Bharti Airtel, Microsoft forge ties to offer software

Mumbai, Nov 13 (UNI) Microsoft and Bharti Airtel has announced a strategic partnership that will offer a range of software and services for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India.

The partnership will begin by offering to Indian SMBs Microsoft Solutions for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, a joint press release here said. It will also offer other hosted applications like CRM, Accounting, ERP, Unified communications and select Microsoft ISV applications.

In an unique software cum service solution model, 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 2007. 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.

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 Airtel and Microsoft that enables Airtel customers to access corporate email via direct push technology using Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 platform.

Managed entirely by 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 Rs 18,000 crore.

IDC estimates that IT spending by SMBs would grow by 17 per cent which is the highest in Asia Pacific,'' Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises said.

''Microsoft is thrilled to be working with Bharti to deliver advanced, enterprise-class features once reserved only for corporations with extensive IT budgets,'' Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft said.

''We believe that small and medium businesses will be able to see the benefits of this solution very quickly,'' he added.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Broadband&Telephone (B&T) services and Enterprise services. The mobile business provides mobile&fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. The B&T business provides broadband&telephone services in 92 cities.

The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national&international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.

UNI SN MJ VKG1740