“MSMEs contribute significantly to India’s growth which makes it imperative for them to be cognizant of their digital transformation journey. By investing in smart IT choices, MSMEs can derive valuable insights from business-critical data and manage operations effectively while optimizing finances at the workplace. At the initial stages of a business, time and cost efficiency are of the essence to realise real-time success, resulting in sustenance of the organization. MSMEs require flexibility to manage workloads – upgrading existing IT infrastructure by raising their capabilities to manage future workloads will give them the edge over competition, offer optimal services to customers and strengthen their relationships with partners in the age of digital transformation. As we progress into the digital era, MSMEs need to be aware of the changing dynamics in IT and build resiliency to face the challenges of upcoming times.
Dell Technologies is one of the leading business-driven IT infrastructure solution providers offering customized enterprise support to organisations of every size, scale, and sector. With our broad portfolio of solutions, the right server, storage, cloud, and cybersecurity solutions will help shape the future for MSMEs, turning them into profitable enterprises who take actions on the basis of cutting-edge insights, for mapping progress through the market of tomorrow.” – Mr. Manish Gupta, Vice President and GM, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies, India
“Indian MSMEs today contribute to over 29% of the GDP and are directly or indirectly responsible for 50% of total exports and one-third of manufacturing output. Employing over 11 crore of the country’s population, MSMEs represent a key pillar in the India economy. However, poor infrastructure, lack of financial backing and regulatory issues serve as a rigid bottleneck to this community.
We believe that the vast technology-spend gap between the Indian SMEs and the larger global enterprises can be bridged through software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions. We have been committed towards empowering them with the right set of SaaS solutions and platforms to target the right audience leading to more effective acquisition, engagement and retention. Our SaaS products and solutions allow MSMEs a 360-degree view of their customers, thereby enabling more personalized digital experiences that lead to better market differentiation and customer loyalty.
Email delivery serves as a ROI-beneficial engagement to build meaningful conversations with high-value customers, reactivate dormant users, drive profitability and create exceptional customer experience. Our recent, Email Benchmark Report 2022 has highlighted that investing in these innovative technologies have helped brands increase email reach by upto 40%. As a result, we have been proactively recommending Emails backed by our AI-solutions to personalize better at a lower investment.” – , Mr. Kalpit Jain, Group CEO, Netcore Cloud
“MSMEs form the backbone of any economy, contributing significantly to the GDP growth and creating employment for a large segment of the population. In India, MSMEs are well positioned to revive industries like textile and help create manufacturing hubs for everyday items that we consume. Various initiatives from the government under schemes like Digital India and Make in India, have pushed digital adoption in MSMEs. This can help in improving efficiency and productivity, while creating room for investing in research and innovation. As more MSMEs emerge across the country in diverse locations, they can help in revitalising rural areas and turn them into economic powerhouses.
Zoho works closely with MSMEs to create digital literacy, help them overcome resistance to technology and digitally transform, while also providing skill development and technology counselling. Zoho has a dedicated programme—Zoho Empower—that works with MSME clusters. ” – Mr. Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder, Zoho Corp
Customer success
One of the small businesses that leveraged Zoho’s technology to digitise its operations, and pivot during the pandemic is Kalpataru, a small retail shop selling pooja (ritual) items in Guduvancheri, near Chennai.
Bhavani Sai Venkat, a former nursery school teacher, started Kalpataru in April 2021. After exploring multiple e-commerce platforms that charged hefty fees, she discovered Zoho Commerce, and set up her store kalpatarutrading.com in a matter of weeks on her own. “When I started exploring ways to manage and engage with the website traffic, I discovered SalesIQ and PageSense that allowed me to study visitor behaviour and engage with them through chatbots,” said Bhavani. She started mapping visitors who showed interest to Zoho CRM using rules and workflows, and started engaging with them through email newsletters, informing them about new products and offering exclusive discounts.
Bhavani switched to Zoho One that provided her access to 45+ apps at a better price. She tracked orders through Zoho Mail, conducted interactive online sessions—such as singing contest for children during festivals like Navratri—on Zoho Meeting, and used Zoho Survey to gather feedback. “I had access to all the apps I needed to increase customer satisfaction and optimise customer touchpoints. When I first set up the online store we had about 600 visitors. We started promoting the store using Zoho tools during festivals and received around 27,000 visitors. Even without having a tech background, I could easily learn to use these apps. The seamless experience with Zoho One made our business process much simpler and easier to handle,” she adds. Over time, all these measures have helped Bhavani convert small orders into bulk orders and establish herself as a successful small business owner.
