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IBM announced the availability of “IBM Smart Business,” a way for small and medium businesses to acquire, use and manage technology that is radically simple.

Two years ago as part of IBM "Innovation Jam," the largest online brainstorm ever held, more than 150,000 people from over 100 countries converged to discuss ways in which technology could enable advancements in everyday life. One of the biggest issues identified was the tremendous need to make IT less complex for small and medium businesses.

IBM’s answer to this issue will get its first market test in the entrepreneurial Indian marketplace which boasts more than 35 million small and medium businesses. With the introduction of Smart Business, IBM aims to fuel the growth of these businesses by delivering ready-to-use IT that is easy to implement, operate and grow.

IBM Smart Business delivers:

• A pre-integrated solution with all the fundamental technology required to run a business with no manuals required
• Access to a Web-based community and marketplace to acquire new business applications, and web-delivered collaborative services immediately ready to support a business, such as access to remote (cloud-based) application services like managed security and hosted back-up and recovery
• A single point of contact for service and support – IBM.

“IBM’s ambitious vision for small and medium businesses, stakes out a clear leadership strategy that embraces new technologies, open standards and Web 2.0 capabilities. We will deliver the industry’s most desirable IT experience for small and medium business – delighting our clients with a wide choice of optimized applications; powerful, industry-standard business systems with built-in security and business resiliency; and a single point of contact for service and support,” said Ramesh Narasimhan, Director, General Business, IBM India/South Asia.

IBM has focused the initial launch of Smart Business on the healthcare and manufacturing industries ripe for technology solutions to solve significant business challenges:

India has achieved notable advances in its healthcare industry in recent years. Yet the country still faces significant challenges that include quality of care, rising costs and insufficient access for many citizens. It’s essential that India transform its healthcare financing, quality and delivery before the system reaches a breaking point.

At the same time, change is spreading across the manufacturing landscape at a breakneck pace, bringing healthy productivity gains to the industry. But the downside is that change can be very difficult to manage. Fortunately, new forms of planning, integration and financial insight tools enable midsize manufacturers to better handle rapid change and growing complexity.

With Smart Business, IBM will provide access to solutions from leading software providers that specialize in these industries and deeper sub-industries, while eliminating the complexity of managing technology. Healthcare providers and component manufacturers will be able to grow their businesses by increasing capabilities not complexity, and building connections to a community of others in their industry.

IBM Smart Business is available in India beginning November 21, 2008