Telstra takes wraps off hosted apps

Telstra has revealed the first stage line-up of its long-anticipated SaaS business, with hosted applications from Microsoft, McAfee, MessageLabs and Iron Mountain.

The business, called T-Suite, was first talked about back in June , but today’s announcement offers the first glimpses into the types of software it will offer to small-to-medium businesses.

The cheapest offering is McAfee desktop security suite, which is available for $4.00 per user per month on a 12-month plan.

T-Suite also includes a number of MessageLabs network security products, including email protect and email control (each $5.00 per license per month, or $8.00 per month bundled), web protect ($6.50), web control ($5.00) or web and email protect and control ($12.00). All prices are per license per month.

Microsoft is also featured heavily in the offerings, with hosted Exchange, SharePoint and Dynamics CRM 4.0 offerings.

Full Exchange access is $16.95 per user per month either with an existing domain or a T-Suite one. There is separate Web access-only pricing.

The cost of hosted SharePoint Services depends on the amount of space required; plans start at 500 MB for $19.95 per service per month, up to 10 GB for $109.95 per month.

In addition, a hosted version of Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM 4.0 is available for between $65.95 and $109.95 per user per month.

The T-Suite is currently rounded out by PC and server remote back-up offerings that are powered by Iron Mountain technology.

PC backup starts at $14.00 per license per month and server back-up begins at $40.00.

Telstra Business Group Managing Director, Deena Shiff, said T-Suite ‘would transform the productivity of Australia’s small to medium (SME) business sector by making software more accessible and affordable’.

She also said Telstra would soon be making ‘further content relationship announcements’ involving other Australian and global suppliers.

“T-Suite Software as a Service will be the place to be for software vendors as we prepare for our full-scale market launch in early 2009,” she said.

“We’re in active talks with more than 50 providers including locally produced software to help SMEs comply with regulatory requirements and workforce management. We look forward to welcoming new partners very soon,” Shiff said.