Dell reaches out to SMEs

Global computer maker Dell plans to enter the small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME) market in Thailand, and will soon introduce three new mobile computers, says The Nation Technology.

Dell Asia-Pacific's GM for small and medium business, South Asia, Khoo Teng Guan, says: "We believe SMEs will recover from the economic recession faster because they generally respond faster to economic changes.”

Dell is gearing up to cater for SME customers with its Vostro range of office and small-business products, including the Dell Vostro 1014, Vostro 1015 and Vostro 1088 notebooks.

Companies which offer cloud computing services could be in for a recession-driven boom, as they offer a cheaper way to develop and manage IT infrastructure, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Analysts believe cloud solutions will gain more traction as the economy recovers and SMEs and start-up businesses raise their IT spending.

Gartner predicts that revenue worldwide for companies providing cloud services will surpass $56.3 billion in 2009; a 21.3% increase from 2008 revenue of $46.4 billion and the market will reach $150.1 billion by 2013.

SME mobile payment platform provider, Fortumo has revealed plans to expand into Western Europe, states MMD Newswire.

CEO of Fortumo, Martin Koppel, says: "We have focused so far more on emerging markets in Eastern Europe and South-east Asia since we wanted to first cover the regions where it used to be more difficult to do an SMS-payment.”

The company says it's targeting small business users without any technical skills and have created nearly 70 000 revenue-generating SMS services.