KUALA LUMPUR, 19 JANUARY 2009 – To help Malaysian small and medium businesses (SMBs) cope with the current economic downturn, technology giant Microsoft has released a new server line solution.
The launch—part of Microsoft’s US$6.5 billion annual investment in products and support—would bring enterprise-level solutions to the SMB segment in Malaysia, according to Microsoft Malaysia product marketing manager, infrastructure server, Ramesh Rajandran.
“Globally, SMBs are the engines for economic growth and opportunity,” said Rajandran. “Our SMBs, likening their larger counterparts, are facing tough challenges brought forth by the widespread uncertainty in the world market.”
“Our mantra is to support businesses succeed during these unpredictable economic climate. Microsoft is focused on delivering integrated and affordable server solutions, configured for optimisation, to meet the needs of companies with scarce IT resources,” he said. “Our Windows Small Business Server (SBS 2008) and Windows Essential Business Server (EBS 2008) offer a comprehensive set of capabilities that will fuel the growth of SMBs.”
Making enterprise available to SMBs
Rajandran said that SBS 2008—an integrated server solution designed for companies with up to 75 users or PCs—would help businesses keep their data more secure and make their company more productive. “SBS provides many of the technologies used by larger companies, such as Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and other Microsoft products.”
“Whereas, EBS 2008 is designed for businesses with up to 300 users or PCs, and allows IT managers to have more control over their environment by reducing complexity and automating common tasks,” he said. “With support for Windows Mobile phones, SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 can significantly help boost productivity with access to business e-mail, calendar, contacts and files when away from the office.”
Mix of local partners
HP Malaysia country business manager, industry standard servers, technology solutions group, Vincent Lee, said: “SMB customers are constantly searching for ways to stay at the technology forefront without having to make hefty IT investments. Being able to share our insights with Microsoft in the development of their new server solutions was an excellent opportunity for us to adequately address the needs of SMBs.”
“We are fortunate to be working with a very good mix of partners who contributed their inputs using our various feedback channels during the development of these products,” said Microsoft’s Rajandran. “The inputs of our partners are evident throughout these new solutions. Our deployment partners have direct regular access to their SMB customers and they use these relationships to build customised solutions to cater to the needs of their customers.”
