MerliOnCloud

Main articles:

• E-Commerce
• Internet trading (Russian market)

MerliOnCloud is a platform that allows you to sell your own and third-party cloud products and services.

Cloud solutions designed for companies of various kinds of activities and scale are aggregated on one site. The MERLION expert team helps partners optimize and implement projects to meet customer requirements. The portal allows you to create the portfolio of cloud services that the customer needs and evaluate the cost of using them. In addition to consulting support, special marketing resources are available to cloud solution providers, as well as financial support for projects.

Buying such services not directly from the vendor, but through the distributor and its channel partners, customers should not conclude contracts with primary suppliers, go into the details of the licensing policy and pay for various, including hybrid, configurations in accordance with Russian law and in Russian money. In turn, as part of the Value Added Distribution (VAD) concept, MERLION, together with partners, helps customers choose the best service provider, provides technical support, and advises on the migration of existing oncology functionality to clouds. The partner can also act as an aggregator of cloud services from different providers.

2022: The ability to rent cloud servers for business

On May 17, 2022, the company Merlion"" announced that MerliOnCloud provides a rental service cloudy servers -. VPS (virtual private server) This is one type of service that hosting provider gives the client full access to the select server. But operating system unlike a dedicated physical server, the service does not mean installing equipment for the client - virtual server it is deployed on pre-installed high-performance equipment, while all processes taking place inside the virtual server are completely independent of other servers operating on the same physical machine.

Illustration: contell.ru

This solution is suitable for hosting sites, development and testing, for projects with a heavy load, game services, application development. The customer can choose his/her own configuration depending on his/her needs.

As of mid-May 2022, MerliOnCloud offers six fixed rates: Minimum, Basic, Standard, Optimal, Extended, Maximum. The packages differ in configuration: RAM (from 0.5 GB to 16 GB), processor (from 1 CPU to 16 CPU), SSD disk space (from 15 GB to 320 GB).

Users have the ability to assemble a virtual machine of their own configuration by selecting the required amount of RAM, processor and disk space.

VPS capabilities from MerliOnCloud:

• The physical servers are located data centers at reliability level TIER III.
• High degree protection from. hacker attacks
• Ability to withstand heavy loads.
• High uptime is an indicator of the time of continuous operation.

In all tariffs, the free ISPmanager control panel is included, which is well known in Russia and the CIS. The panel allows you to manage the software installed on the server (web server, database server, mail server) and other related programs through the web interface.

The main features of the ISPmanager panel are:

• Manage and restrict user accounts.
• Manage sites.
• Manage site and server files through the web interface.
• Create and administer databases. data
• Backup system.
• Manage the firewall.
• Manage mailboxes.
• Statistics on resources consumed.

Cloud infrastructure from MerliOnCloud in current market realities with the risk of a shortage of hard hardware will help solve problems with the creation or upgrade of IT infrastructure of any company, especially large scale.

2021: Launch of leased infrastructure service

Merlion (Merlion) on December 6, 2021 announced the launch of a leased infrastructure service: Dedicated Infrastructure and HaaS.

Services are a rental service for customers of any complex solution IT- equipment with monthly payment and its maintenance. All support for the operation and support of the infrastructure, including installation, ON is provided by a team of MerliOnCloud engineers. The composition of the equipment and the set of services is determined by the requirements of the customer.

Dedicated Infrastructure helps companies unload their computing power, backup data and be able to access it from anywhere when doing service work on one of the servers, get guaranteed network security by restricting access rights to the server to third parties.

Also among the factors why it is sometimes more efficient for companies to rent an IT infrastructure than to deploy and maintain their own, it is worth noting the following:

• Move from Capex to Opex cost model. You can make payments from the current cash flow of the company.
• Individually designed architecture.
• Savings on subsequent upgrades and repairs in case of problems.
• The possibility of changing the server configuration for any needs.
• Apply a hybrid cloud strategy when specific requirements prevent public clouds from being used.
• There is no need to maintain your own data center.

The MerliOnCloud has an individual approach to launching each complex solution. Specialists identify the needs of customers, prescribe specifications, purchase the necessary equipment and install it (this can be both on the basis of the customer's technical fleet and in data centers MerliOnCloud with related maintenance).

