Google Apps reseller program arrives in Singapore

Google brought its reseller program for Google Apps Premier Edition to Southeast Asia on Wednesday with the announcement of its first reseller in Singapore, PointStar.

Google Apps Premier Edition is the version of Google's online application suite designed for companies with more than 50 users. Unlike the free version designed for companies with up to 50 users, Premier costs US$50 per year for each user. For that fee, companies get 25GB of storage per user, instead of 7GB, as well as migration tools and more support.

PointStar is the first Singaporean reseller of Google Apps Premier Edition and will provide consulting and support services for local customers, said Deepak Ramanathan, Asia-Pacific head of enterprise marketing for Google, during an interview at Springboard Research's Software as a Service (SaaS) Asia Conference.

First announced in the U.S. during January, the reseller program has since expanded to include other countries.

Prior to the official announcement of PointStar's appointment as a Google Apps Premier Edition reseller, the company piloted the online application suite with 10 local companies, the largest of which had around 200 employees, said Justin Lee, the company's director of business development.

PointStar expects that most of the potential demand for Google Apps Premier Edition will come from small and medium-sized business that are looking to reduce IT expenses, Lee said.

Google is looking to recruit more resellers for Google Apps Premier Edition in Singapore, and plans to expand the program to Malaysia, Indonesia and India in the coming months, Ramanathan said. The service is already available in other Asian markets, including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, he said.

IDG News Service

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