Telstra has today launched its Telstra Apps Marketplace, billing it as a “one-stop shop to find, buy and use today’s best business apps”.The new store joins Telstra’s current T-Suite app store, with the telco stating T-Suite apps and customers will be migrated to the Telstra Apps Marketplace early next year.
Powered by AppDirect, the new apps marketplace will ultimately “be home to all Telstra’s preferred business apps”.
Initially featuring two apps, Box and DocuSign, both of which have recently received strategic investment from Telstra Ventures, additional apps will be added in the coming months.
Box is a cloud file sharing and collaboration app designed to securely share and access files and documents, while DocuSign provides for businesses to digitally manage transactions and electronically sign documents.
“The Telstra Apps Marketplace is designed to deliver a simple online experience for our customers that will take the complexity out of choosing and managing apps from different vendors, so they can find the right apps for their business,” Telstra Business Group managing director Will Irving stated of the new store.
In announcing the launch, Telstra has additionally cited new research revealing “small businesses are still incredibly reliant on traditional paper-based tools”, despite one in three small businesses using connected tablets and four out of five relying on smartphones for work, with up to 75 per cent of small businesses spending up to $1,000 each year on paper.
The national survey of 1,000 small business owners found 92 per cent are using apps for personal use, yet only 24 per cent are using apps in their business, while 41 per cent are in the dark about their existence entirely, Telstra stated.
Business apps “take the hassle out of admin”, Irving stated.
“Just like your banking app means no more queuing at your local branch, or using your tablet in place of a newspaper, business apps can replace forms and gather information in the field, execute and sign contracts without printing and then scanning them, or rid you forever of the old carbon copy invoice book,” he commented.
