Microsoft India announced a host of initiatives — including a new business solutions platform and software licencing programme — to tap the growing Indian small and medium business (SMB) segment.‘‘We are doubling our investments and head count as well as our reach in this segment,’’ Microsoft India MD Neelam Dhawan told reporters. Microsoft will enhance its manpower to 100 and double its presence to 33 cities in the next one year — all to cater to SMBs, she said.Dhawan said the company would also widen its partnership network of 3,000, but refused to give the investment numbers.Microsoft’s interest in the segment comes in the wake of its burgeoning growth. Dhawan said there are 1.8 million such Indian entities. Navision 4.0 is an integrated ERP, CRM and SCM solution for SMBs. The Open Value licencing programme enables customers to make deferred payments over three years.
