Ushering The Digital Age In For SMBs, With Tech Giants And The SBA

The Small Business Administration is working with tech giants in the name of small business efficiency.

As noted by Fortune on Thursday, the agency is linking up with Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and several others, having built out a website through which business owners and small business entrepreneurs can latch onto online tools created by those big guns to help run day-to-day operations a bit more smoothly.

And as might be expected given the marquee names in the tech realm signing on to the project, the tools are flexible enough to be used across industry verticals. The chief digital officer of the agency, Tracy Terrill, told Fortune that “one of the prevailing misconceptions is that only tech companies need technical resources. But no matter what your business, you still need to manage basic payroll, legal resources and other tools … things that can increasingly be done over the Internet.”

In a veritable Swiss Army knife of tech processes and platforms, the more basic business operations can be completed and tracked online, with, say sales features through Amazon, or employee services through Zenefits. The idea is to offer up what is the signature focus of each tech juggernaut for the smaller players to spur their own innovation and growth – in an age where, even today, more than half of small to midsized businesses do not have even a website in a connected, tech-savvy world.

Under the terms of the agreement between the federal agency and the tech consortium, the firms will offer up educational content, like blogs and webinars.  Those features will guide business owners in the finer points of using the online tools.  There are trials available for the products themselves, but no discounts. Additional resources cover the gamut of online commerce and also (likely sorely needed) cybersecurity protection.  From the vantage point of the SBA itself, digital tools extend the agency’s brand, and of course, services.