File photo of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella giving the vision key note address at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2015 in Orlando, Florida. (Press Trust of India)

Tech giant Microsoft India said, Sept. 16, it is targeting small and medium businesses (SMBs) in Punjab and Haryana by offering them cloud-based solutions at cheaper rates.

“Our solutions are developed to address SMBs needs and Punjab and Haryana have strong pool of businesses, which can benefit from cloud solutions Azure, Office 365 and CRM Online.

We are working closely with our partners to equip them with necessary ammunition to help customers realize the benefits of Microsoft cloud and be more productive.

“The pay-as-you-go aspect of cloud specially benefits SMBs from a scalability and affordability perspective.” said Sudhir Nayar, director – Partner Sales, Microsoft India.

As the hub of manufacturing, agriculture and electrical goods verticals, Punjab and Haryana are home to businesses that have immense growth potential to compete at a global scale, he added.

“We will continue to enhance the capacity sand capability of our partners to help them deliver superior value to customers in both states”, he added.

Claiming to provide foolproof data security to its clients, the company said it is offering cloud-based solutions like Office 365 at Rs.300 per user per month rate to SMBs.

Public cloud services revenue in India is expected to reach $838 million by the end of 2015, an increase of almost 33%, over 2014 revenue of $632 million, according to Gartner.

Gartner has predicted high rates of spending on cloud services in India to continue through 2018 when the market is expected to reach $1.9 billion.

Adroit Infoways, a Microsoft Silver certified partner, said it is focusing on strengthening its public cloud capability with Microsoft’s enterprise-grade to help get businesses in Punjab and Haryana move to the cloud.

With this, Adroit Infowaysis also aiming to grow by 200% in the next 12 months.

Harpreet Gujral, CEO, Adroit Infoways India, said, “We have seen customers in Punjab realize the value of IT not just from a traditional infrastructure perspective, but also from the view point of enhancing business. Cloud computing provides a robust IT infrastructure to scale up their business and helps them gain competitive advantage. With Microsoft Cloud Solution, we have been able to address the IT needs of diverse verticals over the last year and see a tremendous potential in the upcoming year.”

The company is also eyeing to offer its solutions to government sector by helping them to provide citizen-centric services and data management, said company’s Head Business Value Communications, Tushar Makkar.