Samsung announced Thursday that its cloud-based software marketplace, known as AppStack, would be available by the end of the summer to help small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) accelerate digital transformation.

Due to the coronavirus, organizations around the globe have been forced to rethink their entire workflows and standard operations. Companies have shifted from the traditional office to the virtual workspace, and lockdown measures forced many brick-and-mortar locations to shudder for weeks on end. The lasting economic impact of the virus could ripple through the US economy for years to come. Recent second-quarter data shows a massive dip in consumer confidence in recent months. 

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As traditional workflows and customer engagement shift to online, cloud-based software solutions allow companies, especially SMBs, to adapt during the ongoing economic uncertainty. Per recent research, about three-quarters of SMBs felt that cloud-based and online business applications were “extremely valuable” during the pandemic,  according to a recent SMB Group report.

“Today, SMBs are navigating a new business landscape that has been completely upended,” said Taher Behbehani, head of the Mobile B2B Division, SVP and general manager, Samsung Electronics America. “Many see this as an opportunity to adapt their business, and business software will play an integral role in continued transformation. The launch of AppStack is just the beginning, as we look to enable companies with limited IT resources to quickly modernize so they can focus on what matters most–their business.”

Samsung’s AppStack marketplace is intended to serve as a “one-stop shop of curated cloud software” to help SMBs embrace digital transformation quickly and cost-effectively. Within the marketplace, Samsung will leverage AppStack to sift through the “crowded, large enterprise-focused software market” and present SMBs with a select offering of solutions.

The company has designed AppStack to help make it easier for companies to more readily discover and deploy appropriate business solutions as well as manage their app subscriptions. AppStack will launch featuring a curated selection of collaboration, productivity, and project management tools including G Suite from Google Cloud, one of Samsung’s project partners.

“We’re excited to support SMBs’ work and mobility needs with G Suite through our partnership with Samsung,” said Kevin O’Kane, managing director, Scaled Partnerships at Google Cloud. “The need for SMBs to support agility, mobility and remote work has accelerated, and deploying G Suite via AppStack gives these important businesses a new, seamless way to leverage our cloud collaboration and productivity solutions.”

As part of the marketplace setup, companies are rewarded for their app spending over time. Samsung will offer discounts and savings determined by the total number of apps a company purchases. Customers are also able to access other discounts if they bundle Samsung devices with these software purchases. Samsung will also offer free trials enabling organizations to test out these applications before purchasing these solutions.

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Interested parties can access AppStack from the Shop Samsung app and www.samsung.com/appstack. The Samsung Shop app in particular will allow organizations to view popular solutions compartmentalized into category subsets including video conferencing, office productivity, esignatures, sales essentials, startup essentials, and business efficiency.

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