Business Internet Services for SMEs

BANGALORE:Reliance Communications, leading integrated telecom service provider, in association with networking leader Cisco on Wednesday launched Business Internet Services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bangalore.

The launch of Reliance Business Internet Services (RBIS), enabled by state-of the-art wireless broadband network recently deployed by the company, is a composite suite bundled at encouraging IT adoption by SMEs by considerably reducing the high entry costs.

This integrated suite of solutions, being offered for the first time in India, does not require any capital expenditure and is available anywhere and everywhere in the city through wireless broadband network.

Speaking at the launch, Prakash Bajpai, President and CEO, Reliance Communications said, "Business automation is fast becoming a basic requirement for SMEs in order to maintain optimum efficiencies and remain competitive. The launch of RBIS is the first step in our endeavor to provide a tailor made package for the fast growing SME market in the country."

The joint initiative is all about creating a ubiquitous network through a unique product. The solution allows the user to see his business mails on a Blackberry as well. Going a step ahead it also enables ERP package from SAP, he added. And there's more to come - fixed mobile convergence network, which creates a single phone network, and remote surveillance, Bajpai said.

"Today, with increasing globalisation of businesses, Indian SMEs have understood the critical transformational impact of technology. Cisco has understood the networking technology needs of SMEs and developed customized solutions to cater to the needs of this segment," said Pramodh Menon, Sr Vice President, Commerical, Cisco India and SAARC. "This transformational initiative enables SME customers to focus on their core business."

"There are 6 to 10 million SMBs in India and most of them were under served. "They want simplicity. They lack infinite resources at their command and grapple with the issues," he said.

Elaborating on Cisco's focus on SMBs, Menon pointed out that this year alone, Cisco has offered 25 new products for SMBs and there are more exciting offers ahead.

An industry survey indicates that 40 to 60 percent of all IT spending over the next 5 to 10 years will come from the SMB market, he said.

Reliance Communications will use Cisco's carrier grade Ethernet solution as part of its IP infrastructure for the joint commercial service offering. The Cisco solution will provide a scalable and manageable connectivity with the required quality of service levels.

The RBIS bundled suite offers - High-speed broadband access, anti virus suite, business e-mail packages, domain name services, firewall; LAN and WAN among others.

The solution is available on an on-demand basis and is delivered within 24 to 48 hours through channel partners. The service-conducive package is tailor-made, scalable and helps SMBs to stop worrying about CAPEX, Bajpai said. The customer needs to invest anywhere between Rs 1100 to Rs 2 lakh per month depending on the size of the infrastructure.

CIOL Bureau