Businesses are increasingly investing in technology and 46 per cent of SME owners intend to make an increased financial investment in the digital space, according to the latest thinkBIG study.
The study found that 13 per cent will launch web or mobile applications, seven per cent will launch mobile tools for employees, eight per cent will implement ERP or CRM systems, and just eight per cent will implement a cloud-based accounting system.
RSM Bird Cameron Director Andrew Sykes says “digital disruption” can lead to competitive advantages through the ability to deliver better services faster, regardless of company size.
“It’s no longer a matter of the big fish eating the small fish, but the fast fish eating the slow fish,” he said.
“Technology systems like ERP and CRM are now more readily available to smaller businesses as cost and complexity reduce. And SMEs are looking to automation to achieve productivity and revenue improvements.”
Digital disruption is occurring across many sectors. The four primary enablers that are now maturing to facilitate change include cloud, mobile, social and big data.
“Competition for customers and share of wallet is intensifying and now, more than ever, business owners need to be better connected to customers with a real focus on sales planning as part of their overall business strategy,” Mr Sykes said.
“At this stage it looks like this investment will continue to focus primarily on social and mobile and secondarily on big data or cloud, despite the many advantages and cost benefits of those technologies. Notwithstanding, we expect that future investment in cloud will begin to pick up pace.”