Virtual appliance developer (for server software) JumpBox  today launched "Powered by JumpBox," a service that helps Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) grow sales by removing the friction associated with deploying server software. Blogging software provider SixApart is the first customer of the new service - that's pretty big news.

The Powered by JumpBox service transforms an ISV's application into a "JumpBox", a pre-built, pre-configured software application for virtual computing which can be deployed in minutes on platforms like VMWare, Xen Open Source, Parallels, Virtual Iron, and Microsoft Virtualization as well as cloud computing systems such as Amazon EC2.. The ease of deploying a JumpBox facilitates more hands-on trials of complex server software (like Joomla, Moveable Type, trouble ticket system OTRS, WordPress and MediaWiki) and ultimately motivates purchase.

"Making it radically easier to get started with Movable Type means we can bring its powerful social publishing features to an even broader audience. We want to give our customers a variety of installation and hosting options when they start out with Movable Type," said Ed Anuff, EVP and GM of the Movable Type division of Six Apart.

"The best opportunity for potential customers to realize the value of an ISV's application is in-house testing," says Kimbro Staken, CEO, JumpBox. "Prospects want to try products first-hand but are hesitant because they invariably run into time-consuming deployment issues. Likewise ISVs are reluctant because offering downloadable trials traditionally creates a costly support burden. Powered by JumpBox solves the problem for both enabling ISVs to demonstrate their solutions earlier in the sales cycle and save support costs by removing the setup frustration for prospective buyers."

Previous Coverage of Jumpbox at Website Magazine:
Jump Into JumpBox
JumpBox Now Supports Microsoft