After a service is online in Compute Nest, list it as a pay-as-you-go product in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace so customers can purchase it directly. Usage fees are calculated hourly or daily based on actual consumption.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure that you have:
An ISV enrollment through the Compute Nest Service Provider Program
A service that is online in Compute Nest (as a private service or fully managed service)
A plan for which reporting method to use for each billable item (Reported by Compute Nest or Reported by Service Provider)
Each billable item supports only one reporting method. If you need to use both Reported by Compute Nest and Reported by Service Provider for the same billing dimension (for example, Unit), define them as separate billable items in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace before submitting the product.
How it works
Publishing a service as a pay-as-you-go Alibaba Cloud Marketplace product goes through four stages:
Submit — Configure product information in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace and submit for review.
Category review — Alibaba Cloud Marketplace operations staff review your product category. If rejected, update the category and resubmit.
Self-test — Configure billable items and test the product in your own account before requesting final review.
Live — Submit for feature review. After approval, the product is published to Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.
Publish a service as a pay-as-you-go Marketplace product
Step 1: Open the product association page
Log on to the Compute Nest console.
In the left-side navigation pane, click My Services.
On the Created Services tab, click the name of the service you want to publish.
On the Service Details tab, find the Sales Configuration section and click Associate Marketplace Product.
Step 2: Configure product information in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace
The Alibaba Cloud Marketplace console opens. Complete the following five configuration steps.
Access information
Parameter | Description |
Choose Your Product Type | Select SaaS. |
Product Name | Enter the name of the product. |
SaaS Acceleration Plan | (Optional) Enter the ID of the acceleration plan to associate with the product. |
Access Method | Select Compute Nest. |
Service Method | Select Private Service or Fully Managed Service. The services you have created in Compute Nest are listed for selection. Each product maps to one service ID. A service that is already associated with a product cannot be associated again. |
Select Service Template | (Optional) Select a public template. If no public template is available, select a private template. |
Click Next.
General
Parameter | Description |
Product Logo | Upload a PNG image. Recommended size: 290 x 290 pixels. Maximum file size: 7.5 MB. |
Short Description | A brief description shown on the product list page in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace. Maximum 300 characters recommended. |
Product Highlights | Key features and services that differentiate this product from others. Maximum 1,000 characters. |
Product Description | Detailed description including features, available services, and usage instructions. |
Edition Feature and Screenshot | (Optional) Descriptions and screenshots for different product editions, to help customers compare options. |
Product Screenshot | (Optional) Additional product screenshots. |
Live Stream ID | (Optional) The ID of a live stream to display on the product details page. |
Product Video | (Optional) A short video to display on the product details page. |
Product Certifications | (Optional) Up to six certification images, each up to 2 MB. |
Case | (Optional) Customer success stories. |
User Guide | Product documentation in PDF format (maximum 10 MB). Alibaba Cloud Marketplace operations staff review this document during the product review. |
Support Offered | Your support scope, availability hours, and billing coverage. |
Click Next.
Category and SEO
Parameter | Description |
Whether to Support the Service Region | (Optional) Specifies whether customers can select a region when purchasing. |
Product Category | The category under which the product is listed. |
Custom Tags | (Optional) Tags that help customers find the product in search results. |
SEO for Your Product | Search keywords and description to improve visibility in external search engines. |
Click Next.
Pricing
Parameter | Description |
Pricing Plan | Select By Usage for pay-as-you-go billing. |
Only Available to Enterprise Users | Specifies whether to restrict purchases to enterprise customers. |
Billing Period | Select Hour or Day. Alibaba Cloud calculates bills using tiered pricing based on cumulative usage within each period and deducts the amount from customer accounts accordingly. |
Billing Item | The billable items of the product. |
Click Next.
Product agreement information
Parameter | Description |
Product Agreement | The end-user license agreement (EULA) between you and your customers. Customers must accept this agreement before purchasing. Use the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace EULA template or import a custom EULA. |
ICP Filing | Compliance information for the product. |
Click Next, then click Confirm submission in the dialog that appears.
The product review process starts automatically after submission.
Step 3: Pass category review
Alibaba Cloud Marketplace operations staff review the product category. If the review is rejected, update the category information and resubmit.
After the category review passes, the product moves to the self-test stage.
Step 4: Configure billable items and run a self-test
After the category review passes, configure how Compute Nest reports usage data for each billable item, then test the product in your own account.
Configure the reporting method for each billable item
In the Compute Nest console, go to the Service Details page of the published service.
In the Basic Information section, find Sales Status and click Configure Now.
On the Sales Settings page, go to the Billable Item Configuration tab. For each billable item, click Change Reporting Method and select one of the following options.
Reported by Service Provider
You call the PushMeteringData API to push usage data to Alibaba Cloud Marketplace from your own system.
Reported by Compute Nest
Compute Nest automatically collects and reports usage data. Select one of the following reporting sources:
Reporting source | Description |
Time | Compute Nest automatically counts the usage duration of service instances and reports the data to Alibaba Cloud Marketplace. |
Bill | Compute Nest reports bill data to Alibaba Cloud Marketplace to facilitate fee calculation. |
Prometheus | Compute Nest collects the specified metering data. This reporting source takes effect when services are deployed in Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) clusters or on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances. |
Only one reporting method can be selected for a billable item. If you need to use both Reported by Compute Nest and Reported by Service Provider for a billable item such as Unit, define multiple billable items in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.
Associate billable items with a service template or plan
On the Associate Billable Item tab, associate each billable item with the appropriate service template or plan, then click OK.
A billable item does not take effect until it is associated with a template or plan. If your service has only one template, that template is selected automatically.
Step 5: Submit for feature review
After the self-test is complete, submit the product for feature review. After the feature review passes, the product is published to Alibaba Cloud Marketplace automatically.
Verify the result
After the product is published, open the product details page in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace. The page displays a tag to indicate that a Compute Nest service is published as the product and the service stability is ensured. The delivery method on this page shows private service.
When a customer purchases the product, the order confirmation page in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace displays the cloud resource configurations and corresponding fees. Note the following billing behavior:
Product fees are settled between you and Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.
Cloud resource usage fees are deducted from the customer's account when the cloud resources are deployed, not when the order is confirmed.