MELBOURNE -- Telstra today announced it would launch a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform called T-Suite™, supplying on-demand business applications more efficiently to Australian businesses.
Telstra Business Group Managing Director Deena Shiff said T-Suite™ would improve business productivity in Australia and help innovative Australian software designers take their applications to a global market.
"Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are the 'engine room' of the Australian economy and with the launch of with T-Suite™ they will be able to access the latest on-demand business applications previously only available to big businesses that could afford their own IT departments," Ms 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," she said.
SaaS enables software to be hosted on a remote third-party server rather than on a business' own computer network. A business subscriber can use the software at any time simply by accessing it over the internet.
The SaaS market in Australia and NZ is expected to grow at a rate of 65% [1] annually, worth $506 million by 2010. Ms Shiff said Telstra's plan was to help foster and be part of that growth.
"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.
"Telstra's integrated business model means we support more than a million businesses. Linking them to T-Suite™ via Telstra's Next G™ and Next IP™networks means Australia can really become a software innovator, test-bedding applications that could revolutionise every business and boost national productivity," Ms Shiff said.
Telstra Corp. Ltd. (ASX: TLS; NZK: TLS)