New Delhi: IBM India today announced the Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) Advantage Initiative, reinforcing its commitment to deliver solutions to the small and medium business (SMB) market. This initiative is designed to provide ISVs with technical and marketing support to help meet the needs of SMB customers.

Unlike other software providers that develop applications that compete directly with those of their partners, IBM collaborates with ISVs to develop open solutions for customers. Nucleus Software Exports Ltd, a leading global provider of products and solutions to the banking and financial services industry, and Karishma Software, which develops after-sales business solutions for service-oriented businesses, are among the first ISVs in India to join the ISV Advantage programme.

As part of the initiative, ISVs work with IBM India to port their applications to IBM''s open infrastructure, with a special focus on IBM WebSphere Express and IBM DB2 Express running on Linux, as well as IBM WebSphere and IBM DB2 Universal Database. IBM India intends to broaden the scope of ISV Advantage programme over time to include new IBM Express software, hardware and services offerings as they become available. This will further enable ISV Advantage participants to build comprehensive solutions to better serve SMB customers.

"By joining IBM ISV Advantage programme, Karishma Software is poised to deliver solutions to the healthcare vertical segments of the mid-market that can be easily implemented and seamlessly integrated with existing applications. Our customers recognise the value we bring to them through our partnership with IBM, and participating in ISV Advantage will enable us to deliver even more robust solutions," says R Guru Moorthy, executive director, Karishma Software.

Vishnu R Dusad, managing director, Nucleus Software Exports, says: "We are a leading global provider of products and solutions to the banking and financial services industry. IBM is the world''s leading provider of IT hardware and software platforms. We believe that the ISV Advantage programme will help both the organisations to reach out to the customer by leveraging each other''s strengths to the maximum."

ISV Advantage is part of the IBM SMB Advantage initiative, a $500-million global effort to help drive business partner profitability and effectively serve the SMB market. IBM India understands that SMB customers face unique technology challenges and require customised solutions to address business issues relevant to their industries.

"IBM is working closely with ISVs to develop solutions that help SMB customers solve specific business problems, easily and cost-effectively," says Frank Luksic, country executive, software group and developer relations, IBM India. "The overwhelming interest in ISV Advantage demonstrates IBM''s commitment to providing ISVs with a wide range of products, technical and marketing support that is unmatched in the industry. This interest also conveys trust. ISVs know IBM has decided not to compete with its application partners. We serve customers with and through our partners."