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How to Start IT Consulting Firm or Become an IT Service Provider in Meydan Free Zone
IT consulting in Dubai is a crowded market with plenty of established firms already in it. It is also a market where demand keeps outrunning supply, because businesses across the region are still digitising their operations and sorting out IT infrastructure that has been patched together over years.
This guide covers what activity code 6202.00 permits, what it deliberately leaves out, who buys this kind of work, and what a Meydan Free Zone license gives you.
Key Stats at a Glance
What This License Covers
Activity 6202.00 has two halves, and most firms do both.
Computer consultancy is the advisory side. You assess a client's current systems, find where they are weak or wasteful, and recommend solutions built around what that particular business needs. The point is to help them use technology to hit their actual business goals rather than to buy more technology.
Computer facilities management is the hands-on side. You run and monitor a client's computer systems or data processing facilities on site, keeping them working properly and handling troubleshooting, maintenance and upgrades as they come up.
Underneath both sits systems integration work. You plan and design computer systems that bring hardware, software and communication technologies together, then install the system and train the people who will use it. The hardware and software can come from you as part of the integrated service, or from third parties and vendors.
The specific services that fall under this include IT project management, infrastructure work, cybersecurity, cloud computing, software development, data analytics and technical support.
What This License Excludes
The exclusions all follow the same logic: this code is for integrated solutions, not for standalone tasks.
The practical read is this: if a client asks you to just supply twenty laptops or just install a package, that is not what 6202.00 covers. Wrap it into a designed system and it is.
Who Your Clients Will Be
The buyer list is broad, which is one of the better things about this activity:
- Small and medium-sized businesses
- Large corporations
- Healthcare organisations
- Financial services firms
- Government agencies
The last three are worth singling out. Healthcare, finance and government all carry regulatory requirements that shape what their systems must do, and they need providers who understand those requirements rather than just the technology. That is harder work and it pays better.
Why Meydan Free Zone Works for This
A Meydan Free Zone license gives you a set of practical things that matter for a technology services firm:
- A guaranteed bank account
- A business license recognised by MoFA and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce
- The ability to open an online shop across more than 30 marketplaces
- Unlimited visas, which matters when your growth is headcount-driven
- Clearing, forwarding, shipping, storage and warehouse facilities
- An import and export code applied for directly through Meydan Free Zone
The visa point deserves attention. An IT consultancy grows by hiring engineers and consultants, so a license that does not cap your visa numbers removes a ceiling you would otherwise hit exactly when things are going well.
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Step-by-Step Setup Guide
- Step 1, confirm your activity: Check that 6202.00 covers the services you plan to sell, and look carefully at the exclusions above.
- Step 2, define your service scope: Write down what you will deliver. If part of your plan is standalone hardware sales or software installation, you need a different or additional activity for it.
- Step 3, choose your package and visas: Match the package to how many people you expect to sponsor in the first year or two.
- Step 4, get your trade license: Once issued, this is the document that makes your work legal and lets you contract with clients.
- Step 5, open your bank account: A guaranteed bank account comes with the Meydan Free Zone license, which removes the step founders most often get stuck on.
- Step 6, apply for an import and export code if you need one: Only relevant if you will be moving hardware, and it is applied for directly through Meydan Free Zone.
Compliance and What You Need in Place
Third-party approvals
None are required for activity 6202.00. There is no outside regulator to satisfy before you start trading, which makes this one of the simpler technical activities to license.
Economic Substance Return
The Economic Substance Test applies to certain UAE businesses, which must show they are managed from inside the country, employ enough full-time staff here, earn most of their income here, and hold adequate assets and operating expenses in the UAE. Businesses caught by it file an Economic Substance Return within a year of their fiscal year end, and failing to comply brings penalties, fines and potentially license suspension. Activity 6202.00 is not subject to ESR.
Anti-money laundering
Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions must meet anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards set by the Ministry of Economy, including registration for goAML and staff training. Activity 6202.00 is not subject to AML regulations.
Staying inside your scope
Because the exclusions are about the shape of the work rather than the subject matter, it is easy to drift outside them without noticing. If a client relationship is turning into pure reselling or standalone installation, check your activity scope before you invoice.
Market Opportunity
The competition here is real. There are established players with long client lists, and it is not a market you enter on price.
What creates room is the volume of work still to be done. Plenty of businesses in the region are only part way through digitising, and many run infrastructure that grew by accident rather than design. Those are exactly the situations where an outside firm earns its fee.
Specialising helps. A firm that genuinely understands healthcare systems, financial services compliance or government procurement can compete on knowledge rather than on rate, and that is a much better position to be in.
Conclusion
An IT consulting license under 6202.00 covers a wide span of work, from advisory through to running a client's systems day to day. There are no third-party approvals, no ESR requirement and no AML requirement, so the compliance load is light.
Get clear on the exclusions before you write your service list, then speak to the Meydan Free Zone team to confirm your activity scope and package.
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