IDC Small and Medium Business Roadshow in Lagos

The Small and Medium Business Roadshow, organised by IDC and which has been held in selected cities worldwide, was held on Tuesday 20 February 2007 in Lagos, the second African country to host the event.

Recognising the essential role SMBs play in establishing a business environment conducive to growth, the Roadshow was organised as a forum for SMBs to learn how IT solutions usually associated with large and very large enterprises can benefit smaller organizations, to demonstrate the effectiveness of solutions designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses and to establish lasting relationships that help ensure continuing business success.

The Lagos event was held at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island and started at 11:00 am.

Dr. Phillip van Heerden, Research Manager, IT Services, Verticals, Consulting, IDC MEA, welcomed all the participants and made the first presentation titled "Small and Medium Enterprises in an Integrated World." His speech and presentation gave a background of the event and the intervention the event was designed to make.

Thereafter, different manufacturers and vendors of IT products took turns to showcase their products specifically designed for small and medium businesses. An interesting aspect of this was that each of these manufacturers and vendors also came with one of their clients who have deployed the products they are showcasing. These clients shared their experiences of using the products.

Other presentations made include

• Building the Scalable Enterprise: From the Desktop to the Datacenter by Akin Banuso, Enterprise Business Manager, DELL
• Smart Office Solutions for SMBs by Chioma Nadia Iwuchukwu, SSP District Sales Manager- HP Africa, HP
• People Ready Business by Ejike Maduka - Ezeadiugwu, Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft Nigeria
• Keep It Real and Watch your Business Grow by John Okereke, Licence Compliance Manager, Microsoft Nigeria
• Working Smarter not Harder- Big Breakthroughs for Small Businesses by Edmund Sigmund McBaidene, CEO, Doxyware
• Re-engineering Business Process - Information Systems - Imperatives for SMBs by Chris Uwaje, Principal Consultant & Chief Executive Officer, Connect Technologies Ltd.

The presentation that interested me most, due to its style and content, was that of Ejike Maduka - Ezeadiugwu from Microsoft. However, I was curious when she mentioned that the client she will showcase to us came from Ghana. I was curious because I thought there should be a client in Nigeria worthy of this honor. I put this to her as a question and she responded that the client represent the best example in using the particular product, Windows Small Business Server 2003, she will like to talk about. She also said the company is small but operating like a big company due to the effective use of the product. She further explained that Microsoft Nigeria is responsible for Microsoft's operations in West Africa and thus the client was invited in the spirit of 'One West Africa'.

Dr. Chris Uwaje, in his usual self, dissected IT business during his presentation and highlighted some strategies that account for the success of Zinox Technologies, the company on whose behalf he made the presentation.

The event came to an end and we all had a nice time networking over the lunch in the restaurant of Eko Hotel.

IDC really did a good job in organising the event to the highest standard. Their invitation and follow-up was second to none and goes to show their mastery of organising events.

Personally, the roadshow imparted me and is one event that will aid my medium term plan. At the event, I also got an invitation to Microsoft's launch of Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 in Lagos on 22nd February 2007 at the Civic Center, Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.