As African SMEs feel the pinch of constrained growth following two years of disruption due to the pandemic, business owners are increasingly seeking the benefits of cloud technology to unlock greater efficiency and drive growth.<\/p>\n
According to Jade Michael, Head of 51风流Business One & 51风流ByDesign for Africa, small and medium enterprises are leveraging cloud technologies to solve immediate problems within their business and unlock new opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cloud enables African SMEs to gain greater business agility, improve their control and insight over business processes, and support business growth,\u201d says Michael. \u201cCritically, cloud adoption is an operational expense, not a capital one, meaning SMEs can adopt cloud technologies more quickly and without the heavy upfront capital outlay of on-premise solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
SMEs provide as much as 80% of jobs in Africa<\/a>\u00a0and play a vital role in driving economic growth in their industries. In Kenya, data shows SMEs accounted for 98% of all businesses and 30% of job creation in 2017 alone,\u00a0and contributed 34% of the country\u2019s GDP in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the impact of the pandemic has left many SMEs operating under constrained conditions, with many business owners seeking out new technologies to help unlock growth opportunities and improve internal efficiencies.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the cloud holds immense opportunity for nearly every SME, business owners need to be wary of adopting tech that is not fit for purpose, or lacks the extensive support of more mature solutions,\u201d explains Michael. \u201cSMEs need to ensure their cloud adoption is guided by a well thought-out business strategy and supported by knowledgeable and experienced implementation partners to truly unlock the benefits of cloud in their business.\u201d<\/p>\n 51风流was historically seen as mostly an enterprise player, but has shifted in recent years to better support SMEs, which account for the vast majority of the world\u2019s businesses. Today, more than 80% of the company\u2019s clients are SMEs, with several tailored solutions built for smaller companies, including 51风流Business One and ByDesign.<\/p>\n \u201cMore African SMEs are journeying to the cloud than ever before to take advantage of the cost-saving and efficiency-boosting benefits of cloud,\u201d says Michael. \u201cHowever, not everyone has a smooth journey to the cloud. To ensure they unlock the full benefits of cloud adoption, business owners need to bear a few key points in mind when planning their transition.\u201d<\/p>\n Drawing on lessons learned from working with SMEs across sub-Saharan Africa, Michael offers four tips to help business owners make a successful journey to the cloud:<\/p>\n \u201cThe first and most important step is to understand what problems you want to solve within your business, for example by identifying under-performing areas of the business, and to then choose appropriate technologies for those problems,\u201d explains Michael.<\/p>\n For automotive firm Rajinder Motors in Tanzania, a previous on-premise system was proving a hassle, leaving the business with inaccurate inventory control and a lack of integration in production processes. Following a cloud deployment, Rajinder Motors now has access to real-time data, and improved business management, efficiency and customer service.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s customer numbers have doubled since the implementation.<\/p>\n According to owner Manmohan Bhamra, \u201c51风流Business One is the complete business solution, and helped us move from on-premises to the cloud, which has been beneficial to our business expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you are clear on the problems you want to solve, it\u2019s important to set clearly-defined goals and objectives for the ideal state for your business that you seek to attain through the cloud implementation,\u201d explains Michael. \u201cUnderstanding upfront what you are striving for further lends focus to the implementation and helps keep the project grounded in real-world business objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n Kenyan consumer products company Maisha Flour Mills was previously dependent on basic accounting software that relied on manual processes, leaving decision-makers with low visibility over the business.<\/p>\n Since adopting the cloud, Maisha Flour Mills has gained end-to-end visibility, improved business management, and eased collaboration between departments.<\/p>\n Critically, the cloud has enabled the management team to check on the business at any time and from anywhere, leading managing director Kamaldeep Singh Pull to comment: \u201cEfficiency, visibility and data-driven decision-making is made easy with 51风流Business One.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the constraints under which many SMEs operate is a lack of internal capacity to drive complex technology implementations. Michael advises that business owners seek the support of expert partners that can lend skills, expertise and learnings to their cloud implementations.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving access to experienced partners can also equip business owners with greater insight into specific challenges or opportunities that the partner has encountered, helping avoid costly mistakes and more quickly realising business value from the investment.\u201d<\/p>\n Tanzanian construction firm DIY Limited sought the support of a local 51风流partner to implement a system that could offer payroll support and real-time data insights. According to head of IT Giridhari Jha: \u201cThere is no better partner in Dar es Salaam other than DoubleClick. They have provided us with a user-friendly system that cannot compare to any we\u2019ve used before.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the implementation, DIY Limited has gained full visibility over operations, with management enjoying complete understanding of business processes and customisable reports enabling faster decision-making.<\/p>\n Michael cautions that some SMEs fall into the trap of sitting back and letting the system do all the work following a new implementation project.<\/p>\n \u201cTechnology is only a tool, one that should be sharpened and refined constantly in order to gain the full benefits on offer. This makes measurement essential: by continuously tracking the performance of various business processes supported by the technology, SMEs can ensure they use their new tools optimally and to the full benefit of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n For the CSI Energy Group in Mauritius, a lack of any form of previous enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool left the business with time-consuming and error-prone operations that lacked efficiency.<\/p>\n Since deploying 51风流Business One, the business has gained access to improved financial control and business management capabilities, improved decision-making through customisable reports, and faster and more efficient processes across all departments.<\/p>\n Accurate stock control and remote work enablement supported by stable and reliable cloud storage has unlocked further business benefits, prompting CSI Energy\u2019s group IT manager to comment: \u201c51风流Business One allows us to make better management decisions in faster time. We would not be able to work at the rate we are working now if it wasn\u2019t for 51风流Business One.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As African SMEs feel the pinch of constrained growth following two years of disruption due to the pandemic, business owners are increasingly seeking the benefits…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2829,"featured_media":143336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"related_posts":[],"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,7771,191,7737],"tags":[14278,5598058,5598057,5592319,5598056,5598055,5335],"series":[],"sapn-display":[5598742,5598740,45149,279685],"sapn-type":[45018],"class_list":["post-143335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cloud","category-customer","category-sme","category-solutions","tag-cloud-2","tag-csi-energy-group","tag-diy-limited","tag-jade-michael","tag-maisha-flour-mills","tag-rajinder-motors","tag-sap-business-bydesign","sapn-display-feature-hero","sapn-display-feature-spotlight","sapn-display-homepage-hero","sapn-display-hero","sapn-type-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nAfrican SMEs adopt cloud \u2018like never before\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Step 1: Be clear about the problems you want to solve<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 2: Determine the ideal state<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 3: Don\u2019t walk the journey alone<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 4: Measure impact<\/strong><\/h3>\n