The Second Wave of E-Business Reaches GCC Mid-Market (page 2 of 2)

So what's stopping these smaller firms from adopting e-business? Factors such as fear of cost, and of disruption to daily business are uppermost. Forrester Research reports that many companies find some e-business applications difficult to use, forcing up implementation costs by as much as 15 percent .

Typically, mid-market companies do not have large in-house IT teams or sizeable IT budgets. In the past, this meant that they could not afford to buy, implement or manage the latest e-business systems - putting all of the associated benefits of these systems out of their reach.

Furthermore, AMR Research reports that the mid-market business is moving away from large-scale, protracted IT projects towards rapid implementation with a guaranteed return on investment.

AMR reported in 2002 that companies are looking to implement projects in a timeframe of 13 weeks and to achieve return on investment in approximately six months. Heavy customisation is out, in favour of pre-configured software that can deliver the functionality and benefit required without involving excessive time or expense.

The mid-market has many of the same business requirements as larger companies. With this in mind, mid-sized business need the same e-business software capabilities as those enjoyed by large enterprises, not a down-sized, non-scalable version which does not accommodate growth or offer key functionality.

IDC analyst firm predicts 30 percent of European small and medium-sized businesses will increase their IT budgets in 2003. Many of these companies realise that affordable, reliable, secure and scalable e-business software can boost overall profitability and provide a competitive edge. It can also enable them to fully modernise their back office, consolidate systems, improve processes and reduce costs.

In addition, companies should make open standards an essential criterion of their IT system selection process, so that the business does not become tied into a single technology platform, but can integrate seamlessly with various types of technology. This is especially important as a company looks to merge or partner with another business that may be relying on a different technology infrastructure.

Today, the first wave of e-business is well-established amongst the larger enterprise market in the Gulf. The current factors of economic downturn and increased competition, coupled with the advent of the Gulf Customs Union and the potential for a common market and single currency, mean that emerging companies must view new technology solutions as enablers to benefit from these market changes rather than being defeated by them.

With the right software in place, the GCC's smaller and medium-sized companies can be in the forefront of the second wave of e-business, and profit from that leadership.