Microsoft bolstered its position in the small
business computing software market today with its
revamped accounting and business management product.
Business Solutions Small Business Financials (SBF) North America
Edition, the lengthy name of the new product, is a rebranded and updated
version of the company’s Business Solutions Small Business Manager software.
The latest effort, designed for enterprises in the United States and
Canada with 10 to 49 employees, is aimed at improving growing businesses’
ability to connect people and information while streamlining the information
processes to help manage more effectively, according to Microsoft.
Users will have greater ability to customize reports,
streamline order processing and inventory management, and automate
scheduled data backups, according to the company.
The enhanced compatibility between SBF and Small Business Server 2003
also provides businesses with a server solution that paves the way for
efficient and effective communication and collaboration, according to
Jeff Young, general manager of Microsoft Business Solutions.
“Microsoft Small Business Financials complements the upcoming Microsoft
Office for Small Business Management edition by providing a logical growth
option for those businesses that require the additional functionality of
an entry-level system or a move to a server-based infrastructure,” Young
said in a statement.
Young also said users of the new software can scale it with Business
Solutions through an upgrade from SBF to Microsoft
Business Solutions, Great Plains.
Richard Lederer, a partner and director of accounting software solutions
with PDG Consultants, specialists in customizing Microsoft Business Solutions
systems, said developing products in-line with the customers’ business life
cycle is beneficial to both customers and partners.
“The Microsoft Business Solutions family of products allows our customers
to start out and grow into the solution that best suits them at the
appropriate time and a competitive price point,” Lederer said in the
statement. “For all our customers, the decision to purchase a Microsoft
Business Solution was easy because of their familiarity and use of other
Microsoft products in their businesses.”
The product is scheduled to begin shipping today, and it will be
available through Microsoft’s network of partners.