Voafone India is making a foray into the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment with mobility, connectivity and cloud computing services on the offer. Vodafone is eying to get over one million SMEs for providing them its IT solutions services.
There are around 4.5 million SMEs in the country and the market is estimated to be worth Rs 10,000 crore. Vodafone has around 80,000 SMEs as its customers last year.
Recently, the company has launched the ‘Vodafone India Drive into the Big League –II’ contest is for SMEs (enterprises with turnover between Rs 10 crore and Rs 250 crore). Vodafone’s suite consists of three kinds of products which include wireless products such as voice and data, connectivity services like Internet lease lines and cloud computing.
Speaking to Business Standard in Pune, Deepak Pande, Vodafone India executive vice president and head -SME Business said, “It is (SME sector) currently the fastest growing market and that is the reason why any telecommunication wants to get into the market. Vodafone’s suite consists of three kinds of products which include wireless products such as voice and data, connectivity services like internet lease lines and cloud computing. Right now we are offering mobility and connectivity services while the cloud computing products will be made available by the end of this financial year. The biggest users of these technologies are companies with higher spend base in indirect spending and are generally present in banking and financial services, pharma, FMCG, and retail. For an SME that looks to grow from Rs 150-crore company to Rs 300-crore one, this is a big impediment.”
Vodafone Drive into the Big League –II campaign had crossed more than 270,000 entries from SMEs across multiple locations in India. Last year, the first season of Vodafone Drive into Big League received 80,000 entries.
To help SMEs get some kind of visibility and marketing, the company has taken an initiative where small enterprises from across the country are participating in a quiz show and the winner will get chance to place its logo on Vodafone McLaren Mercedes cars that will race at the second season of the motor racing event slated for October 26-28, 2012.
Pande added, “We have a plan to target over 10lakh SMEs in the next one year. Currently, we have 100 channel partners and are present in about 85 towns, we will gradually expand that as we move forward. Small enterprises can scale up operations without adding people. There are other benefits too. When owners value transparency and compliance in their organisations, it helps them attract suppliers. It is also critical for these companies to look for supplier bases in terms of willing partners and unique positioning in the market.”
In order to expand its reach to SME sector, the company is planning to reach out to 300 towns in one year's time while the channel partners will also be tripled from 100 during the same time period.
As recent as May this year, a survey conducted by FICCI among 150 Indian SMEs found that one-fifth of the respondents do not use any kind of information and communication technology tools.
