MTS, one of Russia’s leading mobile operators, has announced that it has launched a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) marketplace in partnership with NEC Corporation and started to sell the cloud office solution Microsoft Office 365 to its customers.
In the SaaS marketplace “Legkiy ofis” (Russian for “Easy Office”) customers can access applications for business that are popular in Russia, including 1C accounting solutions and the legal database of statutes and regulations called “Garant.”
Microsoft Office 365, in its turn, is a popular cloud office suite brought to MTS customers in partnership with Vodafone, which already offers this product in more than 10 countries worldwide.
The two new services are aimed at business customers with MTS corporate subscriptions and are available in Moscow and some of the regions.
MTS is the second Russian mobile operator (after Beeline) to start providing its users access to Office 365 and the first to open a full-fledged SaaS marketplace. While the applications MTS offers can be also purchased from many other sellers, the possibility of having the communications tools, SaaS infrastructure, and a cloud office suite from one supplier may be an argument for clients.
MTS is planning to make the office suite and its SaaS marketplace available for customers in the Russian regions soon; however, the company’s representatives declined to comment on the exact time frame and apps that may be added in the future.
