Farouk Hemraj, CEO, DISTREE Events
PARIS, DUBAI, November 18, 2015 – SMB Channels Middle East, organised by DISTREE Events, will launch in Dubai on August 24-25th 2016 at the InterContinental Festival City. The new two-day event will bring together 300 executives from the region’s leading resellers of IT solutions focused on serving small and medium businesses (SMBs). More than 60 vendors and value-added distributors (VADs) are set to showcase their solutions and services in the main exhibition area at SMB Channels Middle East.
Delegates attending SMB Channels Middle East will be able to pre-schedule one-on-one meetings at the event, allowing attendees to create a unique personalised agenda specific to their precise business needs.
Farouk Hemraj, CEO & Co-Founder at DISTREE Events, said: “We’re excited to announce the launch of SMB Channels Middle East 2016. Many vendors and VADs in the region are keen to participate in a trade event that is focused on the SMB reseller channel. This event is an opportunity for vendors and VADs to evolve and evaluate their SMB go-to-market model in the region, and meet both existing and potential new channel partners.”
With more than a decade of experience in Middle East markets, the DISTREE Events recruitment team is using its extensive channel database to identify and invite genuine SMB resellers from across the region. The inaugural SMB Channels Middle East will cover the GCC markets of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. In addition, SMB Channels Middle East will place a special emphasis on Iran, allowing vendors to establish structured channels in this high potential market.
Hemraj added: “Iran represents a significant growth opportunity in the wider Middle East market. We look forward to welcoming SMB-focused resellers from across Iran to next year’s event. This event will offer a highly cost-effective platform for vendors and VADs to reach out to an important channel segment.”
In addition to the main exhibition area, SMB Channels Middle East will also feature a number of workshops and education sessions delivered by event partner CompTIA. Trade association CompTIA aims to advance the interests of IT channel organisations, enabling them to be more successful with industry-leading IT certifications and IT business credentials, IT education, resources and the ability to connect with like-minded, leading IT industry experts.
Nancy Hammervik, Senior Vice President, Industry Relations at CompTIA, stated: “We are pleased to be an official event partner for the inaugural SMB Channels Middle East event in 2016. We have seen increasing interest in CompTIA courses from channel partners operating across the Middle East. SMB Channels Middle East will allow us to engage with solution providers from across the region.”
Hemraj added: “Successful SMB resellers are dynamic, focused and evolve quickly to respond to the changing needs of their customers. SMB Channels Middle East will focus on a wide range of areas including cloud-based solutions, mobility, networking, security, software, hardware, storage, telecoms and datacentres.”
SMB Channels Middle East will also provide a range of professional networking opportunities for delegates. The evening of August 24th will include a formal dinner and the inaugural SMB Channels Middle East awards ceremony, identifying the best-in-class solutions suppliers at the event.
“As a customer base, SMBs are becoming more important in the Middle East to technology suppliers and service providers,” added Hemraj. “Simultaneously, building an effective SMB channel with adequate coverage remains one of the hardest business development tasks for vendors and VADs. We believe that SMB Channels Middle East will provide significant business benefits for attendees.”
SMB Channels Middle East 2016 will operate as an ‘invitation only’ event targeted at genuine resellers operating in the region, serving SMBs across all verticals. Vendors, VADs and service providers wishing to register their interest in exhibiting can visit www.smbchannels-me.com for additional details. Get access to the latest event updates by following @SMBChannelsME on Twitter.
