Majority SMEs hit by slowdown

A survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has revealed that 94% of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been 'severely to moderately hit' by the economic slowdown, according to Indian Express.

The SME sector remains optimistic, with 66% of the participating companies foreseeing an improvement in the market conditions over the next six months, the survey added.

The survey was conducted by FICCI among 116 SMEs manufacturing a diverse range of products from 20 locations across the country, mostly catering to the export market.

iTwire speculated last week that Optus could get into the business of offering applications to business customers under a SaaS model, states ITWire.

Following this, Ovum has flagged this as growth market for telcos, saying that having a single ICT provider is on the majority of SMEs' wish-lists.

According to Ovum analyst, Claudio Castelli, "Ovum research shows that 65% of SMEs globally prefer to purchase all their fixed and mobile services from a single provider. Telcos are listening to their demands."

SAP has unveiled a programme to reduce pre-sales and implementation time for channel partners, reports TheChannel.

The Fast Start programme is being rolled out in New Zealand and will be automatically available to all certified SAP resellers.

The Fast Start programme for SAP Business All-in-One delivers a fixed price, fixed scope, on-premise ERP solution.