Global IT major Microsoft and Bharti Airtel on Sunday announced a strategic partnership that will offer a range of software and services for small and medium businesses (SMB) in the country.
The partnership would offer Microsoft solutions for hosted messaging and collaboration besides other applications like CRM, accounting, ERP, unified communications and select Microsoft ISV applications, a Bharti Airtel release said.
It would provide enterprise-class software bundled with connectivity solutions to small businesses that do not have dedicated IT resources. The service is aimed at companies with minimum five or more employees and they would be able to enjoy experience without initial investments using a pay-as-you-go model.
The new professional messaging system will give small businesses the ability to access secure enterprise grade e-mail, instant messaging and instant portals with rich collaboration capabilities, it said.
"SMB verticals 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 crores. With interagted capacbilities...Bharti is in a unique position to be the preferred partner to provide telecom and networking solutions," Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal was quoted as saying in the release.
"Microsoft is thrilled to be working with Bharti to deliver advanced enterprise-class features once reserved for corporations with extensive IT budgets," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was quoted as saying.
{{/usCountry}}"Microsoft is thrilled to be working with Bharti to deliver advanced enterprise-class features once reserved for corporations with extensive IT budgets," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was quoted as saying.
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