IDC Roadshow brings renowned experts to Dubai to help small and medium-sized businesses get IT right today

Aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) make better use of IT, IDC's SMB Roadshow creates a forum for showing SMBs how to install hardware, software, and systems that can be easily expanded and adjusted to meet changing business needs and respond to the rapidly evolving economic and regulatory environment. The roadshow features keynote addresses from IDC experts, industry luminaries, leaders of trade organizations, and national and local governments.

"A robust SMB sector forms the cornerstone of any healthy economy," says Jyoti Lalchandani, Vice President and Regional Managing Director, IDC MEA. "More than 98% of all companies in the Gulf are SMBs and these businesses already account for more than 35% of IT spending in the Middle East and Africa. They are critical to the economic success of the region and, as such, its governments have set in place numerous programs to facilitate the expansion of the SMB segment."

SMBs have many of the same IT needs as enterprises, but most treat IT as a grudge purchase and either settle for basic solutions or none at all. "IDC's SMB Roadshow has been designed specifically to help challenge this mindset and encourage managers to change or upgrade their systems accordingly," says Robert Rosenthal, Research Manager, Vertical Markets, IDC MEA and a keynote speaker for the Dubai event. "Doing so will help transform IT into a business enabler, and eventually into a competitive advantage."

The SMB Roadshow will illustrate how IT solutions generally associated with large and very large enterprises can also benefit smaller organizations. It aims to help businesses create IT partnerships that enable SMBs to increase efficiency, improve potential, and confidently tackle the economic and competitive challenges of the region. As such, the SMB Roadshow will address the following topics:

-The Macro View - IT spending levels and expected growth for hardware, software, and services
-Changing SMB Attitudes - How they set the stage for the next level of technology
-Top Purchasing Priorities for the Coming Year - Hardware, software, and IT services
-Changing Interests in Advanced Network Solutions and Applications - The outlook for 'Hosted Application Management' in different SMB segments
-What About Security and Storage? - How are different sized companies making use of the latest infrastructure advances (or not)?
-Technology and SMBs - Best practices for using IT in an SMB
-Outsourcing for SMBs - One size does not fit all

This event is ideally suited to CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, Strategists, Product and Service Managers, and Business Development Executives from the following key industries:

-Education
-Healthcare
-Business Services
-Transportation, Utilities, and Logistics
-Construction, Real Estate, and Contracting
-Trade (including Wholesale)
-Manufacturing
-Consulting