UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS AND collaboration just became more practical for midsize enterprises in the Middle East. Avaya announced Aura? midsize solution for enterprises, a single-server, unified communications solution for businesses as small as 100 employees and scalable up to 2400 users and 250 locations.

HP MIDDLE EAST has expanded its industry-leading portfolio of new products, solutions and services with  HP Converged Infrastructure Architecture to help organizations in the region thrive in an unpredictable environment and meet changing business needs.

CISCO HAS ANNOUNCED a US$100mn global strategic initiative focused on small business networking and communications solutions for companies with fewer than 100 employees. Cisco aims to help small businesses gain greater agility and efficiency in working with customers who are increasingly expecting to do business on the move, on the Internet and via video. According to research firm IDC, the SMB market in the Middle East will account for more than a third of all IT spending by 2011 and comprises 70 to 80 per cent of businesses in this region.