Why MSMEs are lagging in tech adoption

BANGALORE, INDIA: As the technology adoption is seen as no less than a panacea in macro economic conditions, India’s micro, small and medium enterprise sector is plagued with low deployment. This startling fact has been revealed by the government-supported MSME study conducted by Intuit.

The research carried across 12 large cities in the country identifies opportunities for government, industry and non-profit organizations that could facilitate technology adoption. The assessment is based on views from nearly 750 MSMEs.

The findings identified the barriers in technology adoption amongst MSMEs in India. The painpoints, study said, were cost factors, lack of skilled labor and resources, infrastructure reliability concerns and lack of awareness on technology-driven benefits.

Intuit India VP and managing director Nikhil Arora said that MSME sector is only second to the agriculture industry in size and makes up 9 per cent of the nation’s GDP. “Faster and massive adoption of cloud solution and mobile technologies will play a crucial role in helping MSMEs succeed in India,” Arora added.

The findings supported by the MSME ministry, National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development and National Small Industries Corporation recommend making of affordable technology solutions.

Development commissioner of the ministry of MSME Amarendra Sinha said that India’s MSME sector has the potential to truly drive the future growth and prosperity that can help improve lives of millions. “There is a need to improve MSMEs’ ability to access finance and adopt new technologies,” added Sinha.  

Invoicing made easy for SMBs

BANGALORE, INDIA: There is good news for small business owners as technology can be harnessed effectively by them in the form of a mobile app termed as Quick Books Mobile Invoice. Apart from offering unlimited invoicing on the go, the app stores professional invoice forms and emails invoices.

This app is available for Android phones and can be downloaded free of cost from the Google Play Store.

The app also views and edits customer information and manages outstanding balances.

As far as sales receipts are concerned, the app can create it and record sales too. Also, it can create and email an estimate and convert estimates into invoices.

Through this, the entire process of invoicing becomes much more simpler and redefined.

SMB Advertising through Google

BANGALORE, INDIA: You may have heard the phrase that we live in a Google world. To a certain extent that's true. When we don't know the answer to a question, we Google it. When we need to research a topic for a project, we Google it. Your small business is no different. If people are going to find your business online, they're going to find you through Google if they don't already have your web address. That's why it's important to understand how you can leverage Google and show up near the top of those search results.

To understand Google, you need to understand SEO — or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the practice that essentially determines how rich your website and the content on your website is. The stronger the SEO, the higher up in the search results. The weaker the SEO... well, don't expect to see your website on the first page of a Google search.

Why do you want to be at the top? Because people are always more likely to click the top result after performing a search. Like anything on the internet, SEO moves fast. It's constantly changing and could really be a full-time job for someone in a marketing department. Being that most small businesses are a one-man show and don't even have a marketing department, it's up to you to know the basics of SEO.

Also read: Use IT to your SME's advantage wisely

There are several different kinds of SEO, including content, analytical, performance, technical, image and off-site. The easiest concept to grasp is content. Fill your website and the content on that website with a defined set of keywords. Those keywords relate to the industry that you're advertising on your website. It's important to note, however, that you just can't fill content randomly with keywords.

Google is smart and looks for quality content, so incorporate those keywords in a high-quality fashion. The other types of SEO can get very technical. If you don't know what it means to maintain a proper XML sitemap, robots.txt, or file system structure — don't worry. Many successful small businesses that leverage Google through strong SEO don't understand that jargon either.

You may have heard the phrase "Content is king." If you can focus on high quality content, rich with keywords, you'll already be on the right path to having an SEO-friendly website. If you are determined to get to the top of Google's search results, there are other options. Attend an SEO training session or hire an SEO consultant. Both won't be cheap, but under the guidance of an expert, a small business owner can achieve even greater search results.

Why SMEs are not adapting to new technology

BANGALORE, INDIA: With the upcoming trend of technology adaption, the big companies have grown fantastically, however the SME market segment which happens to be the biggest supporting pillar of any developing economy can be seen vulnerable all over again.

As per an Intuit survey, SMEs have not been able to adapt to new technologies which in turn is hampering their growth. It is essential to understand that new technology which includes cloud computing, virtualization and open source are a boon not only for the big enterprises but also a blessing for the SMEs.

Currently, the trend of adapting to new technology has come to a steady pause when it comes to the small and medium enterprises. The very obvious question on their stability is bound to rise when the SME markets come to such a stagnant stop due to lack of technology support.

The main barriers to the adaptation of new technology for the SME segment is the lack of funding to buy the costly technology. Though aware that virtualization and cloud computing ensure a steady growth, SMEs have not been able to adopt them due to a massive financial crunch.

K R Thangaraj, president of Tamil Nadu Small and Medium Industries Association, said: “For medium scale industries, Cloud computing and virtualization on free source is still affordable, but for the small industries, it is way too expensive.”

