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Amol Mitra , Vice President and General Manager , Global Small and Medium Business at Aruba , a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company ( AM ) and Jacob Chacko , Regional Director , Middle East , Saudi & South Africa ( MESA ), at Aruba , a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company ( JC ), tell us how SMEs can use technology to adapt and thrive in challenging times , as well as how Aruba ’ s own products and solutions are benefitting SMBs across the region .

For background , can you tell us about the experience of SMEs across this region particularly during the last year ?

AM : The whole market , including SMEs , went through a seismic shift during the pandemic . Organisations had to accelerate their digital efforts and implement hybrid and remote work models to ensure Business Continuity . They were faced with challenges such as upgrading infrastructures , investing in advanced technologies , moving operations to the cloud and quickly adapting to meet the demands of the new normal . We are now learning to live and work in this new normal .

SMEs too have been dealing with the same challenges . First is enabling employees to work remotely and extending ‘ the office ’ to their homes securely . Another issue was around achieving seamless connectivity to help employees access required information , use collaborative tools and enhance productivity . The third important aspect SMEs had to manage was maintaining their organisations ’ flexibility to adopt and adapt to the changes within their IT infrastructure environment . Transitioning to the cloud is a big push for SMEs today as they want the agility and flexibility the technology brings , to make changes easily in their work and business model environments .

JC : It has been challenging for SMEs . Besides all the difficulties that the pandemic brought on , SMEs also continued to battle with cash flow issues . However , these companies were quick to understand the immediate need for digitalisation as e-commerce and work-fromanywhere models rose in popularity . Although SMEs were impacted , they were also able to identify new opportunities and leverage them . SMEs are seeking simple , secure and easy to deploy solutions of enterprise grade and those that can be availed as-a-service to operate in the digital world .

Amol Mitra , Vice President and General Manager , Global Small and Medium Business at Aruba , a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company