IBM upbeat on Indian SMBs, sees Indian small business IT-spend at $10bn
6thJuly 2008, The Indian Express
Sensing huge business potential in India's fast-growing small and medium
business segment, IT major IBM said it would launch an array of
cost-effective solutions for its Indian SMB customers.
"We expect the SMB segment to grow at over 20% year-on-year. SMBs are no
longer just investing in basic IT infrastructure but is looking at partners
to manage their ever-complex IT needs while they grow," IBM's Global
Technology Services vice-president and general manager, Nipun Mehrotra,
told PTI in an interview here.The total IT spend of Indian SMBs is expected
to touch $10 billion this year, of which $1.1 billion is expected to be
spent on IT services alone, Mehrotra said.
IBM, which is currently on a massive expansion drive to rapidly strengthen
its footprint in Indian SMB market, has an SMB customer-base of above 1,700
customers here, Mehrotra said, adding, "IBM has targeted to sustain the
growth rate in the present fiscal as well". The IT major had announced
'packaged services' for Indian SMBs in July 2006. This was primarily aimed
at those customers looking for "easy to choose, easy to implement solutions",
he said.
The IT giant has been investing heavily in its SMB-focused business in
India with a view to strengthen its domestic operations in this segment,
Mehrotra said. However, he did not divulge any further details of the
investment plans.
IBM had acquired Bangalore-based network solutions provider, Netsol, two
years back enabling the IT major to enhance its footprint to more than 60 cities
and 140 project locations in the country, Mehrotra said.
IBM presently offers various SMB-focused solutions and services such as
Scalable Modular Data Center (SMDC), Network Operations Center-Inside,
Integrated Infrastructure Management services and Site Assessment services.
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