Stretch your AI dollar and accelerate AI adoption

Given their lack of scale and resources as compared to larger enterprises, it’s no wonder that small to medium businesses (SMBs) weigh every decision to adopt new, emerging technologies more prudently. But this also comes without the layers of bureaucracy that plague larger enterprises.

As a result, SMBs are nimbler and more responsive to change as they navigate their growth, which grants them the freedom to adopt agile practices, stay ahead of changing market trends, and drive innovation.

This is a valuable trait SMBs should not overlook, particularly with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), a tool with the capacity to transform businesses at an unprecedented pace. As a catalyst for growth, AI can help SMBs unlock key insights from data, elevate the customer experience, and capture new opportunities.

Challenges ahead in AI adoption

At the same time, significant challenges in AI adoption lay ahead. Firstly, such a tool can come at an exorbitant cost, with this exacerbated by budget limitations that may not be able to afford costly, high-end AI solutions. In addition to these investments, ongoing maintenance costs can also be another concern.

Then there are data privacy concerns. The use of AI can introduce security challenges, with many AI tools being trained on vast amounts of proprietary data. For instance, updates to Australian data protection laws include how businesses can remain compliant when using commercially available AI products, as well as the limits on tapping on personal information to train generative AI models.

Complexities in data management, including the need for high-quality data, can also complicate AI deployment. The implication is twofold: SMBs will usually have less access to data than bigger companies but face challenges in managing and processing their unstructured data. Data silos, too, can inhibit SMBs from carrying out data analytics for insights gathering and decision making.

Finally, the lack of technical expertise is a deterrent, with the AI talent shortage becoming a core challenge for SMBs. This can render many of them feeling unprepared for harnessing the technology.

Thinking big with AI

The resource-strapped nature of SMBs means that they are easily affected by economic headwinds. That’s why many of them would need a robust AI spending strategy that will maximise their return on investment (ROI), while accelerating AI adoption across their business.

That said, AI deployment does not have to be a hefty investment. For a start, SMBs can consider AI factories, an approach to AI that allows businesses of all sizes to tap into data to create actionable intelligence, fresh content, and new insights. Not only is it tailored for modern AI workloads, it’s also capable of being deployed across environments, including cloud, workstations, and AI PCs.

How can an AI factory meet the business needs of SMBs to drive faster, better innovations? One example of an AI factory that can ease AI deployment is Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, which integrates Dell’s leading networking, PCs, servers, storage, and workstations, with NVIDIA’s advanced AI infrastructure and NVIDIA Enterprise AI software. Together, it provides SMBs with the building blocks for integrating AI within their operations.

Here’s how the Dell AI Factory is helping SMBs propel their AI strategy:

• Simplify app development and deployment: SMBs can leverage workflow automation and powerful systems to ease the development and development of AI applications, while also performing local prototyping in a secure environment, for faster time-to-value. This includes NVIDIA AI Enterprise, an end-to-end, cloud-native software platform that streamlines development with easy-to-use microservices.

• Manage demanding AI workloads: From GPUs to data storage, the infrastructure layer of the Dell AI Factory is built to handle the intensive demands of AI workloads. Recent additions include the Dell PowerScale F910, tailored for AI workloads and can achieve up to 127% faster data processing than its predecessors.

• Scale alongside your business: As an AI factory that offers a broad portfolio designed for a range of workloads, the Dell AI Factory can be seamlessly scaled according to business needs and growth, achieved via a scalable infrastructure framework.

• Deploy use cases without sacrificing security: AI deployments may come with security risks but with Dell AI factory, SMBs can enable secure, on-premises operations. Dell storage solutions, purpose-built for large data volumes, also deliver the robust data protection needed to safeguard their data and intellectual property.

Find out more about how SMBs can be more nimble and innovative than larger enterprises, despite their limited resources, with the Dell AI Factory today.