Digital Maturity Index: Indian SMEs rank 9th in APAC region; are more informed of govt schemes

According to the IDC-Cisco SMB Digital Maturity Index 2019, India has ranked number nine out of the 14 major economies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. The survey was conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) between November 2018 and January 2019 with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that employ 50-499 employees, the report said.

Compared to the average data from the region, Indian SMEs have invested marginally more in cloud technology and security, the study found. Four percent fewer SMEs in India also reported facing a challenge in talent management.

Further, Indian SMEs reporting that they are aware and have benefited from government schemes was 21 percent higher than the regional average. Only 3.5 percent of them reported being unaware of government schemes.

The digital maturity index studied 1,340 SMEs across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

‘The transformation of SMBs has only just begun – many companies are still in the planning stage. The next three to five years that are the most exciting ones to watch, as increased investments by SMBs in digital transformation will truly propel Asia Pacific economies to the next stage of growth,’ the report said.

The sectors studied were financial services, manufacturing, public sector, construction, infrastructure, retail and wholesale, and more.

In these segments, SMEs from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Japan ranked higher than Indian SMEs in digital maturity. SMEs from Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam ranked lower than Indian SMEs in digital maturity.

In January 2019, a YES Bank survey revealed that out of 2,700 MSMEs studied, only five percent have fully embraced digital adoption. The research conducted by the private sector lender considered full-scale technology adoption as the use of cloud services, ERP, CRM, account management software, digital banking, and more.

Of the MSMEs surveyed, 63 percent said they are going digital, while only 50 percent perceived profitability and operational efficiency as benefits of going digital. However, over 80 of digitised MSMEs indicated overall positive digital experiences.

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