A complete solution from MerliOnCloud can include: storage, server and network hardware, software, technical support services.

Customer Opportunities:

• Install software without restrictions.
• Make configuration changes such as replacement, processor number of RAM, disks/etc HDDSDD.
• Connect multiple locations into a single network.
• Assemble your own server with a unique configuration.

The benefits of Dedicated Infrastructure from MerliOnCloud for customers and customers:

• Only new equipment is used.
• There is no need for large project start-up costs as a one-time purchase.
• Simplified infrastructure management.
• No division of traffic and capacity with other users.
• Transparency and predictability of IT spending.
• The principle of one window for receiving all IT services under the lease.

HaaS, unlike Dedicated Infrastructure, allows you to rent the necessary IT equipment for the long term, placing it in the loop of your own organization or data center. The service combines financing and any IT equipment, which in a period of 3-5 years allows you to reduce the total cost of ownership of the infrastructure to 15%. And also, unlike leasing, it does not require the collection of additional documents and approvals with financial organizations.

2020

Getting Started with Retailers

On August 31, 2020, Merlion announced that the team MerliOnCloud focused on resellers who will be able to sell digital goods and services connected to the MerliOnCloud platform to their consumers, like any other goods from their catalog on the site.

In its essence, the MerlOnCloud platform is a ready-made solution for the sale of digital goods and services, connects manufacturers and resellers, and allows you to build a cloud business according to the ready model of any online store or marketplace. As a result of the integration of their online stores via API with MerliOnCloud, retailers receive a working platform with complete automation of purchases and sales, including an expansion of the product range, controlled pricing, a system of mutual settlements, and all this without logistical costs and the need to conclude agreements with developers - MerlOnCloud it does itself.

As noted in Merlion, the sale of digital goods is convenient and in demand. They do not need packaging, storage space, there are no costs for logistics customs duties. The user receives his purchase electronically immediately after payment. MerliOnCloud makes it possible to sell both ESD keys and subscriptions. It is worth noting that the platform with ready-made integrations is provided to partners and retailers for free, you only need to connect to it using the API for seamless integration with the catalog of products of the online store and. account system If necessary, the MerliOnCloud team is ready to assist in this connection. After configuring the API, a partner can withdraw all goods from the MerliOnCloud catalog or form the desired assortment from the items that are interesting to him, as a result, descriptions of goods and their illustrations will be automatically displayed on his website.

Cooperation with MerliOnCloud gives retailers accelerated profit through the instant exchange of goods-money and settlement with suppliers after sale and receiving money from the client. The partner earns from reselling digital goods, leaving himself a certain percentage from each customer purchase.

In connection with the focus on retail, the team MerlOnCloud processed the product catalog - a wide range of products in demand by users was added, an updated classification of goods was introduced. Now the product catalog consists of gaming and entertainment services, products of the sphere, cyber security(office applications SaaS service as a service), accounting and reporting, IP telephony and communications, business applications for accounting and control.

As part of the current strategy, in 2020, MerliOnCloud entered all online stores, including marketplaces (both large and smaller business). Among those with whom integration has already been implemented is Citilink, which began working on a platform for Solutions SaaS.

For another type of partners - system integrators - the platform presents corporate solutions and products on which they can earn money by offering their customers: MyOffice, Yuzdesk, Mango Telecom solutions, etc.

"We all found ourselves this year in a" new normality, "said Dmitry Spiridonov, general manager of MerliOnCloud. "We have all changed our way of life and format of work, and the offices of the next generation and the" army of remote workers "require more and more digital products. Cooperation with retailers will allow us to "reach" them, end users, and I am sure that together all this will be the engine for the progress and development of our joint business with developers and partners. "

As of August 31, products from 59 vendors are available to partners on the platform: more than 2,700 products (2,400 ESD keys and 350 SaaS subscriptions), including 800 products for the B2B segment, 117 entertainment services, 1840 gaming services. 24x7 service is provided by technical support MerlOnCloud.

