Flexible services for SMB buyers

A lively panel debate on the benefits of outsourcing for SMBs highlighted the advantages of the pay-as you-go model in these times of tight liquidity at GITEX Technology Week yesterday.

“It’s very important for SMBs to be able to get services without having to put in significant capital investment,” said Ali El-Zein, Executive Director for Operations at business process services provider Injazat. “With outsourcing services you can use the pay-as-you-go model, so you don’t have to get into CAPEX,” he added.

El-Zein’s message was echoed by eHosting DataFort CEO Yasser Zeineldin, who emphasised that SMBs had a wide range of considerations that necessitated greater flexibility from outsourcers.

“With managed services we can give that flexibility, while at the same time ensuring that the cost is not too high, allowing firms to manage their IT budgets on a pay-as-they-go system,” he told delegates crowded into the GITEX Global Conference 2009. “Not every firm can afford to invest heavily, but one of the advantages of outsourcing is that it offers opportunities that might not otherwise be there.”

The panel also featured Aeyad Esam Sabagh, Senior Manager Business Development at Etisalat Business Solutions; Ahmed Shabaan, Country Manager at ITWorx; and Amin Khairan, Chairman of the Directors’ Board of the Technology Development Fund, and Member & Advisor of Strategies to the Board at the Information Technology Industry Development Agency.

On Sunday, the Executive Director of Dubai Outsource Zone, Ismail Al Naqi, told GITEX Times that the free zone had seen a 23% rise in clients so far in 2009 on the back of companies cutting costs.