Microsoft Adds Services for Small Businesses
Microsoft estimates that by 2004 more than five million companies will have Web sites in operation, and a majority of them won’t have the in-house skills to develop those sites.
To help small businesses set up their sites, Microsoft has introduced two new services intended to ease the process of creating and running an online site.
The new services are provided through bCentral.com, Microsoft’s portal for small businesses. They include bCentral Web Site Manager Custom, a full-service package that provides small businesses with hands-on assistance from professional Web consultants on planning, launching and maintaining a Web site.
The site also provides bCentral Finance Manager, for Web-based accounting with secure access to key financial data. bCentral Finance Manager integrates with other bCentral services, including customer management and e-commerce applications, for management of business financial data, customer information and transactions and more.
bCentral Web Site Manager Custom provides a professionally designed custom site while giving users the ability to manage the text and other content. Other services include domain registration, site hosting, business e-mail, online marketing tools such as a newsletter, telephone support and follow-up marketing consulting.
Users have the option to add an online catalog, a shopping cart and real-time credit-card processing. Microsoft charges US$50 a month plus a setup fee of US$399.
