Telstra's T-Suite software apps for SMEs

AUSTRALIA: Telstra has announced a raft of online software applications to Australian businesses with the Telstra T-Suite Software as a Service platform going live across the country.

The T-Suite applications will be available to lease online for a predictable monthly fee and without expensive upfront licensing fees, meaning businesses can preserve vital cash reserves during the current tough economic climate.

Now Australian small businesses in all industry sectors will be able to:

* Generate employment agreements and manage everyday staff issues with easy to use HR processes and templates from Workforce Guardian® that are updated online to reflect changes in employment law
* Help protect their businesses from viruses, malicious Internet attacks and loss of sensitive data with security tools provided by Telstra, MessageLabs (now part of Symantec) and McAfee.
* Improve collaboration between suppliers, staff and customers with Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange Mail and Skoot, which allows small businesses to securely and quickly send/share large files too big for email
* Automate business processes such as billing, invoicing and document management with software offered by WORKetc and access Microsoft Dynamics CRM software.

Telstra Business Group managing director, Deena Shiff, said Australia was a nation of small businesses, with approximately 1.9 million companies, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"In the current economic climate, those small businesses are looking for ways to improve cash flow and better manage risks and compliance obligations and we believe the T Suite service provides a cost effective answer at the right time," she said.

A business simply goes to www.telstra.com/T-SUITE, selects the application they would like to use in their business and signs up. The software applications are available 24/7 and automatically updated with the latest versions. Most applications are available for a free month trial, she added.

"Three out of every four businesses in Australia are SMEs - they employ nearly half of the workforce and contribute nearly half of our total GDP. Access to online software through the T-Suite service can help boost their productivity, optimise IT and information security and ensure business continuity," Shiff said.

This week’s launch of the T-Suite service is only the start. Xero, a small business accounting system, Microsoft Online Services as well as other software will be added to the T-Suite applications catalogue over the coming months. Telstra is currently in talks with up to 50 local and international software vendors.

Workforce Guardian, managing director, Adrienne Unkovich, said the T-Suite service was timely given a new Telstra Business survey, also released recently, revealing almost half (46 per cent) of small businesses currently do not have any systems in place to manage the new IR laws.

"T-Suite applications gives us the scale to help thousands of small businesses properly prepare themselves for the massive changes in employment laws recently passed by the federal Parliament and ensure they are kept constantly up to date with any modifications to the laws," she said.