Telefónica and Microsoft accelerate the digitisation of SMEs
Telefónica Empresas and Microsoft have taken a new step in their strategic agreement to accelerate the digitalisation of Spanish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the launch of a "pioneering initiative" to promote labour mobility and teleworking.
SMEs that are clients of Merger Companies will be able to acquire the Microsoft 365 Basic Company and Standard Company licences that are most suitable for their business, with a 25% discount for one year.
This agreement also contemplates a 10% discount on Surface Pro 7 devices (256GB, i5, 8GB) when contracted jointly with Microsoft 365, which will help SMEs to adapt digital solutions to their business, "something which is not always possible, due, among other reasons, to the tight budgets they have or the lack of technical profiles specialised in the latest technology".
This announcement forms part of a wider strategy to ensure that Spanish SMEs have the necessary technologies to carry out their digitalisation (connectivity, security and the use of the cloud), within the framework of which they announced last July a differential advisory and migration service to the cloud environment in Spanish through two projects: Azure by acens servers and Azure by acens projects.
The initiative is part of the extended strategic collaboration agreement presented in February by both companies to boost Spain's competitiveness. This agreement, promoted through Telefónica Tech, the Telefónica unit that brings together cloud, cyber-security and IoT/Big Data services, contemplates, among other things, the development of joint commercial plans in the countries where Telefónica operates.
The 26 startups and 241 Spanish companies that have received investment and have been driven by the innovation area of Telefónica Empresas have increased their revenues by 18% in the last six months, according to a statement from the telecommunications operator.
The company adds that in July this trend continued to rise and they have invoiced 32% more than in the same period in 2019, thanks to the fact that Telefónica Empresas has helped to "speed up sales cycles and adapt its products and services to respond to the situation caused by the pandemic".
Specifically, Telefónica highlights the cases of Telco, which remotely offers the service of switchboards and customer service centres; Devo, which provides a solution that optimises data analysis; Govertis, which has created an AI-based application to provide audits in cyber security; Cibersuite, which offers wifi solutions for all types of premises, and Humanox, which has developed intelligent shin guards connected by IoT to monitor the game and the health of football players.
Along these lines, he also mentions Leap in Value, which is behind security software to prevent cyber-crime in large companies; Imbox.me and its instant messaging application for the business environment; SmartDS, which detects and eliminates illegal and pirated content from the web; C&G, which promotes sustainable technological solutions on several fronts such as device recycling, and Avanzada 7, which promotes Voice over IP engineering projects.
The telecommunications operator points out that the sectors that have most adopted this type of solution have been defence and national security; banking; leisure, such as hotels and restaurants; insurance; industry; services; retail; and public administration.
The CEO of Telefónica España, María Jesús Almazor, stressed that the company is sure that technology "can help to reactivate the economy and become more competitive" and that digitalisation makes it possible to automate tasks that do not provide any added value to the person carrying them out and to help the professional who needs to simplify data to apply it to specific solutions.
