Virtual meeting specialist Premiere Global Services Inc. (PGi) has inked a strategic alliance with the AppDirect cloud marketplace to offer PGi’s iMeet business collaboration offering through AppDirect’s service provider partners.
“We’re seeing that small businesses prefer to acquire cloud applications in a bundled fashion and from a trusted provider, which is exactly what we’ve set out to make possible at AppDirect,” said Daniel Saks, president and co-CEO at AppDirect. “With the increasing demand for virtual collaboration services, we’re thrilled to offer our channel partners the opportunity to include iMeet in their cloud marketplaces.”
AppDirect’s state-of-the-art platform allows service providers to bundle cloud-based services with their traditional offerings. By bundling services, customers get the added convenience of receiving a single bill and accessing a single portal to manage all of their business applications.
“This strategic alliance is significant as PGi is the first collaboration provider to embrace a cloud marketplace as a venue to sell its virtual meeting solutions,” said Rob Arnold, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Marketplace-as-a-service is an emerging cloud category that is going to make it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes to purchase and manage their cloud-based applications.”
Under the terms of the multi-year alliance, PGi will in return refer and resell AppDirect’s platform services to its new and existing large channel partners and carriers, so that AppDirect can build and manage cloud services marketplaces on their behalf.
“Every business – from start-up to global enterprise – needs reliable collaboration tools to stay connected and competitive in today’s increasingly mobile world,” said Boland T. Jones, PGi’s founder, chairman and CEO. “iMeet was built for the way businesses work today, and it’s the ideal solution for enhancing business productivity and growth through more personal and collaborative virtual meetings. By reselling AppDirect’s cloud marketplace platform to our global carrier partners, PGi will increase access to iMeet for businesses of all sizes worldwide.”
iMeet, PGi’s cloud-based collaboration solution, is targeted at use cases like virtual recruiting interviews, sales presentations, corporate training, team meetings and so on. It incorporates a raft of next-gen tools that businesses use to collaborate, such as HD video, social networks and file sharing, and offers a full suite of desktop and mobile meeting apps.
