BT, Microsoft team on small business

LONDON — Small businesses in the U.K. are being offered a one-stop shop for software and broadband through a new joint offering from BT Group PLC and Microsoft Corp., the companies said Thursday.

If the service takes off in the U.K., Microsoft has said it will look into offering it internationally with other partners, Rakesh Mahajan, general manager for strategy and business development with of BT Retail said Thursday.

BT Connected and Complete has been put together to give small companies broadband access, e-mail, Office software and support and maintenance on a per-user basis, the companies said. For about £50 ($89) a month per user, depending on the size of the company, a local BT channel partner will install and set up the broadband connection, with firewall and antivirus software, and provide Microsoft’s Solution for Hosted Exchange 2003, Version 2.0, for e-mail, contacts and calendar access, plus Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003.

Companies will also be offered a domain name and simple Web design software to help them create their first Web site, Microsoft’s Scottish Regional Manager Raymond O’Hare said.

BT’s channel partners will provide support and will visit each customer every six months to perform an “IT health check up” on the company to assess its infrastructure and future needs. Customers will also have access to both BT and Microsoft’s helpdesks, Mahajan said.

A first phase of the service will be available in Scotland in June, through a Livingston, Scotland, channel partner called Capito Ltd. This initial trial will identify any problems and test customer demand, O’Hare said. Nationwide availability is planned for September.

Small businesses have needed a service like this for a long time, said Walter Herriot, manager of the St. John’s Innovation Centre, an “incubator” supplying facilities and services for knowledge-based, startup companies in Cambridge, England.

“It seems ideal. While we provide a connectivity service as part of the package at the Innovation Center, it’s more difficult for independent companies. If they’re trading from home they’ve been able to use personal services, which were available at lower rates, but there’s been discrimination against smaller startups. This sounds a useful, integrated service,” he said.

“We now have the full portfolio to offer for corporate, consumer and small business customers, ” Lucy Dimes, director of ICT and strategic partnerships at BT Retail said Thursday.

“There was a bit of a gap for small and medium sized companies. This is unique, no-one else is offering these sorts of services together,” she said.

The “sweet spot” for the service will be companies with between five and 50 employees, Mahajan said. The exact pricing has not been determined but will depend on the number of users and the proportion of those who need different parts of the service, he said.