Launch of Solution SaaS for the public sector on "MyOffice" technologies

On August 24, 2020, Merlion offered to test MyOffice technologies on the MerliOnCloud platform for free. Customers will have the opportunity to use the domestic cloud-office solution for collaboration with documents and e-mail within 3 months. The service provides storage and processing of all data exclusively in the territory of the Russian Federation.

The solution of the Russian VAD distributor, Merlion, and MyOffice is intended for federal and regional government bodies that need to be transferred to remote work without serious investments in infrastructure modernization.

Users can create and edit text and table documents, work with email, calendar, and contacts. All cloud applications are accessed from anywhere and anytime, regardless of device (including mobile) and platform.

The solution includes technical support services provided by the relevant MerliOnCloud department. When you go into commercial operation, the MerliOnCloud can scale the solution to any number of jobs.

Server capacity is MerliOnCloud located in Russian high-performance data centers that meet information security requirements. Users of the service are given full control over their own data in the cloud using MyOffice technologies.

"We see a high need for a SaaS service for working with documents and e-mail. The Merlion solution helps you evaluate all the benefits of clouds at a lower cost, and also allows you to quickly restore the organization's processes that have been disrupted by remote work, helps unite employees, increase efficiency and speed, "said Armen Kocharov, Deputy General Director of MyOffice.

"The advantage of the service service is the ability to instantly switch to MyOffice technology. At the same time, work on the SaaS model is significantly more affordable - organizations do not need to purchase separate licenses and deploy them at their own server capacities, which will definitely reduce the infrastructure costs of customers, "said Dmitry Spiridonov, general manager of MerliOnCloud.

2019

Availability of Mail.ru Cloud Solutions services to partners MerliOnCloud

As part of the development of the MerliOnCloud project, Merlion announced on October 23, 2019 that it had signed a distribution agreement with cloud provider Mail.ru Cloud Solutions.

The agreement expanded the portfolio of MerliOnCloud products and services offered to partners by cloud services to build the IT infrastructure from Mail.ru Group. All Mail.ru Cloud Solutions services are available to MerliOnCloud partners, and are offered to a wide distribution channel with all related expertise and services.

According to Anton Salov, MerliOnCloud project manager, the company expects to implement a closer integration of its platform and MCS in the near future to provide hybrid cloud use cases.

40 services from 22 vendors. Start of IaaS service direction development

As of September 2019, Merlioncloud has more than 40 services from 22 vendors, but if different editions of the same service, such as antivirus for different operating systems, are considered different services, then this number can safely be multiplied by two. According to the head of the MerliOnCloud Anton Salov, the most popular categories among partners are information security tools and virtual/digital offices. Among them are subscriptions to Avast, SoundWeb, ESET and Kaspersky antiviruses, the SkyDNS content filtering service, the platform for protecting smartphones, tablets, laptops and devices IoT IBM MaaS360, packages for organizing teamwork with My MyOffice documents, Office 365, Zextras, OfficeSuite. The popularity of these two categories of services is not surprising: both of them are needed by any business and do not have industry specifics.

There are successful projects using the E.Queo cloud mobile learning service. The demand for infrastructure services for backup and virtual infrastructure formation is stable.

The MerliOnCloud portfolio includes services such as the unified communications platform CommuniGate Pro, which provides e-mail, group work, IP telephony and messaging functions, a tool for securely supporting users outside the Be.Cloud corporate network, a TOR region transport service system used, in particular, for managing urban public transport, and the IBM SPSS statistical analysis platform. "My Case," which allows you to automate transactions such as creating accounts, filling out declarations or calculating taxes.

Physically, cloud services are mostly deployed in the data centers of Russian providers, but there are also foreign sites: for example, MaaS650, Watson Studio and SPSS services are located in the IBM Cloud public cloud.

In the near future, the MerliOnCloud plans to create a civil servant's workplace, which will be provided as a service and meet Russian regulatory requirements. It will include anti-virus protection, MyOffice office applications, the CommuniGate Pro communication platform, Be.Cloud remote management tools, backup services, call center, as well as, if desired, a particular type of workstation: thin client, laptop, all-in-one (even the possibility of providing workstations according to the subscription model is discussed).

