Opportunities abound for UAE start-ups using right technologies, Microsoft says, following SME World Summit

Microsoft Gulf today highlighted the opportunities open to the region’s small and medium enterprises in adopting enabling technologies, as it remarked on the success of the SME World Summit 2016, held in Dubai earlier this month.

Speaking after the company’s participation as exclusive technology partner at the summit, Haider Salloum, SMB Director, Microsoft Gulf, said: “Microsoft is committed to becoming the solutions provider of choice for small and medium businesses in the UAE. With SMEs already contributing over 60% of the country’s non-oil GDP – and likely to contribute as much as 70% by 2021 – it is clear that this segment has a pivotal role in securing future prosperity, and we fervently believe the next generation of Microsoft technologies is an ideal fit for those businesses in the journey ahead.”

Salloum participated in a panel discussion at the event, where he enumerated the competitive advantages available to start-ups that leverage technology shrewdly. The SME World Summit also featured a keynote address from Microsoft’s Tareq Hijazi, Director, Small and Mid-Market Solutions and Partners Group, which drew attention to the opportunities accorded to SMEs through the adoption of modern workplace solutions.

Microsoft also used the summit to hold a devices session aimed specifically at SMBs, in which the company demonstrated Windows 10 in action, on machines built by OEM partners such as Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer and Asus.  At the company’s stand, delegates watched as Microsoft representatives showed the flexibility of the new OS, running on a rich variety of form factors, from 2-in-1s and tablets, to Ultrabooks and powerhouse workstations.

“Windows 10 was designed with SMEs in mind, incorporating features normally associated with larger corporate entities, such as enterprise-grade security capabilities that simplify the protection of infrastructures of all sizes,” said Salloum. 

Microsoft also demonstrated its cloud tools at the event. Even large companies are now beginning to see the benefits of cloud computing as a way to more easily manage and secure infrastructure while reaping the benefits of migrating to a systems architecture that is more cost-effective. Coupled with Windows 10’s mobile-friendly features, Microsoft’s latest technologies allow businesses to equip their mobile workforces with the ability to do more.

“Just 15 years ago, a meeting to discuss the authorship of a company document needed the physical presence of all stakeholders,” Salloum noted. “Today, with the advent of technologies such as Windows 10 and Office 365, those people can be scattered across the globe and yet sit around the same virtual conference table, collaborating in real time. Tools such as Skype for Business, and Office 365 allow the editing of the same document by anyone at that table, wherever they are in the world, and session edits are saved seamlessly across all devices.”

Microsoft believes that Windows 10 can unite devices and the cloud, and help further corporate innovation, moving SMEs forward.