TECH TALK: Too many SMEs are still failing to adapt to transformative technology, says BILL MAGEE
It represents a commercial conundrum of our digital times. Just why your typical small to medium-sized business still has its head in the clouds rather than in the cybercloud. Four-out-of-five UK companies admit they are not embracing easily-accessible technology transformation, according to new figures from NatWest’s Springboard to Recovery report.
Yet it’s something that can easily be fixed, by bringing in a skilled and accredited cloud and cyber team.
Surely an ambitious company should not need convincing just how critical digitalisation can prove as the cost-effective route to survival.
Latest reports also warn that well over half of all SMEs in particular are at high risk of being struck by a cybersecurity breach and significant numbers still believe such a spend is unnecessary, even though a single breach can close a business for good.
Bringing in outside IT expertise is often the answer as an organisation’s IT department rarely has the in-house capacity to implement such a transformative strategy.
Yet, here we have the “Springboard” report which revealed a mere one-in-five SMEs have reacted to the digital call.
I was alerted to this growing commercial crisis by Gordon Merrylees, previously managing director of entrepreneurship at NatWest, Ulster Bank and RBS, now chief customer officer at B2B outfit Know-it.
He told me firms open to digital transformation and adopting recent technologies are 2.5 times more likely to experience a 20% or more increase in revenue, compared with those who remain resistant.
The Cloud is at the heart of any digital drive but it has to be handled properly. If cost is a worry, a firm should check if it qualifies for aid under the next phase of the £25 million DigitalBoost Development Grant fund to help businesses harness digital technologies and enhance workforce skills.
Digital sector trade body ScotlandIS says SMEs engage on a 50/50 investment basis with funding between £2,500 and £20,000. The fund is a year old and, to date, has supported more than 4,000 companies.
GlobalData claims digitalisation enables companies to generate deeper levels of insight across the whole value chain. But it must be about long-term planning coupled with adequate funding and organisational adaptability.
The pandemic is a make-or-break moment for SMEs and the entire economy. Those who more readily adopt Cloud-led innovative technologies will emerge winners. Both in home and overseas markets.
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