If you're a small business owner you're probably turned off by the mention of Microsoft's name, infact you probably couldn't care less whether Microsoft was fined $613 million by the EU. So instead of boring you I'll attempt to cheer you up with some good news about Microsoft for a change.

Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Intel have teamed up with the EU to help small and medium-sized companies to take advantage of IT grants. These technology giants will promote the EU Grant Advisor (EUGA) project, that'll guide small businesses on technology spending. Small businesses can access a dedicated web site offering advice on grant funding of €118 billion including independent consulting services.

The scheme has come about because research by the EU reveals 55% of small businesses in the EU are unaware that they can obtain small business grant for developing IT systems.

Jacques Santer, former European Commission president, said: "the EUGA consortium is a natural step to fuel growth in the EU. The small to medium size company union has always believed that structural funding would kick-start growth in the sector."
The small business team at Microsoft believes the project can help start-up companies overcome fatal hurdles.

Hence Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Intel believe they can provide advice to SMEs and help them access EU grants. Microsoft's Jean-Phillip Courtois believes that with Hewlett-Packard and Intel they can help small businesses overcome the finance obstacle.

The EUGA scheme has being running in Hungary, the Czech Republic, France, Spain and Poland and will roll out to other EU countries. Company spokesman Fernando Campos, said Microsoft has developed a database for SMEs with 7,000 unique funding opportunities, most of which are unknown to small businesses.

Despite the good intentions of these giant technology companies it's difficult to see how they can turnaround the poor success rate experienced by small companies applying to the EU for IT grants. Statistics show that only 4% of SMEs have applied for one of the initiatives and success rate of those that applied is only 25%.

One of the benefits cited by proponents of the scheme is the fact that grant application time will reduce tenfold by using consultants, while improving small business understanding of the grant specification, resulting in more applications.

Small business owners are naturally asking the question what's in it for Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Intel. The benefits for them are that they'll have a massive customer base to market their software and hardware products. Microsoft says they are happy to help commerce partners and small business groups gain access to IT grants. The technology giants have pledge that the EUGA does not seek to impose own brands on small companies.

stay tuned for update on the EUGA roll out of the project in the UK.

David
Small business resource