SMB solutions...Bharti ties up with Microsoft

Bharti Airtel Ltd. said on Monday that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp. to offer a range of software and services for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India. The partnership will begin by offering Microsoft solutions for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration. It will also offer other hosted applications like CRM, Accounting, ERP, Unified Communications and select Microsoft ISV applications.

In unique software cum service solution model, Bharti Airtel is working in close co-operation with Microsoft to provide enterprise-class software bundled with connectivity solutions to small businesses that do not have dedicated IT resources. This service is predominantly aimed at companies with five or more employees, and is expected to be available in January, Bharti Airtel said. These companies will now be able to enjoy the same experience as large enterprise customers without initial investments using a pay-as-you-go model, it added.

This new professional messaging and collaboration service will give small businesses the ability to access secure enterprise grade e-mail, secure instant messaging and intranet portals with rich collaboration capabilities, whether they are in the office or on the road. This follows the strategic partnership between Bharti Airtel and Microsoft that enables the Indian company's customers to access corporate email via direct push technology using Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 platform. Managed entirely by Bharti Airtel, these services will allow businesses to communicate more efficiently, reduce administrative and IT overheads and connect employees with business-critical information whenever and wherever they need it.

"SMB vertical in India have huge potential and offer an exciting opportunity for Bharti. We estimate total telecom spend in the SMB space to be around Rs180bn. IDC estimates that IT spending by SMBs would grow by 17% which is the highest in Asia Pacific. With integrated capabilities across wire-line, wireless, data and managed services, Bharti is in a unique position to be the preferred partner to provide telecom and networking solutions to this segment. We are pleased to partner with Microsoft to offer to Indian SMBs this unique business model," said Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.