Microsoft expands bCentral alliances

On Monday, Microsoft (msft) is expected to announce an alliance with Santa Clara, Calif.-based Rivio, through which Microsoft could gain yet another conduit for delivering some of its bCentral services for small businesses.

BCentral is Microsoft's portal for small businesses and one of its showcases for how it intends to deliver software as a service, as part of its .Net initiative. Yahoo Inc. and America Online Inc. also have created similar small-business sites.

In addition to hosting Microsoft software and services on bCentral--as Microsoft is doing with Office and some of the Great Plains products it is in the midst of acquiring--the company also is striking deals to host its bCentral offerings on other small-business sites, as well as to host some third-party products on bCentral.

CPA portal
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced it was ponying up $25 million to help build cpa2biz, the first online portal for certified public accountants and small businesses sponsored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The Thompson Company joined Microsoft and added another $25 million to the project.

As part of the cpa2biz deal, Microsoft gains the rights to offer its bCentral Finance Manager service on the new accounting portal, which is set to go live in the spring.

Finance Manager, Microsoft's Web-based application for handling financial activities, including accounts receivable and payable, is set to become commercially available next month. Microsoft launched Finance Manager in November, as one of three new bCentral services on tap for its site.

"With bCentral, we are looking at channels in different ways than Microsoft has traditionally," explained Microsoft bCentral director of marketing Erin Hiraoka. For example, "CPAs traditionally have been very influential contacts, not just about accounting, but also in influencing clients on how to manage their businesses."

Analyst: MS in best position
The pending Rivio deal, which neither Microsoft nor Rivio officials would discuss, is another example of how Microsoft is looking to expand its bCentral influence.

Rivio, formerly known as Biztro, makes a suite of small-business workflow applications. Rivio's hosted offerings are available on a number of small-business sites from the likes of Bank of America, BellSouth, FleetBoston Financial, and Verizon. Microsoft is expected to offer Rivio's products, including task management, online payroll, benefits packages, and insurance programs, on the bCentral site.

While small-business portals have met with fairly limited success so far, one market watcher said he thought, of any of the players, Microsoft is best positioned to make it work.

"If anybody can do it, MS can for sure. They've got the technology, the audience (millions of current end users to sell to), brand name, the sales force (via their solution providers, value added providers, and third-party partners like Great Plains)," said Ramon Ray, who authors the Small Business Technology Report.

"Since Microsoft has an existing suite of small biz apps in their Microsoft Office suite of applications, they have a much better chance of success than Yahoo or AOL in blending this in some very interesting ways and tying it all into bCentral," he said.

Ray added that while both AOL (aol) and Yahoo (yhoo) have huge audiences, they are much more focused on individual consumers than on businesses.