IDC Middle East and North Africa is planning to host a unique road show in the region to address how small- and medium-sized organizations can improve effectiveness through better use of IT. Scheduled to take place in November/December 2005, the road show will stop in six key cities — Doha, Dubai, Manama, Safat, Amman and Riyadh. IDC’s SMB Road Show aims to create a forum for demonstrating how hardware, software and systems can be used to establish or advance business relationships and increase operational efficiency for small- and medium-sized businesses.

IDC estimates that up to two-thirds of small- and medium-sized businesses worldwide lack a dedicated IT manager. As a result, many SMBs are under-equipped when it comes to key hardware and software infrastructure. Moreover, according to IDC, while SMBs represent more than 35 percent of IT spending in the region, they have yet to make it work for them in the same way large and very large organizations have.

“In some instances, SMBs in the Middle East have invested heavily in IT,” said Jyoti Lalchandani, director of IDC Middle East. “They have a robust infrastructure in place but lack the right combination of resources to make it work. Part of this stems from a misunderstanding of both how and what types of IT products and services are best suited to a given businesses. In many cases, internal structures and goals have not been fully considered when implementing or updating a system. While things may work okay, for many SMBs, they could work a whole lot better.”

Which is where IDC’s SMB Road Show comes in. It creates an environment that outlines how SMBs can leverage IT to devise new partnerships, improve profitability and increase efficiency while also meeting the economic and regulatory challenges of the region. The road show will address:

• Scalable Infrastructure — Optimizing investment flexibility for the smart small business.

• Securing Business — Managing the transition from manual systems to exposure online.

• Mobility Middle East SMBs — Creating worker flexibility with flexible solutions.

• Data Management — Storage, archiving, recovery (storage made simple for SMBs).

• CRM — Using technology to save time and improve customer relations.

• Technology and SMBs — Best practices for using IT in an SMB.

• Outsourcing for SMBs — One size does not fit all.

For registration information contact Sharon Bush at [email protected].