Microsoft launches new initiatives to offer tech support to Indian SMBs

Microsoft has announced two new initiatives to guide India’s small and medium businesses (SMBs) on digital transformation projects and help them learn new technology and business skills. The initiatives include a SMB-focused website and a dedicated helpline number. 

The SMB-focused website will focus on improving networking opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs in India, enhance their skills and achieve holistic growth, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. 

Elaborating on the initiative, Microsoft said that the website offers a "rich" repository of skills, resources and tools to cater to every requirement of a business. It offers an SMB Academy that can help SMBs gain valuable digital skills and improve workforce productivity using Microsoft’s curated business and technology courses.  The website also offers varied Microsoft solutions that best address the needs of an organization, as well as easy access to Microsoft’s vast ecosystem of over 17,000 partners in the country. 

On the other hand, the helpline offers SMBs dedicated support to navigate their digital transformation journey seamlessly. The helpline provides expert guidance and assistance in leveraging technology solutions that best address their business challenges, improve operations, increase efficiency and drive growth. 

A study by Microsoft conducted in July last year shows that strong linkages of technology investments and adoption with business strategies, as well as close collaboration with partners are crucial factors for SMB success. 

Microsoft has been working closely with SMBs, giving them cloud technologies, specially designed solutions, skills and support, as well as multi-city experiential events such as TechMart, to help their digital transformation so they can thrive in today's digitally powered economy.  

Samik Roy, Executive Director – Corporate Medium and Small Business, Microsoft India, said, “These new initiatives are aimed at further supporting these organizations and work closely with them so they can do more with less”. 

To be sure, Microsoft’s rivals are also working with small firms in India and helping them scale through accelerator programs. In September last year, Google Cloud India and IT services provider Redington announced a partnership aimed at driving the adoption of cloud-based services among the SMBs in the country. 

Google has also partnered with Tata Tele Business Services (TTBS), the brand under which Tata Teleservices offers voice, data and managed services to enterprises and carriers, in October to offer the Google Workspace suite to small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India to support their communication and collaboration needs for hybrid working. 

In March, Amazon’s cloud arm AWS launched AWS Lift in India to help small and midsize businesses (SMBs) – those with annual revenues of Rs 80 to Rs 625 crore - with their digital transformation. The program will offer access to 200 fully-featured services on AWS. With a minimum billing fee of $1 and no lock-in periods, companies will be able to leverage the pay-as-you-go model to develop their operations and transform processes to drive new revenue growth.  

According to IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Small and Medium-Sized Business and Digital-Native Business 2023 Predictions — India Implications, 30% of SMBs will shift half of their core workloads to the cloud by 2025 to drive business agility and future resilience.