IT is key to SMEs tackling tough times, says SEEDA

Its report ‘The Impact of ICT on SMEs in the South East’, which is the result of an astonishing 3,500 interviews with companies having up to 250 staff, prompts businesses to seriously consider their use of technology. Dr Peter Waller, head of broadband and ICT strategy at SEEDA, says the research’s objective was to understand how ICT is being adopted and exploited – and it’s disappointing. “The most important finding is that while roughly two thirds of SMEs are ICT adopters, only 10% of these are advanced adopters,” he says. “Given that the most significant benefits in productivity and performance are to be gained from the adoption of advanced, as opposed to basic, ICT applications and services, this indicates that ICT offers both adopters and non adopters alike a significant opportunity to improve their business performance,” he adds. Arthur Butterfield, regional ICT development manager for the global competitive directorate at SEEDA, is more insistent: “Without ICT, the economy would be less entrepreneurial and much less advanced. However, 34% of SMEs are still non adopters. Even micro businesses can use ICT to … increase commercial activity. Clearly, there is a perceived lack of relevance which needs to be addressed.” One of the report’s rather obvious findings is that many SMEs could be more successful in the current economic climate if they sold more products online. It also suggests, rather vaguely, that more sophisticated ICT adoption “has also been shown to have a direct correlation with success”. Butterfield concludes: “The real potential of ICT is as a tool to fundamentally change the way that businesses operate.”