4.12.2012
Hrvatski Telekom, leading provider of telecommunications services, has launched today the ICT Marketplace, a unique and innovative cloud service. It is a shop for business applications and ICT services where customers can lease a range of advanced cloud services and PC applications, including those installed locally on the computer (such as Microsoft Office), in an easy manner – by only two clicks.
Applications and ICT services offered on the ICT Marketplace are activated automatically and available to the customer within several minutes after they are requested, which opens a completely new dimension in the provision of such services on the Croatian market since so far the procurement of business software has required much more time. Currently, the ICT Marketplace is in the pilot phase, meaning that only a limited number of applications and services is available. Hrvatski Telekom will continuously expand the offer with the best Croatian and world solutions.
ICT Marketplace is intended for all business customers, from small crafts to large companies.
When launching ICT Marketplace, Mirela Šešerko, Operating Director of the Information and Communication Technologies Business Solutions Sector of Hrvatski Telekom, said: “By means of ICT Marketplace HT wants to expand its offer of cloud services and offer them all – IaaS, SaaS, PaaS – to the customer at a single point. For customers this means that now they can procure business applications and infrastructure in a fast and efficient manner, in the amount they need, and precisely when they need them. Also, our attempt in applying this model is to shorten the time of delivery as much as possible, for example a virtual server or a virtual computer is available in 15 minutes at the most. Earlier, the procurement of a server required the implementation of the whole procurement procedure which could have taken up to two weeks.”
The use of ICT Marketplace is very easy, all you need is Internet access and a computer or a tablet. There is no installation on the computer – all applications use the “click and run” model. Once taken over, the application can be further used from any device, anytime, and anywhere. Applications for desktop computers can be used offline as well. All applications and ICT services are completely administrated by customers with customer support of Hrvatski Telekom being available 24/7. Thanks to this service, the business customers do not have to worry anymore about installation CDs, procurement, maintenance, patches, etc. All they need for their everyday work is on the web, just a few clicks away, without any worries about licenses.
In the current pilot phase, the HT’s ICT Marketplace offers very popular infrastructure services such as Cloud Computer, Cloud Server, and world-known applications Spontania Video Meeting, Spontania Classroom, etc.
Cloud Computer is a service which allows customers to replace their classical computer with the cloud one and access it from any device and any place. Virtual server enables the customer to get the required server – in the volume that best suits the customer – in only 15 minutes and thus achieve significant savings. Spontania Video Meeting is used for video conferences, while Spontania Classroom enables online learning and education of employees.
The offer of applications on the ICT Marketplace will be constantly enriched. The commercial offer will include the most popular and recent versions of business applications and services for different industries. The charging will be usage based, i.e. the services will be charged from the moment of activation until the moment of deactivation. A great advantage of the ICT Marketplace is that it will allow all business customers, regardless of their business activity, to search, try, and lease applications in accordance with the business processes. This will allow for savings because companies will no longer need any large capital expenditures, as well as for higher business efficiency because they can better focus on their core business.
All those interested in the testing of applications and ICT services offered on the Marketplace only need to fill in a from which can be found on the official Internet pages of the Marketplace service and they will receive their user name and password enabling them to immediately start using the service.
Hrvatski Telekom has established a partnership model providing domestic programmers with the opportunity to offer their applications through this service, meaning that customers will have at their disposal applications created in accordance with specific local market needs.