In the portfolio MerliOnCloud services SaaS prevail. Stanislav Mirin from iKS-Consulting drew attention to the fact that, unlike most Russian cloud providers, which reduced the range of their SaaS offers by two to three times in 2019, MerliOnCloud, on the contrary, doubled.

According to Anton Salov, in 2019, MERLION within the framework of the MerliOnCloud began the active development of IaaS and PaaS directions: this year IBM Cloud infrastructure services, as well as one Russian provider, whose name will be named later, appeared in its portfolio. In the near future, it is planned to conclude partnership agreements on IaaS/PaaS with leading domestic hyperskalers. To do this, you need to solve a number of issues of integration and negotiation of APIs to provider management portals. Among the infrastructure services offered are server hosting, backup data center, storage as a service or according to the hosting model, infrastructure for government information systems (GIS) and personal data storage, a dedicated protected channel, protection against DDoS attacks, as well as the implementation of all kinds of multi-cloud and hybrid configurations.

"We offer the implementation of hybrid scenarios to both our partners and their customers," said Anton Salov. - By such scenarios we mean simultaneous use of private and public cloud. There are not many truly private clouds (corresponding to the definition of NIST), but somehow hybrid scenarios are gaining popularity. MERLION can not only supply hardware and software for the private cloud, but also offer use cases with them and public clouds. At the same time, our broker platform is able to link billing, management and reporting both on the private cloud and on the public in a single account. Options are possible when the platform is installed inside the customer loop. There are also services that integrate cloud and onpremissive components. This is, for example, the MyOffice Professional service, which combines a cloud backend for storing files and a mail server with document editors installed on client PCs.

The mentioned cloud infrastructure services are formed on the basis of MERLION own resources or on partner infrastructure by specialists of the distributor's technical center. But they are available to all partners who can sell them on their own behalf, using the unique competencies of MERLION engineers.

"We do not have our own data centers, we rent a place in partner data centers," said Anton Salov. - We do not lay optical communication channels to these data centers, here partners also help us. But, say, virtualization or enterprise-class backup tools, we know how to create ourselves. Just distribute ready-made infrastructure services (sell gigaherts and terabytes) is small-margin and not very interesting. We can do much more. "

"The basic concept and strategy have not changed significantly," says Anton Salov. - However, in tactics we had to make serious adjustments. This is due to the first experience that we and our partners have gained, and to macroeconomic and even geopolitical changes. In particular, we shifted the emphasis from monthly to annual tariffs. We tried to promote monthly subscriptions to antivirus and IBM SPSS analytical package, but found that due to the low penetration of electronic document management, it is more convenient for customers and their partners to buy services at annual rates. This is, for example, the situation with the MDM service IBM MaaS360. Most of our partners vote in favor of such a billing period. Therefore, we came to a number of vendors with a proposal to form annual subscriptions. Antivirus manufacturers have already heard us. "

According to him, the company listens to partners and tries to meet their expectations by shifting product accents (adding more import-substituting services).

"At the request of partners, we are changing the roadmap for the development of the platform, adding new functionality, for example, we are working on creating a new interface (UX) of the partner's personal account, creating new various templates for storefronts, creating Restful APIs necessary for complex integration scenarios. For this, this year we have seriously strengthened the development team, "said Anton Salov.

The prospects for MerliOnCloud are largely determined by the development of the Russian cloud market. Among them, a clear trend towards market consolidation should be noted: large telecom operators have either already conducted transactions to acquire cloud providers and their data centers (MTS acquired IT-GRAD, 1cloud, Avantage), or are in the process of being absorbed (Rostelecom - DataLine). According to Stanislav Mirin, this consolidation is one of the most important signs of the transition of the Russian cloud market to the maturity phase.

Beeline and ER-Telecom also look at assets with cloud expertise, conduct a preliminary assessment of smaller, but quite promising providers. Only Megafon is still on the sidelines, but it has enough expertise - it draws it from tandem with Mail.ru, offers White Label solutions for the MCS hyperskaler and Mail.ru services for business, such as mail and disk space. Independent players, such as IXcellerate, realizing that not all customers will want to switch to operator clouds and their data centers, also plan to expand in our market, including according to the model of mergers and acquisitions. MERLION saw this trend even earlier and a few years ago acquired the Velvica cloud distribution platform and software distributor according to the subscription model - the company RentSoft. The expertise and technological developments obtained as a result of these purchases helped to quickly launch the MerliOnCloud marketplace and actively scale it.

