Many small firms believe that they are far from the thoughts of politicians when it comes to decisions on business policy, but one thing is for certain - at least two corporate giants are more than keen to court them. IBM and Microsoft, the two biggest and most powerful IT companies in the world,  are clashing over the small business market. IBM has launched a range of new software servers with the aim of stealing the march on its more established rival.

The company has called its IBM Foundations offering a ‘one stop shop solution’ for small businesses IT needs, referring to the ease of instillation and use that the software affords.  It is believed that the product will include a range of utilities, such as email, file management and directory services, firewall, data back-up and recovery, and office productivity tools.

IBM is expected to price its latest offering below that of Microsoft’s Small Business Server. In addition, the company has unveiled Bluehouse, a service that allows small firms to collaborate by sharing files, contacts and project information safely, and providing facilities for online meetings and conferences.

According to the UK’s Financial Times, IBM is reacting to slowing growth in the western ‘enterprise’ market, consisting of big businesses and governments, and instead setting its sights on the small businesses, woth an estimated £200 billion a year. It is also likely to want to compete with Microsoft in potentially lucrative developing markets such as South America, China and India.

IBM will also launch a range of server software products targetted, for the first time, at the smallest of businesses, those with between five and 100 employees. In advance of the move, it has acquired a number of IT companies, including Toronto-based Net Integrations Technologies, whose software will play a key role in its new server.

Such competition, particularly if it is a sign of more to come, can only be good for the small busniness communuity, and is likely to bring savings with it. Small businesses are spending more than ever on IT and telecommunications. The FPB’s advice has always been to shop around for the best deal. It is early days, but there could never have been a better time to do so. Visit www.fpb.org for more information about choosing the right telecommunications package for your business, using the FPB’s partner, Chess Telecoms.