The system enables designers to create templates for marketing collateral using both QuarkXPress and InDesign that are converted to Brand Manager templates that can be approved by marketing teams for customisation and use by field teams through a web interface.

The company claims that the system, which runs natively on the Azure platform, can reduce the time to create templates by half and enable field teams to deliver collateral to customers in a tenth of the time using conventional means, as well as reducing expensive on-site infrastructure.

Quark president and chief executive Ray Schiavone said: "Quark entered the brand management solutions market early with our QuarkXPress Server technology.

"Now, with Microsoft, we’re taking an early lead to leverage the cloud so that dispersed marketing and sales teams can maintain their most valuable differentiator – their brand.

"As marketing departments take control of budget that was once allocated to IT teams, effective and affordable global cloud-based solutions like Quark Brand Manager will become required resources."

A free 30-day trial is available at www.quarkbrandmanager.com/trial.html.