudSpokes on Twitter

About Appirio
Appirio accelerates the cloud-powered business, helping enterprises achieve real results from cloud applications and platforms like salesforce.com, Google and Workday. Appirio has worked with more than 300 enterprise customers including organizations like City of Los Angeles, Facebook, Flextronics, Home Depot, International Hotels Group, Japan Post Network, Ltd., L'Oreal, NetApp, NYU, Starbucks, Thomson Reuters and VMware. Appirio's technology-enabled professional services are supported by a team of 400 cloud experts and CloudSpokes, a 30,000+ person-strong global cloud developer community. The company's expertise and innovative brokerage technology have been recognized by organizations such as the World Economic Forum, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, InformationWeek, Gartner, and IDC. Appirio has offices in the U.S., Europe and Japan, and is backed by Sequoia Capital and GGV Capital.