Socrata's Open Data Solutions Now Available on Windows Azure

Socrata, the cloud software company that's leading the shift to the data-driven government, announced today a multi-year strategic relationship with Microsoft that brings advanced open data technologies to public sector organizations worldwide, on the Windows Azure cloud platform. The collaboration also includes considerable investments in product development, customer success infrastructure, and go-to-market capabilities on a global scale.

Starting today, the Socrata suite of open data and government performance products is available broadly on Windows Azure. Concurrent with this launch, Socrata is also announcing the general availability of multi-lingual versions of its software, 24x7 support, and access to Microsoft's unparalleled global ecosystem of partners to support government open data initiatives, from strategy to program execution and IT support.

The launch brings three products -- The Socrata Open Data Portal, Socrata GovStat and Socrata API Foundry - to Windows Azure, enabling government customers to reap the massive rewards of unlocking their legacy database silos and using their vast troves of untapped data as a platform for innovation.

"Globally, Public Sector leaders are looking for easier, more efficient ways to meet the growing expectations of 21st-century citizens who want increased transparency, better ways to engage with government and ubiquitous access to quality of life information," says Laura Ipsen, corporate vice president, Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector. "We're excited to be working with Socrata, and what it means for advancing the global open data movement and increasing speed to insight for governments making critical decisions."

Kevin Merritt, Socrata's founder and CEO, adds, "Data is by far government's biggest untapped asset. Our ambitious joint effort with Microsoft is designed to break every barrier between people and the data they need to make better decisions.

"Open data is on a dramatically fast adoption curve. Innovators in the field have already moved beyond the catalog phase and are now using their data to improve government performance, inform decision making, and connect their organizations to the vibrant ecosystem of apps and services that are powering the new data economy."

Regione Lombardia in Italy is already taking advantage of the combined power of the world's leading open data portal and Windows Azure. "Being at the forefront of Europe's open data movement, we're using technology and public data to drive our innovation, simplification, and digitization goals," says Oscar Sovani, Regione Lombardia's Leader of Digital Agenda. "We've found that many of our answers can be discovered in data that we already have. By hosting an Open Data Portal through Socrata and Windows Azure, we're able to capitalize on the full value of our data resources."

Socrata's suite of cloud-based products, including its industry-leading open data platform, powers data-driven innovation in some of the largest public sector organizations in the world, including 80% of the largest cities in the U.S., like Chicago, New York City and San Francisco; numerous agencies of the US Federal Government including HHS, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme; many states like New York, Maryland, and Illinois; and numerous other information-centric organizations.

Founded in 2007, Socrata has recently closed an $18 million Series B round of financing, led by OpenView Venture Partners with participation from existing investors, Frazier Technology Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures, bringing total funds raised to $25 million.

About Socrata

Socrata is the cloud software company focused exclusively on democratizing access to data in government. We help government leaders improve transparency, modernize citizen and developer access to information, and bring facts into every decision, with unprecedented speed and cost savings.

Delivered as turnkey cloud services, Socrata's data consumerization products unlock data in enterprise silos and transform it into useful information that everyone can easily access, visualize, share and reuse. Innovators like the World Bank, Medicare, Data.gov, EnergyStar, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Oregon, Montgomery County, and Maryland have all chosen Socrata as the data sharing platform for their open innovation initiatives. To learn more about Socrata, visit www.socrata.com or follow us on Twitter @socrata.