There’s an SME Knocking at the Door…

As the world re-lives 9/11, enterprises still
grapple with security, data loss, downtime... and the cost of ensuring uptime.

That’s especially high in a country plagued
with infrastructure issues.

The financial sector is way ahead. It invests
heavily in security and disaster management. So does telecom. Where data equals
revenue, ‘business continuity’ is non-negotiable. But others, including the
big daddy IT user — manufacturing — are far behind.

For most, disaster management, remote hot sites,
et al, are ‘future plans’. Especially with so many strategic initiatives
losing out to quick-return projects under today’s RoI demands

But the wider IT usage gap is the one between the
large enterprise, and the rest of India’s business world. There, IT is
visible, but rarely mission-critical.

A snapshot of the larger SME: A messy network
with dozens to hundred of PCs, basic Net access, word processing, an accounts
package, and payroll (and Hotmail). Discrete little apps, added in pieces over
time. A bit of “CRM” — usually contact management. These apps don’t talk
to each other. PCs and servers have been added ad-hoc. Storage is just internal
drives, and perhaps tape backup.

In IT terms, small and mid-size enterprises are a
mess. And the biggest challenge, and opportunity, for vendors of IT products --
and services.

Products: Yes, the SME is price-sensitive. There
are good SME connectivity and network products, but key devices and apps remain
complex, or expensive. Servers are a case in point — what the SME needs is a
box with ready file-and-print and datacom apps. An ‘appliance,’ if you like,
but without the high price tag. Other technology, such as NAS, is still
expensive, but getting better.

Scalability, integration, the apps platform:
Alien words here. SMEs will not invest Rs 50 lakh upfront in an ERP system.

They’ll get small, discrete, even custom, apps.
They’ll later grapple with incompatibility and support. They need a modular,
scalable system on a consistent platform. But few vendors bring to the SME such
a value proposition: Choose the platform.

Buy a low cost module. Integrate other apps
later. SMEs don’t know that they need an integrated system — or even why
accounts, payroll and HR software should work seamlessly together.

Services: The yawning gap for the SME. Beyond
maintenance and ‘integration’ (cabling, network setup), there’s little
available from the cottage industry targeting the SME. There are those who will
set up apps for SMEs, but they’re usually the vendor’s dealers, who don’t
make objective consultants. “But the SME does not pay for services”.

Yet this is the big challenge and market. For the
pioneers who get their foot in the SME door.