Countries in the Southeast Asian region have huge communities of small-to-medium scale enterprises (SMEs), many of whom employ thousands of workers and contribute to their GDP. In fact, most Southeast Asian countries have more SMEs as registered businesses than large enterprises. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) puts the number of SMEs at 96 per cent of all enterprises and employing up to 85 per cent of overall workforce. SMEs also account for up to 30 per cent of exports and contribute around 50 per cent of GDP.
But despite their huge numbers and contribution to their respective country’s GDP, SMEs have yet to largely tap information technology (IT) to improve their business. Apart from just using computers to improve operations, businesses can use IT to forecast and even drive growth. Old data that businesses store can be just as valuable in the future as they were in the past. This is the value that business intelligence offers.
Business intelligence or BI refers to an IT-based process of collecting, analysing and forecasting company performance based on past, raw data. This must come with the collection of all raw data and analysing these to come up with effective and strategic planning and decision making. Companies that have sales data, for instance, can collect past reports, factor in their performance for certain seasons, and come up with strategic campaigns. The data they collect in the past should guide them in their future needs.
But what other values does BI have for SMEs whose operations and client campaigns are not as big as larger enterprises? Most SMEs do not have enough raw data to be used to review, much less for business intelligence. While BI is dependent on relevant data, there are still models of BI that SMEs can tap into in order to be better decision makers for their businesses. Initial implementations would require the SME to know what exactly they would want with BI and how it should help them in improving their business. Simply answering this question is already business intelligence in itself as the company owners become aware of what they need for long-term gains.
Once the right BI services or facilities are in place, it is time to put it to work; collecting existing data say for sales, comparing these to other data in their business and perhaps using outside factors or information to extrapolate key information, then analysing potential gains and challenges for certain strategic decisions.
The key factor in good BI implementation is basic knowledge of what to do in the long term. Some SMEs, whether they are new or have been in the business for a while, must determine what they really want to do for their business. Next would be to look for the tools they would need to achieve those goals. If IT solutions are seen as good contributors to their targets, they could then select the best technologies to fit their needs.
Of course, SMEs do not have the size to actually implement a full scale BI solution. This puts them somewhat at a disadvantage especially against larger companies that have the scale and financial capacity. Most BI solutions require professionals within an organisation to be managed and being as they are, SMEs do not have enough manpower to spare to accommodate the needs of a BI infrastructure. Such a gap could undermine the competitiveness of SMEs against larger organisations. BI should cater to all types of businesses, regardless of type and scale. There are still BI solutions that also cater to small operations to allow them to overcome competitive hurdles and achieve long term sustainability and perhaps even expand.
Some of these BI solutions are already in the cloud and as the providers become more aware of the unique needs of SMEs, new solutions are created to address those needs and be tweaked along the way.
Cloud computing is paving the way for SMEs to go toe-to-toe with each other and even against bigger companies. In a cloud computing environment, SMEs will only need to pay for services they use. There is almost little need to actually implement any physical IT infrastructure; everything is online, save for the desktop device on location that is used to access the service. SAP, for instance, has Business All in One (BAIO) and Business Intelligence On Demand on a cloud computing environment. SMEs can use these services, thereby cutting down on costs in using BI. It is not the size of the business that matters in implementing BI but rather how to be smart in utilising data. Solutions providers, such as SAP are already laying out the types of Business Intelligence services that SMEs could need.
All they need to do is ask and they’ll be on their way to become better-run companies.
*The writer is Country Head, SAP Pakistan (Liaison office Malaysia)
