New AMI Report Assesses Revamped Microsoft Office Live Small Business Strategy

Business Wire, April 15, 2008

Examines very small business market and Microsoft's online offerings

NEW YORK -- Will new freebies and enhancements in Microsoft's Office Live Small Business (OLSB) speed up the adoption of Web technologies among very small businesses (those with 1-9 employees)? A new report from AMI-Partners, Microsoft Office Live Small Business: A Pulse Check, explores Microsoft's strategy to accelerate adoption of its newly revamped Office Live Small Business offerings in this market.

"Office Live Small Business is central to Microsoft's software plus services strategy in the very small business space," according to Laurie McCabe, VP, SMB Insights & Solutions. "Although Microsoft has made inroads with OLSB over the years, it is still looking for the right formula to spark broad-based adoption of website, ecommerce, collaboration and other online tools among the massive population of very small businesses with 1-9 employees".

While the vast majority of very small businesses in the U.S. have equipped themselves with the basics necessary to take advantage of online solutions and services, many have yet to deploy website, e-commerce or collaboration solutions. For example, AMI data indicates that 37% of commercially-located very small businesses lack a website, and of the 63% that have deployed a company website, only 37% have implemented ecommerce solutions to optimize online sales and service. Only 28% of home-based businesses with PCs have a website, and 53% have no current plans to deploy one.

However, the pressure is growing for small companies that are lagging in these areas to get their businesses online. AMI data indicates that very small firms with website and ecommerce solutions enjoy significant advantages over their peers in terms of total revenue and business growth. "With its new version of OLSB--which offers more core components for free, improved contact and document management services, and new capabilities for email marketing and online advertising--Microsoft is trying to make it easier and less risky for these businesses to do more online," added McCabe.

About the Report

Will these new enticements be enough to speed up the online pulse of these very small companies, accelerate adoption on Office Live Small Business into the mainstream, and create a solid foundation for Microsoft's software plus services vision in this market? The 16-page report, Microsoft Office Live Small Business: A Pulse Check, synthesizes market data with vendor analysis to:

* Highlight very small businesses' current readiness for and adoption of Web site and ecommerce solutions, with data sourced from AMI's most recent U.S. Small Business and Home-based Business surveys.

* Examine Microsoft's Office Live Small Business history and its latest offerings.

* Explore Microsoft's market and partner strategy for Office Live Small Business.

* Assess Microsoft's strengths and weaknesses in the overall competitive environment.

* Evaluate Office Live Small Business prospects for accelerating into the mainstream of the very small business market, and creating a solid foundation for Microsoft's software plus services strategy.

For more information about this study, AMI-Partners, or our global SMB research, call 212-944-5100, e-mail ask_ami@ami-partners.com, or visit us at www.ami-partners.com.

About Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.

AMI-Partners specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital, and actionable market intelligence -- with a strong focus on global small and medium businesses (SMBs), and extending into large enterprises and home-based businesses. The AMI-Partners mission is to empower clients for success with the highest quality data, business strategy perspectives and "go-to-market" solutions. Led by Andy Bose, the firm has built a world-class management team with deep experience cutting across IT, telecommunications and business services sectors in established and emerging markets.

AMI-Partners has helped shape the go-to-market SMB strategies of more than 150 leading IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services companies. The firm is well known for its IT and Internet adoption-based segmentation of the SMB markets; its annual retainership services based on global SMB tracking surveys in more than 25 countries; and its proprietary database of SMBs and SMB channel partners in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The firm invests significantly in collecting survey-based information from several thousand SMBs annually, and is considered the premier source for global SMB trends and analysis.