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In a recent IDG-Dell survey of small businesses, 24% of IT decision-makers polled said there was nothing stopping their SME from growing, suggesting that the remaining majority still had a number of obstacles to overcome.
What are these challenges and how can SMEs meet them?
1. Recruiting and training talent
One of the obstacles most often mentioned by IT decision-makers concerns "limited human resources in terms of skills and headcount" (38%). Your company needs to ask itself what skills it is lacking. With digital transformation, your needs are probably very different from what they were before. Efficiency gains in certain areas can help you recruit talent in areas where your company is less well equipped. It may sometimes be necessary to adopt a new approach to recruitment: attracting talent with the right skills is not easy, and lengthy recruitment processes can discourage the most qualified candidates. It is also possible to train existing teams to acquire the skills the company will need to stay on course.
2. Take cultural impact into account
Cultural change is an important aspect of digital transformation, and one that can also help companies grow. The corporate culture passed on by management was also cited as an obstacle to change in SMEs (12%). While we often think of changing staff work habits, we think less of the fact that management itself needs to change its attitude and strategy. And yet, without management support, there is little chance of initiating real change, at the risk of seeing any prospect of evolution vanish.
3. Replace legacy technology with more efficient and relevant solutions
While less tangible issues such as skills, attitudes and culture are at the heart of business change, this doesn't mean that an SME's technology should remain static. In fact, 8% of IT decision-makers surveyed believe that the existing IT infrastructure is an obstacle to their company's development. Fortunately, steps are being taken to remedy this situation. In fact, according to IDC's "Worldwide Semiannual SMB Spending Guide", total SMB IT spending is set to rise by 4.9% in 2018 to nearly $602 billion.
But where should you invest? Automation and analytics can help SMEs improve their recruitment processes. In addition, enhancing public cloud platforms can bring real efficiency gains, enabling staff to focus more on business development. The IDG-Dell study shows that SMBs are deploying and testing a variety of emerging technologies, including data analytics (52%), IoT (38%), AI and machine learning (34%), as well as containers and microservices (30%). However, it's essential for SMEs to ensure that their overriding objective remains the bottom line, before deciding which technology is best suited. For example, if the objective is to accelerate growth, AI may be a better choice than IoT.
4. Better use of data
To manage the colossal amounts of data at their disposal, large companies hire Chief Data Officers, a luxury that SMEs can't necessarily afford. But that doesn't mean they can't improve their data management. In particular, new technologies can help them make better use of their data, improve the customer experience and perhaps even change the minds of IT decision-makers, 18% of whom said that, without a sufficient customer base, they could not develop their business and therefore their customer portfolio. Better use of data would help them retain existing customers and better target potential new ones. The result: a growing customer base and a growing business.
5. Use a trusted partner and expert
When asked what would help their company to grow or innovate, only 4% of IT decision-makers mentioned the use of a trusted third-party supplier. This response suggests that many companies have not considered using a third party, or prefer to implement change themselves. However, if we take the four points above, support from a trusted third party could really facilitate the development of SMEs, which often need tailor-made solutions that cannot be found on the market.
Customized solutions can also encourage management buy-in, by enabling the company to decide for itself how to integrate products and services. In addition, the advice of an external expert can encourage management to adapt its practices and change its corporate culture. Last but not least, using an external partner can also help SMEs to find the necessary talent and ensure the integration of emerging technologies they are planning to deploy, for real added value.
