SMEs turn to wireless networks

Small and medium Indian Enterprises (SME) are moving towards wireless networking in their offices to minimise costs.

Many small businesses, which rely on computers and small office networks, are now investing in creating a wireless high speed data network for their office PCs, including laptop and desktop computers, which have traditionally been connected to the internet through data cards or to office networks by cable.

SMEs are a fast growing market that will continue to experience accelerated growth in the emerging countries of Asia-Pacific. This new interest has been noted by companies such as Intel and Dell, who are pushing notebooks, or very small and energy efficient laptops and servers that are easy to set up in wireless environments.

Dell has launched range of server products for SMEs looking to build a networked server environment to enhance productivity, flexibility and security, said Sameer Garde, Country Manager, Dell India.

Intel is planning to bring in more products, including those based on their new Atom processor, to address the SME market. Intel is the world’s largest maker of computer processors.

These new processors have native support for Wi-Fi and are capable of siginificantly cutting down on cost, said Prakash Bagri, director marketing, Intel South Asia. That is attractive for SME clients.

“Small businesses are definitely shifting towards creating small wireless networks at office. There is major interest among such players for Wi-Fi enabled workplaces as it helps in savings,” said Dhananjay Ganjoo, vice-president, enterprise, Nortel Networks.