Telstra Steps Up Convergence Efforts Following ASP

When Cameron Chell, founder of
Canadian strategy bank Chell.com, predicted
Monday that industry heavyweights like Telstra Corp. (TLS)
would eventually dominate the Australian Application
Service Provider or ASP market, he probably wasn’t
expecting that dominance to come this soon. On
Wednesday Telstra announced ASP trials that will see
the ubiquitous Microsoft Office Suite offered to
select Telstra customers under the “rentable
application” model.

“This pilot program builds on Telstra’s strengths
and commitment to providing innovative business to
business solutions and on its solid relationship with
Microsoft,” said Libbie Christie, managing director of
Telstra eWorks. The Telstra trial is part of Microsoft‘s
worldwide ASP trial.

If Microsoft fails to implement an effective ASP
strategy its market dominance will be under threat
from players like Sun
Microsystems and Oracle Corp. In
Australia both Sun and Oracle are currently working
with budding ASP Thin
Technologies. Telstra participation in Microsoft’s
ASP grand plan could be the difference between the
software giant maintaining or losing its number 1
position in the Australian operating system market.

Telstra also announced a similar trial with IBM owned Lotus. Lotus
applications Quickplace, Learningspace, Sametime and
Smartsuite will be offered to select Telstra customers
under the “rental application” model.

More on Telstra: The much hyped Telstra.com portal
officially moved into phase 3 Thursday. John Rollands,
managing director Telstra’s online services division
told Internet.com that Telstra.com is now more than a
portal, “It’s an online communication hub.”

After re-evaluating customer needs on its flagship
site, Telstra has made a number of adjustments. The
interface is now simpler; the level of personalization
available has been increased; the level of integration
with mobile devices has also been improved; and there
is more information available through the site.

The “telstra.com – It’s your dot com” marketing
campaign highlighting the new look and feel of
Telstra.com will hit you from Sunday across all media.
Telstra is using BMC Media to place its online advertisements.

Telstra stock (TLS) closed up 3.42% Thursday at Aus
$7.84.