Softbank claims to offer C&S cloud services marketplace that includes a number of services from Mircrosoft and plans to add more services for software vendors. The services are built to aid businesses to be more productive and collaborative. According to the partnership agreement, SoftBank C&S and AppDirect will continue working together to bring many additional services to the SoftBank C&S marketplace.
AppDirect’s Monetization Suite, a solutions to sell cloud services into direct and indirect sales channels which includes cloud marketplace and management service, subscription billing service and reseller management service. This suite will integrate with Softbank C&S resellers to distribute the cloud services in the marketplace. Also both the companies are aiming to expand their reach in Japanese market to offer cloud and subscription services to businesses. Gartner also predicts that end-user spending for public cloud services in Japan will approach $16 billion by 2020, resellers in the Asia-Pacific region now have an enormous opportunity to drive revenue and position themselves as trusted cloud partners as more businesses seek to achieve digital transformation.
Daniel Saks, President and Co-CEO of AppDirect stated, “As our business has evolved, AppDirect has maintained a global focus to ensure businesses are able to find, buy, and use cloud services. SoftBank C&S is the leading distributor of IT services in Japan, and we’re excited to extend our reach to millions of Japanese businesses through its wide network of resellers. This partnership marks a major milestone for us as a company, and we are thrilled to be working with SoftBank C&S to help businesses all over Japan take advantage of the cloud services they need to thrive.”
Recent Mergers and Acquisitions
Softbank recently completed the acquisition of British semiconductor and mobile microprocessor company, ARM for $32 billion (approx) to boost the Internet of Things (IoT) portfolio. AppDirect also took over Xendo, the provider of hosted enterprise search where it will be integrating into the AppDirect platform as part of upcoming cloud management initiatives that will help businesses manage, monitor and use their cloud services more effectively with unified search capabilities.
Russell Cohen, VP of Business Development & Board Director of SoftBank C&S said:
“Businesses in Japan have made it clear that they want easy access to business-critical software, delivered and managed via a single cloud marketplace. “By working with AppDirect, we are able to empower our reseller network to deliver these tools to their customers via our marketplace. Businesses across Japan can now enjoy new cloud and subscription services from our software partners all over the world.”
