August launch.
Optus planned to add three services to its OfficeApps cloud portal in August which would let users remotely wipe mobile phones and tablets, back up their PCs and send SMS via the web.
The Mobile Security application would remote lock and wipe mobile devices and phones running RIM, Android, Symbian or Microsoft operating systems, said Rohan Ganeson, managing director of Optus SMB.
The Business Backup would copy data on tablets, phones and PCs to Optus’ data centres. Ganeson said that although the telco believed in the “100-percent web” philosophy behind Google Apps, the productivity suite within OfficeApps, customers would not move all their data online immediately.
“The reality is that people will still have data on the desktop,” he said.
A third application, Web SMS, would let users broadcast SMS messages to mobile phones from the OfficeApps portal. A user could schedule messages on a regular basis or it could send a reminder of the time and location of a meeting.
The Web SMS application would be integrated with the Google Apps platform and could be used to send thousands of SMSes using a campaign management interface.
Applications due later in the year were Web Fax, where small businesses could port their fax number to OfficeApps and send and receive faxes to email, and third-party payroll and accounting programs, Ganeson said.
The telco would also add a marketing management tool that could measure the performance of several channels, from a business’ website to telemarketing campaigns.
“A small business might have a 1300 number and a website, but nothing integrates today,” Ganeson said. “How do we promote you with customer leads and conversions?”
When asked how Optus would counter Microsoft Office 365’s ability to work offline, Ganeson said that “the offline capability will be there” with Google Apps soon.
Optus and Telstra’s approaches to cloud were also fundamentally different, Ganeson said.
“We are offering a whole suite of applications as opposed to a server with cloud capability. The way we will integrate them together is a lot tighter with tablets and support and much higher than Office 365.
“What will you see in Optus is innovation on a quarterly basis. Our game is about driving you in the operational and promotional space,” Ganeson said.
“If you look at T Suite, Telstra is a reseller of Microsoft. We are not a reseller, we are a partner of Google.”