When asked about his expectations from the government, he said: “Like any other developing sector, the government should also subsidize the technology for the small scale industries.”

The present state of SMEs in India requires a strong financial support from the government. It is necessary that the government makes an immediate move to make these technology solutions affordable to these small enterprises by providing government credits and easy finance policies.

This apart, SMEs also have several other problems like:

1. Cost and affordability of infrastructure.

2. Lack of skilled labour and resources to adapt the technology.

3. Lack of awareness among people about the benefits of the new technology.

It has been observed that despite government's efforts to make the SME owners aware of the modern technology, what's lacking is a proper campaigning strategy that primarily focuses on returns on investment in technology.

It is a well understood fact that SMEs in India have the potential to drive India's future towards a brighter side however with such major barriers, the SMEs will definitely show a retarded growth.

Contract supplier to Apple in Sharp times

TAIPEI: Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry said a planned joint statement about a renegotiated tie-up plan with struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp would likely be delayed until late this month to accommodate Japan's holiday season.

Hon Hai, the world's leading contract electronics manufacturer and a key supplier to Apple Inc, agreed in March to buy around a tenth of Sharp for $844 million, or 550 yen per share, as part of a tie-up in liquid crystal display (LCD) production. Sharp shares have since tumbled to around 190 yen, and Hon Hai has been keen to re-set the terms of the deal.

The two companies are working to reach a consensus on "a better version" of the March agreement, Hon Hai spokesman Simon Hsing told Reuters on Friday. He declined to give details of any announcement. Hsing had previously said a joint statement was expected this week.

"We have a mutual understanding and the joint release is a work in process. I understand that Japan has a summer break starting next week so it'll be a better time after," he said.

Hon Hai chairman and founder Terry Gou has pushed for the Sharp deal to tap the Japanese firm's panel manufacturing expertise. As part of the original agreement, Gou also took a stake in a Sharp LCD plant in Japan, saying the facility's advanced technology was better than rival Samsung Electronics'. For loss-making Sharp - whose bankers are said to be keen to drive a deeper restructuring - the tie-up with Hon Hai would bring cash and help it use idle production capacity.

Last Friday, Hon Hai said Sharp had effectively released it from the terms of the March deal, prompting the talks to renegotiate a deal, with Hon Hai looking to pay less per share or take a bigger stake in Sharp.

Sharp spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said on Friday that Sharp still considers the March agreement to be in place, though she conceded that talks with Hon Hai were ongoing - the first indication the Japanese company has given that it is discussing revised terms.

"Sharp and Hon Hai have been negotiating over various issues. We will make an announcement when things have been decided," she said.

Taiwan's government, which vets all outbound investment by Taiwanese firms, on Thursday sought more details from Hon Hai on its planned injection into Sharp, suggesting it may be paying too much. It returned Hon Hai's investment application to the company asking for more detail.

Hsing said Hon Hai would work on re-submitting the application after a joint statement, "because it will be a new situation." He denied market talk that Hon Hai would pursue its investment in Sharp at a new price of 207 yen per share.

"No new agreement has been reached," he said.

SUSE Linux is widely used by SMBs/SMEs: Venkatesh Swaminathan

Open Source, the magic term surely brings a smile on the face of people throughout the world. This is because, people/ large organizations have successfully used the platform to innovate and find new initiatives. But one aspect about the Open Source platform is that it can even be used by SMB/SME users throughout the world.

Various leading IT companies are today into the development of Open Source initiatives that are targeted exclusively at SMB/SME owners. SUSE is one such organization which has developed its own Linux platform called SUSE Linux which today is seeing increased adoption among SMB/SME segments.

We, at CIOL echoed certain queries regarding the various open source initiatives of SUSE to which Venkatesh Swaminathan, Country Head – SUSE India threw some light on SUSE's SMB/SME specific initiatives.

CIOL: What are the initiatives that SUSE/Novell has taken up targeting SMB/ Small enterprise owners?

Mr Venkatesh Swaminathan: As per industry estimates as of 2011, there are more than 100 lakh SME units in India with an investment of above Rs.. 1 lakh crore. This sector has recorded double digit growth during last four years. The SMB segment contributes 40 % to industrial production and 6% to GDP. According data available, SMEs are currently spending about USD 12 billion on IT and this is expected to go to about USD 24 billion in the future. Today SME’s are actively turning to IT to scale their businesses to the next level. With the market looking up, this segment cannot be ignored by virtue of the scale of business opportunities it provides for one; the other being the strong potential for growth it provides.

For us as an organization, we classify SME/Bs also on the basis of the user base. For us a user base between 500 to 2000 users will constitute SMBs for the sheer convenience of classification and not just turnover/size of the organization

For the SMB segment we have specific solutions designed to the needs of the customers. However, needs are quite individualistic to every organization depending on growth cycle as well as in terms of the IT roadmap the organization has set going forward.

