The importance of SMEs going digital

Using a digital calendar makes tremendous sense, particularly in this era of smartphones. Your appointments are always right at hand and it is so much easier to coordinate meetings with other parties. If we were to measure the digital footprint of small and medium companies by their digital calendars, they will seem like a truly 21st century team of achievers.

Yet if we delve into the rest of a Vodacom survey on local digital business trends, things look decidedly more archaic. Only 34 percent of surveyed companies store files in the cloud. More than a quarter have no digital presence, not even on social media. Over half still rely on physical timesheets to monitor attendance. Barely 14 percent use cloud-based payroll software.

The survey is not alone in noting this strange lack of digital awareness among South African SMEs. According to the paper The Awareness of Cloud Computing: A Case Study of South African SMEs, published in the International Journal Of Trade, Economics And Finance, most local small businesses have scant appreciation of the value and opportunity presented by digital products.

It found that 40% of respondents have a very low knowledge of cloud computing, 13% have averagely low knowledge and 27% a basic knowledge. Only 7% have a high knowledge and 13% have very high knowledge

This is important because if you are not part of that final 20%, you are ceding a huge competitive advantage.

There is no better ti...