“MSMEs constitute a major force in the Indian economy. There are 63 million MSMEs that contribute to 1/3rd of the country’s manufacturing output. The sector not only creates employment, it also supports the economic activity of large companies. Our government has played a key role in uplifting and promoting these businesses. Initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ have paved a path to building a robust and competitive manufacturing infrastructure in the country. In an endeavour to do our bit to help MSMEs expand, TradeIndia has recently introduced a new offering ‘TI Lending’ that offers these businesses quick and flexible business loans. Further, I look forward to more MSME friendly policies that can help these businesses improve supply chain resilience and accelerate growth.” – Mr. Sandip Chhettri, CEO at TradeIndia.com
“The last few years have proved our incredible capacity for optimism and perseverance. We learnt, adapted, and, most importantly, created new prospects via the use of technology. This was a turning point in India’s MSME sector, as entrepreneurs used digital technology to rethink their business models and better serve their customers. We have been working with several MSMEs in the IT Services, P2P lending, manufacturing, health & wellness, IT Logistics, e-learning, and Fintech sectors. However, a common trend we continue to observe is that most companies are underprepared in terms of skills or resources. With technology changing the way work is done, they have realized that to be successful, organizations need to perform at greater speed and agility. They want comprehensive, end-to-end solutions right from sourcing, hiring, to training. Moreover, they are looking for ways to simplify all phases of digital strategies — awareness, planning, and implementation. In fact, we found that companies across these sectors considered upskilling for business growth (77%), technical up gradation (70%), and personal development of employees (65%) to be the top three priorities, as per our recent ‘Upskilling and Reskilling for Jobs of the Future’ study.
Edtech companies have made significant headway in bridging this gap for MSMEs by offering programs in data sciences, cloud solutions, management, and other areas. Nevertheless, there’s still room for progress. At Vired for Business, we have been addressing these demands and providing holistic training that meets industry needs. Due to our learning pedagogy, unique programs, and core expertise, we enjoy an edge in the industry. We have witnessed first-hand, how several MSMEs rose to the challenge and flourished but in the long run and as markets get more competitive each day, the benefits of lifelong learning cannot be further stressed. It is not a choice, it should be a standard. Considering the scale at which MSMEs have been contributing to the country’s GDP, I am confident that this sector will show continued resilience provided they have expert partners who can help them through their learning and growth journey.” – , Akshay Munjal, Founder and CEO, Hero Vired
“MSMEs are the driving force behind India’s economy with almost 30% contribution to the country’s GDP. To achieve the goal of US $5 trillion economy by 2025, it is imperative for MSMEs to prosper further. With credit becoming more accessible in tier-2 and 3 cities, MSMEs are witnessing a remarkable growth. On the policy front, the recent announcement by RBI (the Payments Vision 2025 document) will be a boon for the small merchants and shop owners as it will widen the card acceptance infrastructure and connect UPI with other modes of payments. This will help in empowering the merchants with digital payment options that are convenient and secured. We at BharatPe, continue to stay committed to roll out products that will not only solve the day-to-day payment and credit problems for SMEs, but also empower them to scale their businesses. Financial inclusion in India has been an extremely important goal for us and we aim to increase our merchant base to 20 million by March 2024. Our aim is also to ensure easy access to credit for small merchants in tier-2 and 3 cities so that they can grow and expand their businesses faster.” – Mr. Suhail Sameer, CEO, BharatPe
“The MSME sector in India is poised for a giant leap, moving from a 30% contribution to India’s GDP to 40% by 2030. This fast growth of MSMEs can only happen with greater access to formal credit, strengthening access to working capital, and a switch to new processes driven by connected data sets, insights on financial health, and decision making. Credlix offers collateral-free working capital solutions for enterprises, MSME suppliers, as well as exporters. We are building a platform to empower manufacturers from India to tap into the global manufacturing supply chain opportunities. With Credlix, MSMEs can request for early payments at affordable discount rates to keep their supply chain up and running, staying in control of their cash conversion cycle.” – Mr. Pramit Joshi, Senior Director, Credlix.
