INTHEBLACK September 2021 - Magazine - Page 41
AT A
GLANCE
STORY SONAKSHI BABBAR
According to Gartner’s
2021 top trends, data and
analytics is shifting from
a secondary business
function to a core function.
M
uch has been said about the COVID-19
pandemic pushing digital transformation for
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
into overdrive. According to the Fiverr Small
Business Sentiment Survey, after the initial
shock of the pandemic subsided, the demand for new
technologies and tools from Australian SMEs skyrocketed.
By focusing on digital technologies and e-commerce, these
tech-savvy SMEs managed to stay relevant and competitive
in the “new normal”.
However, according to CPA Australia’s most recent
SME survey, technology uptake in Australia is lagging far
behind its Asia-Pacific neighbours.
In Malaysia, for example, many SMEs, and in particular
family owned businesses, have shifted their views on the
benefits of using technology in more areas of their business.
What was once thought of as “nice to have” is now considered
to be a “must have”, says Khai Chiat Ong CPA, partner of
risk assurance services at PwC Malaysia.
“This suggests that family businesses are now geared for
digitalisation,” says Ong.
“With digitalisation comes data and the need for building
a data-driven culture at smaller businesses.”
The writing on the wall for SMEs is clear – unlocking
business value in the post-pandemic world means building
shared data capabilities and a culture that values data and
informed decision-making.
WHAT IS HOLDING SMES BACK?
Be they large or small, getting more companies to use data
in their decision-making is “not as straightforward as it
sounds”, says Chelsea Wise, marketing director at Hyper
Anna, an Australian AI-powered data analytics platform.
“People will take the time to understand the numbers,
if it helps their job,” she adds. “If they can’t see an obvious
benefit beyond that, things become more difficult.”
Wise says that an Accenture study of more than
9000 people has recently found that, while the majority have
an appetite for data, data literacy is low. Nearly 80 per cent
of the participants are not happy working with data.
The accelerated adoption
of digital technologies by
many SMEs has opened up
new opportunities to take
full advantage of data to
improve decision-making.
Data analytics can present
a 360-degree view of a
company, laying the
groundwork for improved
performance analysis and
value measurement.
Sanjay Panjabi, audit analytics partner at Deloitte &
Touche in Singapore, highlights a similar objection at
ground level.
“Initially there was resistance from the practitioners to
adopt data analytics because the mindset was that, ‘All these
years I’ve been doing my work and haven’t had any issues
with the regulators. Do I really need to do this?’
“Their perception was that it’s probably additional work
on top of what they’re already doing. So, why would they
want to increase the workload?”
Wise explains that, traditionally, the barrier to data
analytics was very high within businesses because they
would either need to hire a data analyst and build a team
of experts that would handle all data and insights requests,
or they would look to business intelligence tools like
Tableau and Microsoft Power BI.
Both these pathways, she says, worked for enterprises
that had access to resources and budget, but they may have
seemed impractical to SMEs.
“There is still a common misconception that going
digital and using data will require a huge investment – new
headcount, new technology, etc. – a potential change to their
current operating model and a restructuring of how things
work,” says Ong.
“It’s perceived as a large investment,” he adds.
BENEFITS OF DATA-DRIVEN CULTURE
With all the data being collected by SMEs – about
sales, marketing, products, revenue or geography – many
businesses are sitting on an untapped goldmine.
Informed decisions: Data analytics can provide SMEs
with incredibly detailed insights into all aspects of
operations. “The actionable insights from data analytics can
help SMEs direct their business spends and resources to
areas that need it most,” says Wise.
“When working with SMEs, I try to get away from the
tools, technology and the data that exists, and instead focus
on conversations about what data does, what it captures, what
it doesn’t capture – and what really helps business leaders
facilitate the conversations around the business problems.
intheblack.com September 2021 41