MERLION Opens its Cloud Software Supermarket

MERLION takes on cloud-based software

MERLION Group announced its own cloud marketplace now available at MerliONCloud.ru. The project was presented during the MERLION IT Solutions Summit.

MerliONCloud provides all the necessary infrastructure and tools, including a billing system, for cloud software sales. Partners can use MerliONCloud to create their own showcases for software distribution.

MERLION purchases Velvica and Reftsoft

The MerliONCloud business plan was approved by the Board of Directors of MERLION Group in 2016. In 2017, MERLION acquired the developer of the Velvica billing system together with Rentsoft, its affiliated distributor of cloud software.

What software can be purchased through MERLION

As of today, MerliONCloud sells software from IBM, Microsoft, VMWare, and Acronis, antivirus solutions (DrWeb, Avast, Eset), My Office, CommuniGate virtual office and other products. The marketplace distributes solutions for SSL encryption, DNS filtering and video surveillance, as well as infrastructure services, including IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), colocation, backup data storage, etc. Starting in 2019, MerliONCloud will also sell products from ABBYY, Kaspersky Lab, Oracle, etc., including solutions for the internet of things, utilities, etc.

Two of MERLION's partners have already created their own MerliONCloud-based showcases: Impulse-Telecom and Xcom (providers).

Benefits of cloud software distribution

"Unlike the direct sale of cloud software, the marketplace provides vendors with a ready-to-use infrastructure and country-wide distribution network," explains Anton Salov, Head of MerliONCloud. As of today, there are several cloud marketplaces in Russia, for example, 1C and Softkey. However, according to Salov, MERLION's unique benefit is that thanks to its equipment distribution, the company can offer customers all the necessary solutions.

According to estimates from IKS-Consulting, the volume of the cloud market in Russia topped 50 billion Rubles in 2017, and cloud software (SaaS, Software as a Service) accounted for 34 of 54 billion Rubles. In 2021, the market will grow to 95 billion Rubles, including 61 billion from SaaS.

IDC predicts that SaaS will account for 25% of all software installations in Russia by 2020. At the same time, the corporate segment will purchase no more than 10% of packaged software in terms of total installation volumes,

In three years, MerliONCloud intends to control 22% of the market in the cloud software distribution segment. By this time, the marketplace will offer more than 100 products and services with support from more than 300 sales partners.