Microsoft Corporation India and Hewlett Packard India have announced a new partnership to address the needs of the emerging SMB segment of the Indian subcontinent. Through this joint venture the two companies intend to roll out a ‘Smart Office‘ initiative to offer SMBs/ SMEs integrated IT solutions, tailor-made to suit their needs.
More specifically, under the initiative the two companies plan to create powerful, easy-to-use desktop solutions by pre-loading versions of Microsoft Office on a range of hardware options from Hewlett-Packard.
On the server front, HP will offer its Proliant range of servers with Window Server 2003 and Windows Small Business Server 2003.
The desktop and server solutions sold under this new initiative are targeted to specifically suit the needs of SMB customers in the country, the statement said.
When evaluating a technology solution, SMBs look for three things – a solution that will help address their business needs, one that they can easily implement, use and support, and finally is cost effective in the short and the long term, said Neelam Dhawan, Managing Director, Microsoft India.
Announcing the partnership, Mr. Dhawan said "the products combines’ best of breed software and hardware options, are out the box, require minimal set up and are cost effective".
With SMBs looking at technology as a growth enabler, "this initiative with Microsoft will help us reach out to empower SMB’s through our Smart Office portfolio of solutions developed specifically for them, Balu Doraiswamy, Managing Director, HP India Sales Pvt. Ltd, said.
HP and Microsoft have custom developed these desktop and server solutions to specifically suit the needs of our SMB customers.
HP’s strong after sales service and support network strengthens the value proposition.