Despite an impressive growth trajectory and positive rhetoric, the journey toward digitisation of SMEs is not devoid of barriers. Key challenges such as limited budgets and a shortage of skilled human resource to manage in-house technology limits the adoption of advanced digital tools by these companies.
Today, digital tools are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Toward this, businesses across sectors in India, are digitizing to keep up with the dynamic and competitive business environment. Most importantly, the momentum of digital transformation is picking up pace as businesses are realizing the importance of early digital adoption to help them reach critical mass in shortest possible time and also gives them an opportunity to expand their customer base not only at home but also on global turf.
Given the increased accessibility and availability of digital tools, it is an ideal time for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to step-up and make the most of the ongoing digital revolution in the country. Since SMEs contribute about 45% to India’s GDP and employ a significant portion of the country’s workforce, it makes immense business sense for the sector to embrace digitisation. Deploying technology will not only hone their business processes and output, but will also have a significant impact on the economy.
Aspects such as substantial policy support, infrastructure, and growth trends are driving the transition toward digitization in many parts of the country. There are several examples of how they have smoothly transitioned to digitally transform themselves.
Digital adoption is rationalized by the fact that technologically agile companies are empowered with several advantages than the ones who fail to adopt it. Benefits of going digital are many fold and include: streamlined business processes and operations which leads to increased productivity, enhanced customer experience, better security, effective workforce management and reduced costs.
Hence best-in-class Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services ensure smooth operations, increased efficiency, wider range, and enhanced growth for SMEs. Moreover, with the option of outsourcing their ICT requirements to enterprise service providers, they can continue to concentrate on their core business.
To achieve these business goals, the choice of digital partner is critical as well. Tata Docomo Business Services (TDBS) has been a pioneer in enabling digital transformation of multiple enterprises. TDBS offers a gamut of ICT services and innovative and customized solutions, such as Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), Virtual Private Network (VPN), fleet tracking etc. and a large number of SMEs and Start-ups have already benefitted from the same. Take for an example, Shimla-based 31 Parallel BPO faced connectivity problem which was a big hurdle in seamless operation of the firm. To mitigate the challenges faced by 31 Parallel, TDBS deployed Internet Leased Line (ILL) for unhindered and dedicated internet connectivity; Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines for voice service; Toll Free Services; and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. The solutions offered by TDBS have met all the ICT requirements of 31 Parallel, and now the firm with better infrastructural ICT support can even compete with bigger BPO players and expand operations at national level.
In another instance, Lucknow based APCO Infra, a global infrastructure major with interests in Highways, Energy, Urban infrastructure, Industrial development, which has more productivity presence in the rural areas was facing connectivity problems at these business locations. TDBS deployed MPLS and VPN services at APCO’s 21 sites ensuring seamless connectivity across all its rural offices. As a result, the company successfully migrated to robust data communication platform and the overall efficiency also increased.
Despite an impressive growth trajectory and positive rhetoric, the journey toward digitisation of SMEs is not devoid of barriers. Key challenges such as limited budgets and a shortage of skilled human resource to manage in-house technology limits the adoption of advanced digital tools by these companies. However, the solution is to use a cost-effective digital tool such as Managed Hosting Services, which provides a secure, reliable and flexible hosting and storage environment, through cloud hosting services to support dynamic business needs. Thus, ensuring complete control and security for critical business data and applications of the SMEs.
With digitisation becoming a business norm, ignoring technology could be a colossal error in judgment. So, to make the most of the overabundance of customized ICT solutions available to them, SMEs need to put in all their faith in a right “digital partner” with the best expertise in the business. This will not only bring in top notch services at their disposal, but will also help them in overcoming challenges that hamper tech adoption from the very start of their digital journey.