The main growth is expected in the IaaS/PaaS segment, and due to medium and large businesses, as well as the public sector (primarily in the regions). These trends are noticeable now: they can be judged by the growing popularity of import-substituting cloud solutions.

Availability of online accounting "My Business" on the MerliONCloud

On August 6, 2019, Merlion, a Russian VAD distributor, announced the signing of a distribution agreement with My Business LLC as part of the development of the MerliONCloud project and the inclusion of My Business in its online accounting portfolio.

Our service works with all tax systems, has the functionality of personnel and commodity accounting, is integrated with banks, online cash registers, payment systems, CMS and CRM, so more than 60,000 companies use it. Cooperation with Merlion will make it possible to convey the value and usefulness of My Business online accounting to more entrepreneurs, especially in the regions, "said Sergey Panov, general director of My Business LLC.

The tax calendar of the service reminds in advance of the need to pay taxes, salaries or submit reports, including by SMS or e-mail. The user enters data on income and expenses, and the service generates all forms of reporting automatically. The service itself will calculate taxes, salaries and contributions taking into account current legislative changes. The probability of errors is excluded, since the calculation is automated, you can not fear fines and penalties. When calculating tax, all possible options for tax reduction are offered. When connecting an electronic signature, you can send reports in electronic form, directly from your personal account to the Federal Tax Service, FIU, FSS, Rosstat.

The platform "For an entrepreneur, online accounting" My Business "is an opportunity to really save on accounting and develop your business without unnecessary costs. We are pleased to expand our portfolio of cloud services with a much-sought-after service, "said Anton Salov, MerliONCloud project manager.

IBM SPSS Statistics Subscription and IBM Watson Studio Desktop Subscription Launch

On April 18, 2019, MERLION, a Russian VAD distributor, as part of the development of the MerliONCloud platform, announced the launch of sales of two products - IBM SPSS Statistics Subscription and IBM Watson Studio Desktop Subscription.

author '= Pechnikova Julia, Director, VAD Business Development Department, MERLION ' For us, the launch of sales of IBM products is an important step in the development of cloud distribution. IBM Corporation is one of the world leaders that develops the sale of cloud products by subscription through storefronts and MerliONCloud.

The advantages of IBM services subscription as opposed to purchase are all the possibilities of a regular license with a flexible payment option, including a simple process of purchase, management and licensing. By purchasing a subscription to services, you can change the number of users and transfer services to other devices, and all users are informed about updates and features that appear using push notifications.

Starting application e. Queo on the platform MerliONCloud

On March 14, 2019, MERLION announced its launch in conjunction with e. Queo (Equio) project of a cloud solution in the field of employee training based on a mobile application. Queo. The joint launch of the product is planned for the regional market of Russia and the CIS countries on the MerliONCloud platform. MERLION will act as the official distributor of the solution. More details here.

2018

The Merlioncloud portal was created in 2018 to solve business problems of customers and promote cloud services created by MERLION partners based on Microsoft technologies.

Launch of "MyOffice" product according to SaaS model

On November 20, 2018, the company MERLION announced that it had expanded cooperation with "." New Cloud Technologies A contract was signed between the companies for the sale MyOffice as a model service. SaaS According to the company, the platform for distributions cloudy MerliONCloud services becomes the official provider MyOffice solution service. The parties have already begun joint promotion of the service. Partners and customers have a version of the MyOffice product that Private Cloud includes tools for applications creating, co-editing, and centralized storages documents, as well as tools for organizing, e-mail calendars, and employee address books.

The service is one of the first implemented within the MerliONCloud ecosystem. It was created by engineers of the MERLION technical center on its own virtual infrastructure. A key feature of the service being launched is the complete automation and instant connection of the MyOffice package as an end-user service.

