Amazon Web Services, a unit of Amazon.com Inc. that provides Internet-based data storage and computing power, has opened a new online store where businesses can choose from among more than 100 business software applications.

“You can choose your applications from a catalog and start using them within seconds,” Jeff Bar, chief evangelist for Amazon Web Services, said in a blog post Thursday.

The new AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps makes available such desktop software as security and data storage applications, including Zscaler Security Cloud from Zscaler Inc. and IDM Ultra Security from IDM Computer Solutions; word processing and spreadsheet software from vendors including Kingsoft Software and Microsoft Corp.; graphics software from Smith Micro Software Inc.; and, for developing web applications, software including Microsoft’s Visual Studio and open-source software from the Python Software Foundation.

“The availability of Smith Micros’s graphics software in AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps will open the door to a broad new enterprise customer base and provide easy access to our industry-leading 2D and 3D animation solutions,” says Jim Mains, chief strategy officer at Smith Micro.

The AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps is a new feature within Amazon WorkSpaces, a service of Amazon Web Services that lets clients access cloud-based software for running business operations. To access the desktop apps marketplace, users deploy Amazon’s WorkSpace Application Manager, which is available in a free version with a limited number of administrative controls for managing access to software applications. A paid version, at $5 per user per month, enables a client to control employee access to desktop applications, monitor usage and schedule software updates.

Users pay separate fees to suppliers of the software they access through the apps marketplace.

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