Microsoft empowers the expanding Small and Medium Business sector in Punjab bringing cloud solutions from its ISV ecosystem


·         Solutions include Customer Relationship Management, Finance and Accounting

·         Pricing begins from INR 250 

Chandigarh, December 7, 2016: Microsoft has introduced business solutions from its partner ecosystem to meet crucial business needs of Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) across Punjab. Built by Microsoft’s ISV partners Smarter SMB and IDOS, these solutions address key areas like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Finance & Accounting and enhancing organizational efficiency. These solutions will run on Microsoft cloud and will be available at a very low cost. 

Microsoft empowers the expanding Small and Medium Business sector in Punjab bringing cloud solutions from its ISV ecosystem

Punjab has one of the most vibrant SMB ecosystems in the country. More than 10 lakh SMBs exist in the state operating in key sectors like automotive components, chemicals, agro and food processing, light engineering goods, metal and alloy products, sports goods, textiles, pharmaceuticals, paper and paper products. However, low rate of technology adoption is affecting the growth of the sector in the state.
“The SMB sector in Punjab has strong potential for driving growth through technology adoption and Microsoft is committed to providing them with the right set of solutions to achieve it. SMBs in the state understand the business dynamics and realize the need for a robust IT infrastructure to grow and scale up their business. We are excited to provide the set of software solutions and help them enhance their business growth. This sector has witnessed tremendous growth in the recent years,” said Sudhir Nayar, Director – Partner Sales, Microsoft India. 

The power of the solutions launched today is their simplicity of use, deployment and maintenance. Specific solutions being made available today include:

Smarter Biz is the next generation mobile CRM tool for SMEs built on two areas natural to the SME segment, Excel and Voice. Unlike all other CRM tools, Smarter Biz stands out for its ease of usage as it only requires Excel and Voice, it’s intuitiveness that enables the sales person make effective calls, a virtual sales assistant which acts like a personalized Bot for the sales manager and a 360 degree view of each opportunity generated from any of the marketing activities.

This CRM tool is one of its kind which can now measure and track the sales team on every opportunity generated from the marketing team and builds trust among teams.

IDOS is a simple to use Accounting and Compliance software fully integrated into Microsoft Office 365. It empowers every business to increase their efficiency and profits. IDOS comes with in-built compliance and real-time internal audit capabilities. It prevents accounting errors and ensures that the transaction is accurate and authentic even before it is posted into ledgers, thereby avoiding rework, rectifications and reconciliations. IDOS also provides real-time and accurate business intelligence to facilitate decision-making.

 “Cloud is turning out to be a great enabler for SMBs.  It is helping them adopt enterprise-grade technology solutions on a pay-as-you-use basis.  All the solutions launched today are built on this principle”, added Mr. Sudhir Nayar. 

While bringing these solutions, Microsoft has also announced special pricing and deployment offers on Office 365. The pricing for Office 365 will start for as low as INR 250 per user per month and for organizations with more than 50 users, Microsoft will take the responsibility for deploying the suite.
IT solutions powered by cloud can address key business challenges faced by  SMBs and help connect them better with suppliers, distributors and government agencies. A recent study conducted by global consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that SMBs that leveraged IT grew 20 percent faster than the ones that didn’t. 

About Microsoft: Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) Microsoft is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 7,000 employees engaged in sales and marketing, research and development, and customer services and support across ten cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.