{"id":138673,"date":"2026-06-30T13:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/?p=138673"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:51:10","slug":"why-smbs-dont-need-big-it-to-move-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/2026\/06\/30\/why-smbs-dont-need-big-it-to-move-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"Why SMBs don\u2019t need big IT to move fast"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tolga \u00d6zdil, Regional Commercial Director, Middle East, Turkey & Africa (META) at ASUS<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Tolga \u00d6zdil, Regional Commercial Director, Middle East, Turkey & Africa (META) at ASUS, explains why AI is levelling the playing field for SMBs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses are often told that having a dedicated IT department is essential for being competitive. While that could work for large organizations, small to medium-sized businesses do not have adequate resources. There was a belief that SMBs are always trying to keep up with competitors without the necessary staff, sizable budget and in-house infrastructure. The traditional IT model no longer fits because SMBs operate differently as they have tighter budgets and faster decision cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI is the great equaliser<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gartner forecasts IT spending in the MENA region to reach $169 billion this year. As SMB owners scale up their operations, they focus more on building smarter setups rather than IT departments. AI is now used to automate repetitive tasks, letting teams focus on more important work. With AI doing the heavy lifting, decisions are made faster and data is no longer processed manually. These technologies now primarily drive IT capabilities, removing the barriers that were once only available for large companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UAE already ranks first globally in AI adoption. Since SMBs make up over 94% of UAE businesses, they are closing the gap on enterprises faster than at any point in recent history. With the increasing AI adoption in daily workflows, SMBs can expand without the need for someone on payroll. There is a competitive advantage here if the right tools support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of flexible IT models<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not mean that SMBs are abandoning IT, they are simply rethinking where it comes from. In fact, IT outsourcing is a $66.5 billion market, and SMBs now utilise managed service providers (MSPs) and hybrid models for IT services that include general consulting and cybersecurity. Rather than building and managing in-house teams, businesses can turn to IT outsourcing to access the right expertise without the overhead cost for full-time staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows SMBs to harness enterprise-grade capabilities without paying enterprise costs. It is almost similar to cloud computing, which was introduced a few years ago and is now reshaping IT support in the same way. Moreover, outsourced IT services reduce downtime thanks to readily available specialists who monitor and resolve issues before they escalate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quiet advantage of on-device AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A significant shift in business computing is the rise of AI PCs. Built with a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), these devices can perform AI tasks on-device without connecting online. For SMBs, these devices can help in automating tasks like real-time transcription, document summarization, and data analysis. Also, businesses that handle confidential data can be assured that tasks remain private.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AI PC market size was valued at $109.66 billion last year, proving that there is a rise in demand for such devices. SMBs with limited budgets can always invest in an AI PC to modernize without overcomplicating their setups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What SMBs actually need to move fast<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMBs that are moving the fastest right now are the ones that integrate AI into their operations. Nearly half (48%) of the small businesses in the UAE have started using AI. It is evident that the speed at which they need to scale up depends on the quality of their tools and the flexibility of their setup. Thus, businesses that take too long to adopt will be the ones who will be left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As systems get smarter, their processes get faster, and the gap between those who adopt AI and those who don\u2019t only grows wider. Also, security for SMBs shouldn\u2019t be an afterthought. With 47% of SMBs reporting having experienced a cyberattack, security should be embedded into all AI tools they use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The argument that SMBs need to grow before investing in IT capabilities is no longer valid, as what they actually need is an accessible and flexible infrastructure, which is already available. Therefore, size is no longer the deciding factor, but agility<\/em> is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tolga \u00d6zdil, Regional Commercial Director, Middle East, Turkey & Africa (META) at ASUS, explains why AI is levelling the playing field for SMBs. Businesses are often told that having a dedicated IT department is essential for being competitive. While that could work for large organizations, small to medium-sized businesses do not have adequate resources. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7289,"featured_media":138675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[809],"tags":[3211,1225,584],"class_list":["post-138673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-more-news","tag-ai","tag-asus","tag-smb"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7289"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138676,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138673\/revisions\/138676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}