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Telecommunications Telstra's T-Suite puts software on tap for SMEs
Telecommunications Telstra's T-Suite puts software on tap for SMEs | Telstra's T-Suite puts software on tap for SMEs |
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| by Staff Writers | |
| Monday, 20 April 2009 | |
  
- Sponsored Editorial -
Software as a service (SaaS) is rapidly emerging as a new way for businesses of all sizes to pay for and use the computer applications which are essential to business operations. Now Australia's number one telco has brought the power of its network and market reach to bear give Australian SMEs a one-stop shop for a whole range of market-leading business applications, on tap.According to Springboard Research, the SaaS market in Australia and New Zealand is expected to grow at a rate of 65 percent annually and to be worth $506 million annually by 2010. Instead of buying the applications your business needs and installing these on your own computer systems, with SaaS you simply access those applications over the Internet via a standard web browser and pay for them on dollars-per-user-per-month basis. The SaaS model has numerous advantages: you don't have worry about keeping software up to date, about having sufficient licences for the number of users (or paying for more licences than you need), or about having sufficiently powerful hardware to run the applications. Other benefits of SaaS include the ability to try-before-you-buy, and being able to access your applications from your home, your office or from an Internet-connected computer anywhere in the World. (This makes setting up a new office very quick and easy: all you need on the IT side is a broadband connection, a local area network and some PCs with standard browsers). But perhaps more importantly, SaaS enables small businesses to access applications with power and functionality well beyond anything they could afford if they had to buy and run the applications themselves. Bringing big business software to SMEs This is the central promises of T-Suite, Telstra's SaaS offering for small and medium businesses. When Telstra unveiled its plans for T-Suite in June last year Telstra Business Group Managing Director, Deena Shiff, said: "For the first time, when it comes to business applications, small businesses will be on a level playing field with the big end of town." But T-Suite isn't just a one way street taking market-leading applications to SMEs. I will be a new avenue for Australian software developers to reach these customers, and global markets. Shiff explained: "T-Suite will be a one-stop shop where established software names will share 'shelf space' with up-and-coming Australian companies. If an Australian software designer comes up with an innovative program it means they will have access to a national market in Australia and can use it as a springboard to the world." The potential for T-Suite, she says, is enormous: "Australia can really become a software innovator, test-bedding applications that could revolutionise every business and boost national productivity." Telstra has been talking to more than 50 software providers about making their applications available via T-Suite. These include local developers of tools that will help SMEs comply with regulatory requirements and tools to help them manage their workforces. And some of these are now available following the formal launch of T-Suite in early April, following a pilot service launched in November 2008. One-stop shop and free trials highly valued Independent research conducted for Telstra among early users found that the benefits of having software 'in the cloud' were highly regarded. More than 80 percent of users regarded automatic backup and always having access to the latest versions of applications as the most important benefits, and more than 70 percent rated accessibility to applications from any location, lower hardware and software costs or the ease of adding new users as the most important benefits. However respondents highlighted Telstra's ability to bring all these benefits together with a single point of contact for the applications, hosting and their broadband connection as the most appealing feature, along with being able to trial software. Now, with the full version of T-Suite, Telstra is offering a range of well-known applications from leading global developers like Microsoft and McAfee, as well as offerings from innovative local developers. These include: WORKetc, Skoot and Workforce Guardian. A wide range of applications available 'Big name' applications available are Microsoft's leading Office applications: Microsoft Exchange for professional messaging; Microsoft SharePoint for team collaboration; and Microsoft Dynamics CRM for effective management of sales and marketing activity, along with McAfee's security tools to provide protection from viruses, spyware and other malicious web attacks; and remote back up for PCs and servers, powered by software from Iron Mountain. WORKetc is a software suite that provides smaller businesses with a web-based system to help with key business tasks including recording billable time, creating invoices, generating quotes, managing projects, tracking sales leads, sharing documents, running an email marketing campaign, scheduling meetings and generating detailed business reports. Skoot enables small businesses to securely and quickly send and share large files that are too big for email transmission. Sometimes referred to as the Fed Ex of the Internet, Skoot is a great tool for those businesses that regularly need to securely send files to clients, including those in the areas of marketing, engineering, legal, health. WorkForce Guardian built specifically for SMEs - helps businesses hire right, improve employee performance and create workplace rules, through its delivery of a range of tools and templates which includes contracts, policies, forms and letters. These are constantly updated. All Workforce Guardian employment relations content is compliant with Australian Federal Legislation and has been verified by the Workplace Relations and Employment Division of Clayton Utz Australia. Also in the pipeline is Xero, a small business accounting system from new Zealand that will become available before the end of June Prices for T-Suite applications start from as little as $4 per user per month for desktop security, $16.95 for email, $14 for data backup per service per month and $7.95 for collaboration software. In most cases businesses can register and have access to their software in a matter of minutes, and they can take a 30 day free trial on most software before to ensure it meets their needs. |
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