Your new post is loading...
Fast-growing cloud service platform providers such as AppDirect bring telcos closer to their business customers.
Developing the services and attaining the skills to meet the demands of enterprise users is challenging, but that's where cloud services and platform providers come in. Gartner Inc. predicts this fast-growing segment will account for 20% of all cloud service usage in 2015, compared with 5% in 2013.
It's becoming a popular way for operators to reach out to business customers. The latest to join the party is Telstra Corp. Ltd., which says its new apps marketplace for SMEs is designed to remove "the complexity out of choosing and managing apps from different vendors."
The Australian operator is using a white-label platform from AppDirect , which also counts Comcast Corp., Deutsche Telekom AG and TeliaSonera AB as customers.
AppDirect, founded in Sydney five years ago but now based in San Francisco, is one of the largest of these cloud middlemen. Richard Dufty, vice president of worldwide sales at AppDirect, says the business was created to bring together "buyers and sellers from two different spectrums who could not get access to each other."
Interesting story about AppDirect that shows how middlemen can strive in the cloud