Technology
Written by Alma Anonas-Carpio / Correspondent
Thursday, 07 May 2009 22:43

SOFTWARE giant Microsoft recently launched a combination hardware-software offering designed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) weather the latest bout of financial flu.

Speaking at the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 Foundation, Microsoft general manager for server and tools Bill Hilf said the new server software—sold in conjunction with brand-name hardware—provides “the most cost-efficient Windows Server product available in the market,” since the entire package of server equipment and licensed software costs approximately P50,000 all in.

Microsoft’s original equipment manufacturer partners in this endeavor include computer manufacturers International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell and Acer, who will provide the hardware preloaded with the new server software.

HP Philippines technology manager David Tan is offering its ProLiant ML110 and ML115 servers with Intel and AMD server processor chips, as well as Windows Server 2008 Foundation software, for P57,500. “We are very pleased to partner with Microsoft to make [this software] available to our [SME] customers,” Tan said, adding that HP’s partnership with Microsoft “is a testament to [our] common objectives, which is to help SMEs thrive during these hard times by providing them with cost-efficient IT solutions for better business outcomes.”

IBM Philippines systems and technology group country manager Erwin Chuaunsu noted that the new server software offered by Microsoft fits in “perfectly” with the new, made-for-SME servers that IBM launched recently. “It will also go a long way in helping IBM realize its vision of a Smarter Planet, as our new corporate social responsibility [CSR] goal is called.” The new IBM servers that will carry the Windows Server 2008 foundation software are the new, hot-swappable machines that run on the 45-nanometer Intel Xeon 550 processor.

“Microsoft Philippines recognizes the rising number of Filipino entrepreneurs venturing into different industries and finding the right niches in which to grow their businesses,” Hilf said. “With micro-, small and medium enterprises making up 99.7 percent of enterprises in the Philippines, we feel that this is the perfect time to look after their needs and, with the release of Windows Server 2008 Foundation, we believe this product will enable them to become more competent and cost-effective at the same time.”

The new server software is the latest addition to the Windows Server family and, according to Hilf, provides an “ideal platform for small businesses with less than 15 users. It provides a core portfolio of information technology [IT] capabilities, which include file and print sharing, remote access and security and other general server functions.”

He also said the market for industrial-level IT solutions “is not a one-size-fits-all market. Like clothing, there should be small-, medium- and large-size solutions that fit the needs of all clients that are specific to their individual requirements.”

Filling the needs of large enterprises, be they financial institutions, large manufacturing companies or large retailers, among others, “is easier than fitting a hardware-software solution to small firms. Large enterprises have basically the same types of needs, while micro-firms and SMEs are tremendously diverse— they can be anything from a small convenience store to a small services supplier to an Internet shop and IT services consultancy—and their needs will vary accordingly,” he added.

Hilf also noted that, based on “deep research” conducted by Microsoft into the micro-business and SME markets, 92 percent of such businesses employ only one to nine workers, while 7.3 percent of these businesses employ between 10 and 99 workers. Microsoft’s research data also showed that micro-enterprises and SMEs in the Philippine employ 70 percent of the country’s work force and majority of these companies are wholesale and retail firms.

These numbers, Hilf said, indicate that microbusinesses and SMEs are vital in dispersing new industries and stimulating employment in the rural areas. However, he also pointed out that these same businesses are the ones that have been “hardest-hit by the economic downturn, and they have the least resources for rebounding from the crisis.”

“This brings us to the other purpose behind Windows Server 2008 Foundation,” Hilf said. “With this low-cost solution, we hope to help microbusinesses and SMEs weather the global crisis because we see that, given the numbers I’ve just shown, helping small businesses flourish is the best way to help the global economy rebound from the financial crisis.”

In line with this, Microsoft is earmarking an undisclosed percentage of the proceeds of the sale of its Windows Server 2008 Foundation software licenses to fund two global nonprofit organizations, Techsoup.org and Telecentre.org. Both organizations focus on building the capabilities of nongovernment organizations [NGOs] worldwide, including the Philippine Community eCenter Network (PhilCeCNet), which bring e-learning and IT education to the grassroots level.

PhilCeCNet, according to Tess Camba of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, is an NGO that has built local government unit-based e-learning centers in 800 municipalities and is in the process of setting up 200 more. “We hope to have the remaining 65 percent of municipalities empowered with e-learning through our centers by 2010,” Camba said as she thanked Microsoft for its support of the PhilCeCNet effort.

This two-pronged approach of providing low-cost server-software bundles fit to the needs of small businesses and funding e-learning programs to upgrade the grassroots people’s IT skills is Hilf’s brainchild, and is part of the “concept of reciprocity” which he seeks to engender. “We at Microsoft want to put out the message that good business is reciprocal; you receive good business when you give support for your clients and for the rest of the world.”

*Published by BusinessMirror