Vodafone starts reselling enterprise Office 365, Dynamics 365

Vodafone has beefed up its ReadyApps marketplace with a bevy of software-as-a-service products, including enterprise Office 365 SKUs and Dynamics 365 online.

ReadyApps, whose range was previously limited to Office 365 Business, Google for Work, Dropbox and GoDaddy hosting, has added 16 more SaaS applications with a focus on business customers.

These include Microsoft Office 365 E1 and E3 bundles. E1 comes with a host of cloud services such as Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Skype for Business, Teams and Yammer, while the E3 edition includes all of these as well as licences for the full suite of Microsoft productivity tools: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Access.

The only higher Office 365 SKU is E5 – which is not currently available on the Vodafone marketplace – and also provides PowerBI Pro, plus advanced security, analytics, and voice capabilities, such as cloud PBX. 

Vodafone is also selling Microsoft Enterprise Mobility and Security – formerly known as Enterprise Mobility Suite – which provides identity and access management as well as device and mobility management for iOS, Android, and Windows.

The expanded Vodafone range also offers Google G Suite, both the basic package for $5 per month and the business edition at $10 per month.

Vodafone has expanded into reselling cyber-security too, with the addition of Norton Security for Professionals, with Symantec end-point protection coming soon.

The launch is part of Vodafone's wider push to woo small business, which will include a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign.

The carrier's larger rivals, Telstra and Optus, also host app marketplaces, though Vodafone is the only provider to carry both major cloud productivity suites – Office 365 and Google's G Suite.

Telstra and Vodafone's marketplaces are both hosted on a platform developed by San Francisco-based AppDirect, while Optus' portal runs on technology from London-based BCSG.

Vodafone sells one SKU of Dynamics 365 for $121 per month, while Telstra's App Marketplace sells a broader range, from SMB up to Enterprise. Dynamics 365 was first unveiled in June 2016.

Stuart Kelly, executive general manager, Vodafone Enterprise, said: "This next evolution is part of our passion to treat every customer, big or small, like a very important business.

"Couple our award-winning, personalised service with our refreshed suite of sophisticated productivity tools and we’ve got a unique offer that finally gives customers the opportunity to transition from working 'in' the business to working 'on' the business," Kelly added.

The granddaddy of Australia's SaaS portals was Telstra T-Suite, which went live in 2008.

The portal was relaunched in 2014 as Telstra Apps Marketplace and now resells more than 50 products, including Microsoft, Symantec, DocuSign, McAfee, Deputy, Cisco Spark and Veritas backup.

Optus unveiled its Smart Shop in 2016 with launch products such as Office 365, Sage One, accounts filing app Xpenditure and security solution MozyPro.

Correction 6 September, 1.45pm: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Vodafone ReadyApps was the first marketplace with Microsoft Dynamics 365. The product was already available on Telstra Apps Marketplace.

The full list of new products on Vodafone ReadyApps

1. Cakemail
2. ServiceM8
3. Google (G Suite Basic, G Suite Business)
4. Mozy
5. Weebly
6. Norton Security for Professionals
7. Microsoft Office 365 Business (Essentials, Premium, E1, E3)
8. Microsoft Visio
9. Microsoft Enterprise Mobility and security 
10. Microsoft Intune
11. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, Enterprise Edition (for SMB)
12. Skype for business
13. Microsoft Project Online (Essentials, Professional, Premium)
14. Microsoft OneDrive for Business
15. Microsoft SharePoint Online
16. Microsoft Yammer