Oracle today sharpened its focus on the small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India with the opening of its first Digital Hub in Bengaluru, the first of its kind in Asia Pacific. The new hub will give SMBs access to the Oracle Cloud solutions helping them to streamline operations, boost innovation, and gain a platform for growth.

With 51 million SMBs in India, it is a segment one cannot ignore and Oracle is trying to tap this growing market. The hub will house Oracle’s new digital sales team of about 200 people and focus on helping more midsize organisations transition to the cloud seamlessly.

“Customers that want to buy entirely online can utilise the click-to-buy Oracle Accelerated Buying Experience. In addition to the simplified buying experience, Oracle’s Digital Hubs will provide a complete suite of cloud applications, platform, and infrastructure services as both standalone services and as bundles.  The range of choices empowers small businesses to select solutions that directly address their needs,” Oracle said in a release.      

Amego, a startup that provides immediate logistical assistance for medical emergencies, is one of the companies that has benefitted from the Oracle Cloud. “With Oracle Mobile Cloud Service, we’ve enabled more than 50,000 people, with one click access, to automatically log medical emergency requests and get approvals on the go. Customers can avail our services whether online or offline, even from far-flung hospitals and pharmacies with no internet connectivity. Going forward, we intend to leverage Oracle’s Intelligent Chatbot offering to deliver greater ease of access and a superior, more intuitive experience to customers,” said Yathindra Banappa, MD, Amego.

Shailender Kumar, VP and regional MD, Oracle India, said that the SMBs will now have access to the “most modern solutions in the market, available online, direct via the hub and through our expanded end-to-end ecosystem, working with the vast network in India.  The increased choice in cloud technology will help accelerate SMB’s ability to innovate and grow more quickly, paving the way for the next big SMB revolution in the country.  This solid investment reiterates our strong commitment to India.”

Oracle’s focus on SMBs comes at a time when the segment is driving a significant portion of the country’s GDP. “With nearly 40 per cent contribution to India’s GDP, the SMB sector forms the backbone of the Indian economy. Technology enablement of SMBs is expected to further add $1.1 trillion to the GDP and over $250 billion to exports from India,” said Praveen Bhadada, partner and practice head – Digital, Zinnov.

The Digital Hub’s work with SMBs complements the Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator programme, which aims to fuel cloud-enabled innovation among startups around the globe. Following the success of the pilot program in Bengaluru, Oracle recently expanded locations across the globe, including opening two new centres in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai to provide mentorship and technology resources to local startups.