Microsoft recently launched its Office 365 cloud applications, and chose to promote it to small and medium-sized businesses rather than the large corporations.

Office 365 is Microsoft's online suite of enterprise-level applications for the cloud-based system and Microsoft has priced the applications lower to attract the SMB market. Small Business Computing reported that Microsoft has signed up more than 20 service providers worldwide to provide Office 365 hosted online services to the small business community.

"Office 365 reduces complexity and let's small businesses focus on business without thinking about IT infrastructure," group product manager for Office 365 Elisa Graceffo told Small Business Computing.

Similarly, American Express and Facebook have launched a program allowing American Express Membership Rewards customers to redeem points for ads on the social networking site. USA Today reported that the program is targeted at small businesses and aims to assist them with finding new customers. This is the first time a major company has linked social media advertising with currency for customer rewards, reported the news source.

Every $6,750 spent using American Express cards can be redeemed for $50 worth of Facebook advertising, which lets businesses target specific audiences and leverage free advertising through recommendations of friends, according to USA Today.

"The number of small businesses advertising on Facebook is growing exponentially every day," vice president of advertising and global operations at Facebook David Fischer told the news source.