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Small and medium scale enterprises must deploy technology to improve the efficiency of their operations to be able to reduce cost and compete effectively in the global market. Mr Hatem Hariri, African Managing Director for Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration systems and services, who made the call, said there were tremendous possibilities in technology and software to help SMEs reduce costs and thereby becoming competitive. �It is possible that SMEs can cut down their operational costs as much as 30 percent when they take the bold decision to invest in technology to enhance operations,� he said. Mr Hariri was speaking at a seminar organized by RayCom Technologies Ghana Limited (RCT), an ICT company providing a wide spectrum of tailor-made information technology solutions to clients. The mainstay of this company is its ability to provide state-of-the-art, cost effective and expert services in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry while making a distinct contribution to the communities in which they serve. Mr Hariri said technology was moving at a fast pace and it was necessary SMEs scaled up its usage in most operations adding that people are now demanding more technology at a lesser cost to meet customer expectations. �Technology is always evolving and there are always smart ways of beating the costs and other challenges of deploying IT technology,� he said, citing the company�s IP Office, a Unified Communications (UC) platform for SMEs, includes the Flare Communicator application for Apple's iPad. The app is an extension of Avaya�s Flare Experience and joins the existing Windows version for PCs. Mr Hariri said the Ghanaian market presented a good opportunity for business for Avaya adding that the company was poised to deliver the future of technology to all. Avaya recently won a five year contract to provide services and application/ infrastructure support to Bharti Airtel Limited (�Airtel�). The groundbreaking partnership, under the umbrella of Avaya Communications Outsourcing Solutions, will provide contact center technology and managed services designed to increase the performance, reduce the costs and accelerate the transformation of Airtel�s customer service experience. Mr Hariri said the company was looking to tapping into opportunities in the educational and the e-governance sectors.