IBM said it will provide $1bn in financing to help credit-qualified small and medium businesses (SMBs) over the next 18 months take advantage of a new suite of advanced technologies such as analytics and cloud.
The company said that it will make credit more easily accessible through IBM Global Financing to SMBs that plan for innovation, thereby providing the right foundation and resources to support them.
IBM claims that its commitment is designed to eliminate many of the cost barriers SMBs face to grow their business.
IBM said it will offer simple, flexible lease and loan packages, some starting at as low as 0% for 12 months with no money down, allowing them to immediately acquire the IBM technology and services they need to begin to transform their businesses, while managing their cash flow more effectively.
SMB clients can get this financing through IBM Business Partners who can benefit from enhanced online financing tools to generate price proposals and get fast approvals for credit applications for SMB clients.
SkyMall COO Jay Scannell said the opportunity lies behind the ability to tie online buying to offline activity, and this will drive expansion and innovation in the way they conduct commerce and will require the continued investment and advance technologies to keep pace.
Meanwhile, IBM is also launching a comprehensive set of offerings, which include workload optimised systems combining hardware and software and services offerings focused on technologies, such as cloud, analytics, collaboration and security, specifically designed to address SMBs key needs.
