Stressing the fact that most Web developers are mostly start-up firms with just one or a handful of employees, Microsoft Philippines has rolled out in the Philippines a program that aims to provide free software and training to local Web development firms.

The initiative, called WebsiteSpark, is also designed to set up a partner network by connecting Web professionals and hosters with an ecosystem of customers, partners, and other professionals with complementary technologies.

Ed Quek, Web and client strategy lead at Microsoft Asia-Pacific, said in a press briefing that the program seeks to give small Web developers a fighting chance to succeed in the harsh in the business environment.

Quek said this sector of the IT ecosystem is usually the most hard-up, with most Web companies having just one employee (freelance) to five employees. The CEO is always almost the lead programmer and the company undertakes an average of 1.3 projects a month, Quek said, citing an internal survey.

“These companies have a 25-percent chance of failure within 18 months,” the Microsoft executive said.

The program is the latest initiative in Microsoft’s Spark family of programs, which includes Microsoft BizSpark and DreamSpark.

Web development and design companies with up to 10 employees and owners can participate in the WebsiteSpark, which is made available for Web Pros for up to three years.

Once approved, the companies can have access to the following:

- Microsoft Web design and development tools, including three licenses of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, two licenses of Microsoft Expression Web 3 and one license of Microsoft Expression Studio 3;

- Four processor licenses for production usage to Windows Web Server 2008 or R2 and four processor licenses for production usage to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Web Edition; and

- A third-party premium Web site control panel (DotNetPanel).

Participating companies will also receive professional support and training via two technical support incidents per company, access to community support through connections with Network Partners,  Hosting Partners and peers with complementary services and technologies, unlimited access to technical managed newsgroups on MSDN, and unlimited program support for nontechnical issues.

The program will also feature the participating companies WebsiteSpark marketplace, which can help them connect with prospective customers worldwide.