Variety is the spice of any marketplace, and many marketplaces, whether MaaS-based or not, offer a range of apps. In some cases they may offer the same apps; Box, for example, a popular cloud storage app that can be found in the iTunes store; Google Play; and Amazon’s Appstore for Android. However, MaaS-based application stores can make it easier for channels to offer a wider variety of apps. Instead of finding software vendors, negotiating contracts with each one, and walking every developer through the integration process, channel partners can turn to MaaS providers who have already done the bulk of this work and built a catalog of pre-integrated apps.
Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Launch a Marketplace
Even though the technology may seem relatively new, many telecom companies – including the largest telecom provider in Europe, Deutsche Telekom, as well as Bell Canada and others – have already launched application marketplaces, and many more are ready to follow suit. According to Gartner, 50 percent of the top 100 communications service providers will offer cloud services to their customers by 2015.
Clearly, the race to deliver cloud-based services is on. With a smart strategy and the right marketplace technology, channel partners are poised to win big.
Daniel Saks is the co-founder and co-CEO of AppDirect, the leading cloud service marketplace company that helps global brands launch and sell cloud applications and services.