We have also developed a compelling robust, flexible & cost effective solution called the Novell Open Workgroup Suite or NOWS, with a key focus for the SMB segment (http://www.novell.com/products/openworkgroupsuite/). This provides essential components like Libre office (open office), e-directory services, mailing & collaboration solutions etc which is a robust package to take care of all basic IT needs of the SME & stacks up as a strong alternative (Alternate Complete Stack) against other proprietary vendors whose prohibitive high licensing costs put an enormous burden on one’s IT budget. All this comes with the promise of improving workforce productivity and cutting costs upto 70% as compared to proprietary software products. It gives the customers a choice - and that's worth a lot. Especially when they can save so much.

CIOL: Kindly list some of the important customers that you have catered to?

Mr Venkatesh Swaminathan: ELCOT (ELCOT migrated from Microsoft Windows to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Desktop, and is putting it on 30,000 desktops and 1,880 servers in Tamil Nadu's schools) , Cafe Coffee Day( Café Coffee Day uses SLES Priority Support for SAP Applications to protect its ERP environment, ensuring that order management and logistics systems are always available), Mahindra Retail ( SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server running on HP blade servers was selected as the platform for its SAP ERP environment. The Novell® operating system combines high availability with low total cost of ownership, giving Mahindra Retail a solid foundation for its fast-growth business) , Usha Martin( Usha Martin Group selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop to increase system uptime, with Novell ZENworks Desktop Management to simplify support and software)

Apart from this, Our open source based SUSE Linux platform is trusted by over 14000 enterprises worldwide & certified for over 135000 h/w platforms & over 8500 s/w applications. This in particular serves as an advantage as this eliminates dependencies on proprietary platforms which could adversely affect long term IT strategies.

Super 7 printers for SMEs

BANGALORE, INDIA: After digitalisation spelt doom for many technologies, traditional IT and software solutions made way for cutting-edge and state-of-the-art tech products. The loyalty of the customer is long lost, that one is no more looking at who provides what, but is interested more in devices that are cost effective, and at the same time, address all his needs.

But quite predictably, technology has proved that it cannot wash away everything that comes its way. There is still something that information technology failed to eliminate completely from this earth: Printers.

Even in this era of digitalisation, we can't imagine a day without print. All commercial or marketing products come with a printed label on them, as rules stipulate that a product must have details of the brand, manufacturing date, expiry date and all other related information printed on them before it reaches the market.

Needless to say, the ubiquitous printer has long been an inevitable part of our daily life. Newspapers and other important documents, such as passport, PAN card, Voter's ID, licence, photos and other office-related work, etc, all get printed using printing machines. So, even if a 'technology tsunami' wipes out the entire world, the printer is here to stay. Forever.

Although the advent of technology, like the birth of smartphones and tablets, has taken a toll on the global printer business recently, it has not made much impact. A few months ago, market research firm Gartner came out with a report that said slow consumer spending and proliferation of smartphones and tablets led to 5.9 per cent decline in the Indian printer copier and MFP market to 6.41 lakh units in the fourth quarter last year.

However, this report didn't seem to have dampened the spirit of printer and scanner makers, who are still betting big on cutting-edge printing and scanning machines to reach out to more customers in the cost-conscious BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) markets.

All tech companies, including HP, Dell and Canon, to name a few, are still out in the market, with new vigour and passion, with their different kinds of printers, in which HP is holding the major share of the pie. As recent as in May first week, HP announced a slew of IT products, which include cutting-edge printers and scanners, too, which it hopes will pave way for a new era in the MFP (multifunction printer) market.

HP's announcement came close on the heels of the launch of similar products by Dell, Epson, Canon, Kodak etc. All multifunction printer makers have intensified their focus on India, considering its vast SME market, which has been growing steadily and consistently for the last several years.

Following are the list of a few printers, some of which are yet to hit the market.

OfficeJet 150 Mobile All-in-One

A mobile printer announced by HP last month, this state-of-the art printer enables the customer to fire prints while on the move. Being a portable machine, this will help SMEs save time. The company hopes the new breed will revolutionize the printing industry, since customers are aggressively looking for portable devices, as they would be traveling most of the time.

OfficeJet 150 can also copy and scan and it doesn't weigh more than 3 kg. It's lighter than a stationary inkjet. The price of this product is not announced yet, but it will hit the market in a couple of months.

HP-TopShot-Laserjet-Pro-M275

HP also unveiled a 3D scanner-cum-printer, which enables customers to scan and print multiple objects at one go. The HP TopShot scanner captures and scans images of 3D objects and post directly on the Web. It also easily removes background via HP scan software, all through a one-step operation.

It uses the color display to stay connected. A web-connected printer, it scans images of 3D objects and then uses an app to post directly to popular auction sites. It accesses the web directly without a PC and has a wide range of business apps.