SMEs struggle with IT services

The message from the Indian IT services industry is the bigger you are, the bigger you get. Small and medium enterprise (SME) IT companies are falling behind their large counterparts in managing revenue growth during the downturn, says The Hindu Business Line.

A comparison of large versus small and mid-cap IT companies shows that while larger companies have a year-on-year growth in turnover, while many smaller companies have seen a drop in revenue.

Large companies have the financial ability to maintain sales and marketing expenses even in tough times that is not necessarily the case with SME IT vendors, says Vishnu Dusad, CEO of Nucleus Software. “This, in turn, impacts the order intake and consequently the sales.”

IT departments in SMEs are increasingly offering their staff support when they use their own IT equipment at work, says Computer Weekly.

According to a survey by LogMeIn, 68% of IT managers report providing support for personal technology, including computers and smartphones.

Over 61% of IT managers said that some, if not all, the computers they use for work purposes are their own, and 68% said they use their own smartphones for work and that there is a trend of encouraging staff to work from home.

The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry is setting up an IT centre for SMEs to address their needs, reports Manila Bulletin.

“The centre is borne out from the realisation that it will not only provide service, but act as a business enabler, at the same time providing IBM partners and local developers an avenue to innovate and advocate,” says Andrei Fournier, member of the board of trustees of ICT Davao.

The centre will manage the operations of the Davao City SME Centre while IBM brings its knowledge in SME solutions in Mindanao through the SME centre.