AWS launches SMB Vidyalaya to speed up digitisation of small businesses

The programme has over 50 technology education modules specific to SMBs and the opportunities they have to drive business growth across the country

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of e-commerce giant Amazon, said it has launched SMB Vidyalaya, a technology upskilling programme to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) digitise their operations and offerings by using AWS Cloud. SMB Vidyalaya includes over 50 technology education modules specific to SMBs and the opportunities they have to drive business growth across the country.

AWS also announced that it has expanded its Amazon Digital Suite. It is a set of software solutions developed with local third-party technology providers. It enables India’s SMBs to more easily and quickly digitise operations and bring their businesses to the internet. AWS made these announcements at Amazon Smbhav, the e-commerce giant’s flagship annual summit.

“Cloud education is key to the success of India’s large and diverse SMB market, and SMB Vidyalaya will help SMBs understand the business benefits of digital transformation and enable faster implementation together with AWS and our partners,” said Puneet Chandok, President of Commercial Business, AWS India and South Asia at AISPL. “SMB Vidyalaya is a comprehensive educational program addressing a variety of SMB digital needs, and it helps to expand cloud skills and technology adoption to a wider SMB audience across the country.”

SMB Vidyalaya is available to SMBs through a hybrid training model. It combines online and in-person channels. AWS is working with SMB-focused associations like the World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME). This will help drive awareness for the program with SMBs across India through downloadable product brochures, educational course videos, and webinars. AWS also plans to equip local professionals with AWS product training and courseware.

“We have been supporting India’s SMBs over the last two years during the Covid-19 pandemic and have found that digitisation is critical for these companies to sustain, revive, and scale their businesses,” said Sanjiv Layek, Executive Secretary at WASME. “SMB Vidyalaya presents an opportunity for India’s SMBs to acquire the skills they need to digitise rapidly and better serve their customers using AWS and the transformative power of cloud computing.”

Originally launched at Amazon Smbhav Summit 2021, Amazon Digital Suite is a set of software solutions designed by leading India-based technology partners. SMBs can quickly digitise their operations. Running on AWS, the suite provides more than 27 SMB-specific solutions from seven AWS Technology Partners in areas like accounting, customer support, and human resources.

AWS is expanding these bundled solutions to include new use cases, like defect detection and electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC), to meet SMBs’ needs in the manufacturing, finance, retail, and professional services sectors. AWS has also incorporated systems integrator (SI) and independent software vendor (ISV) partners into the Amazon Digital Suite portfolio. This would empower SMBs to access on-demand educational videos and other resources about Amazon Digital Suite and AWS bundles.

Tally, a leading software provider for small businesses has partnered with AWS on several SMB-focused initiatives. “Tally has always been at the forefront of assisting SMBs in their growth journey by providing the right technology and guidance in business management.

“Our recent collaboration with AWS  allows SMBs to manage their operations in distributed environments easily,” said Tejas Goenka, managing director of Tally Solutions. “This has benefitted over 1,000 SMBs, and we intend to reach out to thousands of more businesses in the near future.”

At the first edition of Amazon Smbhav, held in 2020, Amazon pledged to digitise 10 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs); enable $10 billion in cumulative exports from India; and create 2 million jobs in the country by 2025. Amazon said it is on track to fulfill these pledges and go beyond in certain areas. The company has already digitised over 4 million MSMEs, is on track to enable $5 billion in cumulative exports, and created over 1.16 million direct and indirect jobs in India.