New Delhi, India, October 8, 2013 — Tech-savvy small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) created more new jobs and drove more revenue gains over the past three years than SMEs using little technology, according to new research commissioned by Microsoft Corp. and independently conducted by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm and a leading adviser on business strategy.
The BCG report, Ahead of the Curve: Lessons on Technology and Growth from Small Business Leaders, found if more SMEs in India adopted the latest IT tools there is potential for SME revenue to grow by $56 billion and create 1.1 million new jobs.
“SMEs are a critical growth engine for jobs and economies today,” said Karan Bajwa, Managing Director of Microsoft India. “There is tremendous opportunity for economic growth. Our objective is to help more SMEs transition to, and benefit from, modern IT. For customers, it means providing product training and helping SMEs understand the full range of available devices and services, but it also means community and industry investments such as skills training,” Bajwa added.
Speaking at the press conference, Mr. Vibhor Jain, Director, Glowmac Lighting Pvt. Ltd. said, “Technology as played a significant role in helping us expand our business. We have seen enhanced efficiencies that have brought visibility into key performance parameters. This has helped us get better control over our operations, reach newer markets and grow our business.”
BCG’s research found that over the past three years, IT-enabled SMEs, which BCG refers to as “technology leaders”, grew revenues 15 percentage points faster and created twice as many jobs as SMEs that use less technology. The research also revealed that across nearly all product categories, these fast-growing SMEs use more Microsoft solutions than any other products, and that SMEs view Microsoft as the top partner for new and future technology needs. In fact, when asked what technologies survey respondents could not live without, they chose Microsoft Office as the top productivity application over all others. Moreover, SMEs that adopted Microsoft Cloud services grew faster than SMEs that do not use any Microsoft products. These companies also reported greatly improved employee mobility, scalability and agility.
“The BCG research revealed that Microsoft products and services are the No. 1 choice of these technology leaders,” said Meetul Patel, Microsoft’s General Manager of Small and Mid-Market Solutions and Partners organization in India. “Microsoft and its broad ecosystem of partners in India have helped SMEs grow, compete and become more profitable through the effective use of office productivity tools, cloud-based services and mobile technology. We are committed to helping businesses across the country access, use and benefit from the latest advances in information technology” Patel added.
“We and our partners in India have designed several programmes to help SMEs transform their business by the effective use of office productivity tools, cloud-based services and mobile technology,” Patel added.
The BCG report argued that the latest wave of technological advancement, such as cloud services, brings potential for the most far-reaching innovation and business growth ever, creating an opportunity for more SMEs to achieve the growth rates of technology leaders by leveraging technology to fuel productivity and growth. The research revealed that high-performing SMEs stayed ahead of mainstream IT adoption, riding new waves of advancement to improve productivity, connect with new customers and markets, particularly outside their own region or country, and compete with much larger players. These companies employ the full range of available tools — from productivity software to Internet connectivity and cloud-based services.
“In India and other economies, SMEs play a vital role, often acting as the primary drivers of job and economic growth,” said Neeraj Aggarwal, a BCG senior partner and a coauthor of the report. “The large informal economy in India means this potential is not always reflected in official statistics, but there is nonetheless a big opportunity for both SMEs and policymakers to increase output and employment substantially. More tech leaders would also help lead to a more vibrant economy because leaders outperform in innovation,” he added.
But at the same time, the research revealed a risk, because SMEs’ adoption of IT is decidedly uneven. Across the world, many SMEs, and their customers, don’t have access to modern broadband networks, and many lack the skills to get the most out of IT. Many SMEs are also still using large amounts of old and less efficient hardware and software. New devices are also sometimes very expensive due to high import duties, and SMEs are concerned about online security and privacy. But the growth prospects described in the study are too important for governments and the IT industry to ignore.
The research revealed nearly 90 percent of SMEs in India have no access to the Internet, compared with only 22 percent of SMEs in China and 5 percent of SMEs in the US.
The risk of a growing technology gulf is relevant to governments looking to maximize economic growth, and it is an opportunity for policymakers and the IT industry to implement strategies to remove barriers to IT adoption by addressing small businesses’ top concerns about using more technology.
Research Scope & Methodology
BCG surveyed five major economies- Brazil, India, China, Germany, the United States and found that SME revenue could grow by a combined $770 billion in the five primary countries if more SMEs could achieve the growth rates of those SMEs that use modern IT1. These same SMEs could add some 6.2 million new jobs in those countries alone. What’s more, BCG believes that this association between IT adoption and growth would be consistent in countries across the world.
The results of the BCG survey of more than 4,000 SMEs in five of the world’s largest and most diverse economies were consistent across all industry sectors, but there were some surprises from emerging markets and with women-owned firms. Technology leaders in emerging markets grew jobs and revenue faster than in developed markets and are even quicker than their developed market counterparts to embrace new tools, and woman-owned firms are among the most technically advanced, innovative and successful firms interviewed.
A copy of the report can be downloaded here (registration required)
More about how Microsoft is working with SMEs can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/SMETechLeaders/default.aspx.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft Corporation (India) Private Ltd is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, USA. It has had a presence in India since 1990 and currently has offices in nine cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.
About The Boston Consulting Group
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 78 offices in 43 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.
1 U.S., Germany, China, India and Brazil