I am very glad that this result of our cooperation is now available to a wide range of customers. Created by MERLION specialists, the virtual collaboration service is based on MyOffice technologies and can be used in both private and public companies of any size. I am sure that the service will make collaboration convenient and effective. Evgeny Fenyushin, Product Director MyOffice

MERLION and New Cloud Technology combine two years of collaboration. The distribution agreement between the partners was signed in the spring of 2016, as of November 2018, MERLION is one of the authorized distributors of the MyOffice in Russia and the CIS countries.

Start selling subscriptions to the service "Anti-virus Dr.Web"

On October 30, 2018, the company MERLION announced that they were Dr.Web signing a distribution agreement and launching sales of subscriptions for the "" service Antivirus Dr.Web based on the MerliONCloud platform, together with the company ".

The progressive model of using antivirus software on the terms of a monthly subscription was proposed by Doctor Web more than ten years ago, which served as the beginning SaaS of an era in the history the Russian of the antivirus industry, but so far this opportunity has been available mainly to customers -. With Internetproviders the signing of this agreement, MERLION became a Russian distributor, offering its partners to evaluate the convenience of the service model of the business. The Platform enables partners to sell their A/B (subscription) solutions to both legal entities and individuals.

The implementation of anti-virus protection based on cloudy technologies allows you to respond unusually flexibly to changes in the situation in the sphere information security and manage protection components, quickly adjusting to the existing landscape. And threats the use of an advanced charging system greatly simplifies the organization of protection not only for workstations under control, but operating systems Windows Linux also for macOS a wide range, smartphones tablets as well as for a variety of smart devices running on the platform. Android

Dr.Web is one of the few antivirus vendors with their own technology for detecting and treating harmful programs; has its own viral monitoring service and analytical laboratory. This leads to a high speed of reaction of the company's specialists to emerging viral threats, the ability to assist customers in solving problems of any complexity in a matter of hours. The product line of antivirus, developed and delivered by Doctor Web, covers a wide range of operating systems, including domestic systems, as well as compatible applications.

Entering the distribution market and launching the ecosystem

On September 6, 2018, the VAD distributor, MERLION, announced the launch of the cloud distribution market and the launch of the MerliONCloud ecosystem, designed to promote partners to third-party and their own cloud solutions and services.

A special feature of the MERLION approach to building a network of cloud product providers is to minimize the partner's costs for launching such a project. To do this, as part of the MerliONCloud program, the distributor provides free access to a billing platform based on Velvica technology. It automates all necessary document flow, connection and charging of cloud services, as well as reporting. At the same time, the technical capabilities of the platform satisfy both the requirements of service providers and their consumers. Velvica allows you to start using the selected service almost five minutes after the customer selects the product. In turn, cloud developers can easily integrate their solutions onto the platform through a simple and sophisticated API.

In addition to free billing, the partner MerliONCloud gets access to the entire portfolio of cloud solutions of the distributor. Thus, the provider does not need to formalize legal relations with global and Russian developers and copyright holders.

The third important feature of the cloud ecosystem of MerliONCloud is the ability to form bandles from third-party cloud solutions, as well as its own products and services of a partner. At the same time, all processes are maximally automated and simplified, from pricing to reporting.

Another significant advantage of cooperation with MERLION in terms of cloud distribution is the ability of a partner to promote cloud solutions both through a single showcase and from his own site. In both cases, all the advantages that the Velvica billing platform gives a partner are preserved.

author '= Mikhail Stepanyuk, Director, Software Department, MERLION ' Building a working partner ecosystem in the cloud market is a long process. We began working on it two years ago and in 2018 we are moving to an active phase of cooperation with vendors and providers. Despite the fact that the Russian cloud market is still at the formation stage, it is necessary to start working intensively here now, since tomorrow, when this segment becomes mainstream, it will be almost impossible to win back the leading position in it from those who came ahead of time.

As of September 2018, the development of the cloud direction at MERLION will be provided by a team of 70 engineers of the MERLION Engineering Technical Center, as well as about 1.5 thousand employees of other departments. They will provide partners with comprehensive, including technical and marketing support, as well as consulting and training product managers. Among other things, partners will be provided with services for the customization and certification of cloud solutions under the conditions of competitions and the requirements of corporate users.