| IBM has been supporting and developing solutions for small business since it began as a company and generates substantial sales from this market. However, IBM realizes that the small business market still represents an untapped market worth from $30 billion to $300 billion. Microsoft, which defines a small business as having less than $50 million in revenue, adheres to the lower end of this market estimate. IBM, which considers small to be less than $1 billion in sales, likes the larger number. IBM has determined that the small business market could mean new sales. This is based on the fact that up to 54 percent of all IT spending will happen in the customer space below 1,000 employees. IBM disclosed that sales to medium-sized businesses accounted for $4.3 billion in revenue, or nearly one-fifth of total sales, in the year's first quarter, up 6 percent from a year earlier last year. Since 2001, IBM has invested $500 million in the small and medium-business market for development of new IT products. IBM has developed financing packages from IBM Credit for these resellers. This allows IBM to have a discussion about purchase without having to go to a bank, making the process much faster. IBM's e-business on demand strategy is designed to address the growing dynamic between IT solutions and business strategies. Corporations and their management regard technology as a means to power business evolution to the next competitive level. To compete and win in today's markets, companies must be agile and responsive to customer demands, marketplace shifts, and competitive pressure. The ability of on demand solutions to leverage existing IT infrastructures with additional integrated services and capacity solutions has implications for corporations of every size. Small to medium-sized businesses can use on demand solutions to gain the economic scale of large companies. Large enterprises can use on demand to become as nimble as small businesses. Of interest is IBM's Small and Medium-Sized Business Advantage Program. This program is designed to help the IBM partner community of approximately 90,000 customers grow profitability and successfully service this market. The approach that IBM is taking is one of partnership—with IBM and its partners working closely to address this market segment. The program includes some unique elements to help the partners be successful that has different technology and financial considerations. By creating a unique program and set of rules of engagement for this market, IBM has shown that it is serious about penetrating this segment of the market with and for its partners. | 
