"We Want To Make Express Advantage A One-Stop Shop For SME Needs"

IBM India recently announced the IBM Express Advantage for mid-market businesses and a host of cross-industry solutions for SMEs in six major cities. Ramesh Narasimhan, director, GSMB – IBM India/South Asia shares some details about the latest offering.

How will the Indian SME market benefit from the packaged solution offered by IBM?

We feel the market is ripe and the SMEs across verticals are doing extremely well in India. The SME segment in India has immense potential and we intend to support them with this initiative.

IBM has around 300 solutions dedicated to the SME segment. With Express Advantage, we are packaging around 80 of these solutions with various services and features, making it a wholesome end-to-end solution. SMBs today require more IT infrastructure, smart planning, right partners, etc. Mid-size companies have to be competitive and innovative, and for that they need innovative solutions that can help them perform.

More from Biztech

Future Group - Reliance Retail Deal approved by CCI RBI ban on cryptocurrencies takes effect; prohibition could force investors to tap the black market

Which are the industry verticals addressed by the Express Advantage package?

The Express Advantage product portfolio will address security, business recovery, employee collaboration and energy efficiency needs of mid-sized businesses. The offerings are broadly categorised as point product, infrastructure solutions and business solutions.

Business solutions vertical covers industry verticals such as manufacturing, retail, financial, etc. Under infrastructure solutions, we have solutions for e-mail, security, IP telephony, data centre management, auditing, networks. etc.

How can a CIO utilise IBM’s Express Advantage cost effectively?

Indian customers are looking for a robust, affordable solution that is easy to implement, manage and use. Earlier, the SMEs had a budget for everything, including the IT infrastructure. Today, however, SMEs are willing to pay for a solution that they feel is value for money.

We plan to collaborate with our business partners and ISVs to develop solutions that will enable their customers to minimise the business challenges they face, while increasing their return on investment.

What are the eligibility criteria for IBM Financing Advantage?

IBM Financing Advantage (IFA) is designed specifically for the mid-market. IFA offers customers and business partners complete single-source financing at competitive rates, featuring easy access to leases and loans for IBM and non-IBM hardware, IBM software and IBM services, and a full range of buyback, recycling and scrap services to help manage costs, while simultaneously funding growth.

The criteria are similar to any finance company, such as a well-audited balance sheet, a good vision/plan of business etc. We want to make Express Advantage a single window or a one-stop shop for all SME IT needs.

How can the dedicated portal help SME customers?

The portal www.ibm.com/expressadvantage/in is an interactive website that supports all the plans and activities of Express Advantage. Customers or partners can log in and chose a solution package that best fits their needs – and if the customer needs to purchase the chosen solution, the site can find them the nearest partner who can help them with the purchase, implementation and maintenance of the same. The partner can also use the same portal to his benefit.