Alpha7 Launches A7 AppsConnect Offering 40 Cloud-based Business Application Solutions

Alpha7 Launches A7 AppsConnect Offering 40 Cloud-based Business Application Solutions

·        Also announces A7 BizConnect, a digital transformation tool for APAC businesses 

·        Targets $25.7b enterprise cloud (Frost & Sullivan) and US$2b SME cloud (ACCA) markets

SINGAPORE, 29 September 2015 – Alpha7, a Singapore-based business cloud enabler, has launched A7 AppsConnect, a platform marketplace of 40 cloud-based applications – bringing affordability and efficiency across key business functions: marketing, sales, operations, finance and human resources.

Most business departments today operate in silos, requiring huge efforts to extract and analyse a wide variety of data and reports to paint a holistic picture of the business. A7 AppsConnect provides not only the cloud solutions, but also connects the technologies and data. With A7 AppsConnect, enterprises and SMEs can – for the first time – integrate their data instantly and securely, presenting a unified view of their business via an easy to manage dashboard.

It also announced A7 BizConnect, a tool which enables businesses to benchmark and chart their roadmap to digital transformation. A7 BizConnect’s advisory approach assesses operations against growth plans, while benchmarking assesses against competitors and industry standards – customized to specific sectors. Both functions evaluate front and back-end business processes, providing technology recommendations to deliver productivity and growth, based on available budgets. It aligns people, processes and technology to priorities, constraints and budgets.

Lynette Seah, CEO and founder of Alpha7 said, “We want to be the market leader in helping businesses adapt, adopt and connect technology to people and processes, driving digital transformation. With A7 AppsConnect and BizConnect, Alpha7 is leading the charge to bring Fortune500-level technology to enterprises and small and medium businesses across Asia-Pacific, at an affordable price point.”

According to the SME Deployment Survey 2014 (DP Information), Singapore-based SMEs adopted technology to reduce operating costs (67%), reduce manpower requirements (57%) and to increase revenue (42%). Ninety-five percent of SMEs saw an improvement to their bottom line by using technology. McKinsey has cited cloud technology as a key pillar for business growth in Southeast Asia, bringing productivity improvements of US$220 to $625 billion by 2030.

Using A7 AppsConnect’s 40 apps, including SugarCRM, vTiger, Dolibarr, Drupal, Quickbooks and Eventbrite, businesses can create customized bundles, or choose from pre-selected bundles from as low as US$12 per app, per user, per month. More applications will be added over time, providing additional flexibility and variety to businesses. It is powered by Alpha7’s strategic partner, Australia-based Maestrano.

Brian Parkinson, COO of Alpha7 added, “We are making the ‘connected enterprise’ a reality for businesses in Asia. We address two key enterprise pain points – localization and security – while bringing operational transparency and efficiency through cloud technology. Moreover, a number of large businesses – including telcos, banks, and consulting companies – work off legacy technology platforms. A7 AppsConnect can be fully white-labelled and hosted in their private cloud infrastructure.”

According to Frost and Sullivan, APAC enterprises will increase spending on cloud, from US$25.7 billion in 2014 to US$65.2 billion in 2019. The Asian Cloud Computing Association estimates that SMEs across Asia-Pacific spent US$2 billion on cloud technology in FY2014, a 42% year-on-year (YoY) growth compared to FY2013.

Alpha7 was founded and is helmed by Lynette Seah, ex-VP of finance at Salesforce.com in Asia-Pacific. In January 2015, it successfully spun-out Chief Operating Officer as a Service (COOaaS). COOaaS provides COO expertise to businesses on an outsourced, part-time, retainer or project basis.

James Kang, ex-assistant CEO at the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA Singapore) – is the latest Alpha7 board member. He joins Anurag Srivastava, CEO of Space Matrix Group and Managing Partner at Jungle Ventures, and Alvin Kok, ex-head of Infocomm and cloud computing services at SingTel.

The company will be hosting Alpha7 Connect Forum, a thought-leadership forum dedicated to informing businesses about how they can leverage technology to improve their operations, onFriday, October 2, at the Fairmont Singapore.

With S$3.6 million in seed financing to date, the company is gearing up for its second round of funding in 2016 to accelerate growth and expansion across APAC, including opening an Australia office.