What’s really going to matter for SMEs in 2023?
A new year brings with it a variety of opportunities for businesses both large and small. While larger businesses are more prominent in the media, SMEs account for a staggering 99.9% of the business population in the UK. SMEs really do matter, as they power the UK economy and are key to the market’s success. If the whole UK economy is to grow, then the needs of SMEs should to be better understood and catered for, with that in mind, what’s really going to matter to SMEs in 2023 when it comes to all things digital?
Accelerating digital transformation
Similarly to 2022, SMEs are operating in a difficult economic climate that brings with it opportunities to innovate and grow. According to research from Sage, technology has become fundamental to the very survival of small or medium organisations, along with their resilience and growth, with 80% dependent on technology to start, survive and grow; so investing in tech is about survival, not just growth.
In 2023, SMEs should be thinking about how technology can give their business a competitive advantage, to beat the competition and retain valuable customers. It’s about engaging in digital transformation efforts to improve how companies operate internally, as well as to provide better products and services for their customers.
Technology is quickly becoming an essential component of an SMEs business strategy, rather than merely a ‘nice to have’. Better collaboration within and between organisations, more individualised methods of customer engagement, increased employee productivity, and more insightful data insights are all made possible by the intelligent deployment of complementary technologies. Whether it’s improving wireless connectivity or reducing data silos within a business, all the little things really do add up in giving SMEs a fighting chance to compete with the biggest global enterprises.
At a time of economic uncertainty, harnessing the benefits of the digital world can help SMEs reduce operating costs and become significantly more competitive. In fact, a recent study found that companies that accelerate their digital transformation efforts benefit from a 19% increase in profitability and a 12% decrease in business costs. While the temptation will be there to delay digital transformation at a time of tightened budgets, it will actually give businesses an edge both now and far into the future, as well as vitally helping to reduce budgets and operating costs.
Reducing the digital skills gap
According to BT’s The Future in, UK organisations cited “insufficient internal skills” to be their main challenge for the coming five years. Little has changed since then and SMEs across the country are still struggling to find candidates with the right digital skills, in addition to upskilling existing employees. Small and medium sized companies face numerous obstacles to investing and upskilling their workforce, as well as paying more per staff member than what larger firms do for formal training, according to the OECD. Training doesn't have to cost the earth and SMEs should consider how employees can be upskilled in the most cost effective way, whether that be via an online learning course or a mentorship programme. Digital transformation can only be a success if the integration between technology and employees is seamless. Ultimately, employees are a businesses’ greatest asset and digital transformation needs to be viewed through an employee lens, as well as from a bird’s-eye view. Without digital skills, digital technologies can’t be maximised in SMEs.
The rise of IaaS
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offers SMEs the opportunity to use compute, storage and networking resources on a demand oriented basis and there’s a multitude of pay-as-you-go options available today. Small and medium sized companies frequently lack the financial or resources to manage physical servers and infrastructure in-house. Using the power of the Cloud, they can unlock the potential of computing resources previously unreachable, due to cost and complexity. IaaS can improve backup and recovery processes, allowing for greater contingency planning and continuity should the worst happen. SMEs can take a leaf out of the book of large organisations and gain a competitive advantage by leveraging similarly powerful computing services in the Cloud.
However, many SME businesses still prefer a blend of on-premises and private/public Cloud infrastructure to give them greater control and flexibility over their computing resources. What’s more, on-premise networks can enable SMEs to use device servers, dongle servers, print servers and USB hubs, to connect the power of the Cloud with on-premise resources. It’s this blend of traditional on-premise infrastructure and modern IaaS that can take SMEs digital transformation efforts to the next level.
Closing Thoughts
Looking ahead into 2023, SMEs should capitalise on opportunities to elevate their digital transformation efforts by seizing digital capabilities to their fullest, as well as upskilling employees and leveraging IaaS to give them an additional competitive edge. This year will be challenging for small and medium sized businesses, but this really is the time where digital will give organisations an edge in a difficult economic environment.
