Technology for MSMEs: As small and medium businesses (SMBs) increasingly see digitisation as imperative to their growth, a number of enterprises have started to look at using automation and cloud solutions in near future. According to a study by the global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC) predicting the technology and business trends among SMBs in India, one-third of businesses will increase investments in automation and digital tools by 2026 to make up for the shortage of workers, reduce manual processes and human error, and boost productivity.
The report Worldwide Small and Medium-Sized Business and Digital-Native Business 2023 Predictions — India Implications on Wednesday also noted that by 2024, 35 per cent of SMBs will shift one-third of their core workloads to the cloud to drive business agility and future resilience.
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“SMBs are the backbone of the Indian economy and are eager to adopt technology to achieve greater efficiency and flexibility. They are increasingly investing in technology solutions to become more cost-efficient, improve customer acquisition and retention, and balance growth with quality. By adopting a more digital way of doing business, SMBs in India have tremendous potential to expand – leading to an increase in their market share,” said Supriya Deka, Senior Market Analyst for Digital Small and Medium-sized Business, IDC Asia/Pacific in a statement.
The study also predicted that by 2027, total budgets dedicated to IT investments and connectivity services at Indian SMBs will increase by 20 per cent as they turn to technology to compete with larger businesses. Moreover, by 2026, at least 20 per cent of SMBs will introduce metrics to track and effectively measure business value from their core business activities, their ecosystems and their impact on the environment.
Among other key predictions by the report around technology and business were:
- By 2023, 15 per cent of SMBs will leverage live-streaming technologies to launch new products and enhance the customer experience by facilitating easier product discovery and checkout.
- Over half of the medium-sized businesses will hire key technology decision-makers by 2026 as they continue to invest in digital transformation and seek to have IT thought leadership on staff.
- By 2025, 30 per cent of Indian SMBs will consider intelligence decision systems to promote research & development and supply chain management.
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In comparison, 40 per cent digital native businesses (DNBs), which have been using technology to differentiate themselves and survive during the pandemic, will shift focus from speed to market to demonstrable business outcomes by 2025 to secure capital, boost differentiation, and achieve sustainable and resilient growth, the report noted. In fact, by 2027, the number of digital-native businesses of the S&P BSE 500
However, the boom DNBs experienced in prior years has begun to slacken from its peak as pandemic restrictions lifted, said Sairam Balasubramani, Senior Market Analyst for Digital Native Business: Start-Ups and Scale-Ups research, IDC Asia/Pacific. “DNBs must contend with challenges like access to funding and achieving sustainable expansion. DNB’s efforts now focus on efficiency and utilizing its digital infrastructure to bring the company closer to profitability.”