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Digitalisation for SMEs: 80 per cent of SMEs in a survey by software reviews platform Capterra India on Monday said there should be more government funding initiatives to support companies undergoing digitalisation. The Digitalisation of Indian SMEs survey- Part II studying the state of digitalisation in India with respect to government funding and initiatives along with major barriers and challenges faced by SMEs had 435 respondents (including a group of managers, senior managers, or CEOs/founders) out of which 341 worked for SMEs, and 94 worked for enterprises —companies having more than 250 employees.
Only 6 per cent suggested exploring alternative sources and less reliance on public funding, the survey noted. Among the existing initiatives undertaken by the government to support the digitalisation efforts of SMEs are the RAMP programme, MSME Innovative Scheme, ASPIRE scheme, and more.
Also read: How ONDC and OCEN can push digitisation drive among MSMEs
For startups or other small businesses that have just started out or are in the nascent stages of development, the absence of funding may make it difficult for them to put their digitalisation plans into action.
According to the survey, 40 per cent of respondents said they had received government funding for digitalisation at least once while only 20 per cent had government funding for digitalisation multiple times. Other 20 per cent did not apply for it while 8 per cent were not aware of any available government funding but would have been interested in applying.
Commenting on the survey, Sukanya Awasthi, Content Analyst for Capterra India and Digitalisation of Indian SMEs survey said, “India’s ambitious target of becoming a $5-trillion economy with a 30 per cent contribution from the MSME sector to GDP requires the sector to play a pivotal role in the country’s growth story which is why the government may be looking to providing various incentives, funding and budgetary allowances for SMEs in India.”
Also read: 88% of SMEs have a digitalisation strategy in place: Survey
Meanwhile, cybersecurity issues were the most significant barrier to digitalisation for 36 per cent of respondents followed by integrating new technology with existing technology for 26 per cent and lack of expertise to implement digitalisation for 24 per cent.
Despite the recorded benefits of digitalisation like increased efficiency, higher customer satisfaction and higher profits, some companies were not able to continue with digitalisation efforts. The top reasons cited were a limited budget for implementation by 37 per cent of respondents, concerns about overwhelming their employees with technology by 34 per cent of respondents and a lack of awareness regarding software that would improve their current processes by 29 per cent of respondents.
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