SMB: Target of IBM for a New Software

Information technology giant IBM has teamed up with finance management software vendor Intuit Inc. to launch an appliance in the United States that eases the business operation of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The appliance, the “Smart Cube,” is in fact designed to capitalize on the growing need for technology in the small and medium business sector. Moreover, the launch came at a time when the U.S. stimulus bill is set to offer financial support and subsidy for smaller enterprises investing in technology.

The Smart Cube is bundled with applications like email, calendaring, security, accounting tools and finance management software.

IBM says it has been inspired to launch such a package in the United States following the success of similar offerings in India.

There is another reason to launch such a package, according to IBM. The IT major has cited a recent study report from IDC, which estimated that the global market for small-business technology will be worth $675 billion by 2013.

IDC had even suggested that combining hardware, software and services in a single product could be an ideal way to attract the attention of small enterprises.

Clients will no longer require manuals or CDs to install and configure their technology and can count on IBM as a single source of technical support. Customers will also have access to remote services such as managed security and hosted data backup and recovery services through IBM’s cloud services.

The package, which comes pre-bundled with Intuit’ QuickBooks enterprise solutions, can be implemented in just four steps.

Also launched in United States is another package called “IBM Smart Business,” a software package that’s targeted at smaller enterprises.

In addition to Intuit, IBM says, 16 other ISVs will be selling 48 business applications to its clients across a range of industries including healthcare, telecommunications and manufacturing.