OREANDA-NEWS. Quark Software and Microsoft have contracted with FedEx Office to meet customer needs for an enhanced online signs experience. Quark’s core technology, running on the Microsoft Windows Azure cloud platform, is now integrated with the FedEx Office Print Online service, enabling the 24/7 creation of richly-designed marketing collateral.

“FedEx Office is always looking for ways to increase convenience and offer more services for our small and medium-sized business customers,” said Randy Scarborough, vice president of Retail Marketing, FedEx Services.  “This new online solution allows our customers to access an advanced and growing portfolio of professionally designed templates and marketing materials all with a few clicks of a mouse.  Backed by the FedEx network, customers can pick up their materials in one of our 1,800 stores or have them shipped across the world.”

By integrating Quark’s online design and editing capabilities with the FedEx Office Print Online system, FedEx Office offers hundreds of templates for signs, banners, and posters that customers can access, customize, and order.  These free templates span a wide range of vertical markets and can be customized within the browser.  The combination of professional design and global access through a cloud environment makes it a unique and scalable web-based publishing system.

“FedEx Office is a market leader in online design and print services, and we are thrilled our work will enable FedEx Office customers to leverage our enterprise dynamic publishing technology on the world-class Microsoft Windows Azure cloud infrastructure,” said Ray Schiavone, president and CEO of Quark.

The solution is based on Quark’s cloud-based design, workflow, and production technology in conjunction with the Microsoft Windows Azure platform, which connects the FedEx Office Print Online service with over 1,800 FedEx Office print locations.  Working on the Microsoft Windows Azure platform allows Quark and FedEx Office to develop and deploy global solutions rapidly, while offering customers always-on access to services for creating rich color and high quality materials.

“Windows Azure and the FedEx Office Online Print system demonstrate how cloud-based architectures are helping the world’s leading organizations minimize investment in infrastructure while giving customers instant access to valuable services,” said David Aiken, Group Product Marketing manager, Microsoft.  “On the front end, a speedy user interface lets the FedEx Office customer customize marketing materials, and on the back end Windows Azure is allowing that customer to connect with every FedEx Office print location in the U.S. and Canada.”