SKT Opens 'Cloud Marketplace'... Supports SMEs with Commission Waivers and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] SK Telecom opened the enterprise software online marketplace for trading Software as a Service (SaaS), ‘5GX Cloud Marketplace,’ on the 31st. It is expected to contribute to revitalizing the domestic SaaS market, which is still in its early stages, by providing differentiated benefits to venture software developers as well as fostering and supporting them.

SaaS refers to a service where users pay a subscription fee for the functions they need over a specific period and ‘rent’ the software. Companies can reduce initial costs such as software license purchases and infrastructure investments, as well as management burdens.

Through the 5GX Cloud Marketplace, SK Telecom plans to offer benefits such as ‘free cloud education,’ ‘three months exemption from cloud marketplace commission fees,’ and ‘up to 5 million KRW in cloud-exclusive credits’ to domestic small and medium software developers wishing to transition to SaaS.

Additionally, highly competitive SaaS products will be supported to enter global cloud marketplaces, and opportunities to present products to cloud investment funds will be provided, offering chances to attract investment.

SK Telecom has simplified the product registration review process so that any supplier wishing to register SaaS products can easily do so on the marketplace. Based on this, they plan to make the ‘5GX Cloud Marketplace’ the marketplace with the most SaaS products by the end of the year.

Moreover, SK Telecom has also listed its own developed products that have completed cloud transformation on the ‘5GX Cloud Marketplace.’ They plan to continuously introduce products based on core technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) in a cloud subscription model. Representative examples include ‘Dialink,’ which allows easy connection to websites with a call button, and the cloud-based digital consultation solution ‘AI Contact Center.’

Furthermore, SK Telecom is showcasing various cloud-based ‘information security products’ such as web firewalls and database access control from SK ICT family company ADT Caps on the marketplace, and plans to expand the product lineup to over 10 ‘AI services’ including ‘NUGU STT (Speech-to-Text)’ and ‘TTS (Text-to-Speech)’ within the year.

In addition, to commemorate the opening of the ‘5GX Cloud Marketplace,’ SK Telecom will offer free cloud MRA (pre-adoption readiness assessment) consulting by Bespin Global, as well as free security monitoring and vulnerability inspections for cloud-native security. A promotional event will also be held in the second quarter to sell Microsoft’s flagship SaaS product, ‘Microsoft 365,’ at the lowest price in Korea.

Various ‘SaaS’ products on the ‘5GX Cloud Marketplace’ can be searched and purchased on the website (www.sktcloudmarketplace.com). A dedicated customer center (1599-6011) is also operated to resolve users’ inquiries by phone.

Choi Il-gyu, Head of SK Telecom Cloud, said, “SK Telecom is the only company that has secured broad partnerships with leading domestic and international cloud companies, making it the optimal partner to lead the SaaS industry ecosystem. The ‘5GX Cloud Marketplace’ will be a platform where sellers and buyers grow together through various partnership benefits and conveniences, and furthermore, we will continuously introduce new SaaS business models combining telecommunications and cloud.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.