Aims to drive revenue growth for organizations registered with the association
Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), an apex organization for industry, 
trade and service sectors in Karnataka and Microsoft have come together to help more than 200000 SMBs across Karnataka to adopt technology with cloud computing. This will not only open more avenues for SMBs but also help them connect better with their existing customers and reach out to the potential customers across India.
India’s SMB segment is playing a significant role in India’s economy. According to the NASSCOM and Frost & Sullivan report – India SMB Market – Monetizing Emerging Opportunities (2014), it employs approximately 40 per cent of India’s workforce, contributes more than 17% to national GDP, has close to 45 per cent share in manufacturing output and accounts for about 40 per cent of India’s total exports.
While most SMB owners understand the benefits of IT, they do not have the knowledge and personnel to deploy and manage the infrastructure. Factors like high total cost of ownership, poor governance due to limited top management support, fear of lack of vendor support, adherence to SLAs attributed to small deal size, limited technology skill sets, strike as challenges in the adoption of IT by SMBs.
“Technology lies at the heart of any business and the right mix of IT adoption helps businesses accelerate their growth at a minimum cost. We are excited to partner with Microsoft to drive the next wave of growth for our member organizations,” said Tallam R Dwarakanath, President, FKCCI.
Findings of a survey conducted by Greyhound Research state that organizations in Bengaluru in term s of IT maturity and deployment rank higher than other Indian counterparts. It stated that compared to the national average of 76%, only 73% organizations find it a challenge to source and deploy the right technology for their organization. Other than being a mature market for IT, Bengaluru also boasts of a conducive technology ecosystem as compared to other Indian cities. It only lags behind when it comes to having access to basic infrastructure to support organizational operations, adoption of technology can help workforce be mobile and collaborated leading to enhanced productivity.
Meetul Patel, General Manager – SMS&P, Microsoft India, said, ”Amongst SMBs the primary workloads are productivity, Internet connectivity, mail and messaging, business applications, collaboration, cloud storage and cloud platform. With our association with FKCCI we are able to reach out to thousands of SMBs and democratize information technology for small businesses while providing enterprise-class solutions that level the IT playing field for them and offer superior value to SMBs. This will open new avenues for them while gaining access to new markets resulting in profitable growth.”
As per a study by global consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), SMBs that embraced IT solutions grew faster than the ones that lagged in terms of IT adoption. The study also shows that SMBs that decided to take the IT plunge created more new jobs and more revenue growth over the past three years compared to SMBs that trailed in this regard. The BCG study, ‘Ahead of the Curve: Lessons on Technology and Growth From Small Business Leaders’ found that if more SMBs in India adopt the latest IT tools, there is potential for this sector to grow revenues by $56 billion and create as many as 1.1 million new jobs.
Microsoft cloud solutions like Office 365, CRM Online, Microsoft Azure helps SMBs collaborate, communicate, and connect better in their ecosystem and expand to more markets and customers. The combination of online applications and always-on customer support gives SMBs the desired competitive edge and helps open newer business opportunities. This initiative will not only help SMBs expand their business, but also help the country progress toward the “Make in India” vision of transforming itself into a global leader.
