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The term small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) confirms the significant contribution these organizations make to the economy and the job market. World Economic Forum“SMEs account for around 90 percent of the world’s businesses, provide around 70 percent of all employment and, by some estimates, contribute up to 70 percent of global GDP.” SMEs are rooted in local communities and provide innovative products and services that play a key role in accelerating economic development.
But to do all this while staying competitive, SMEs must strike a delicate balance between three key goals: speeding up time to market for their products and services, building customer trust, and reducing costs at the same time. So how do small but mighty SMEs do it? And more importantly, how can they do it more easily and better? The answer is: Accenture’s latest reportEmbracing cloud services and technologies is key.
Related: 4 Reasons Business Leaders Need to Accelerate Cloud Adoption
Leveraging cloud tools to unlock billions of dollars in benefits
The report predicts that by 2030, cloud-enabled small businesses in healthcare, education, and agriculture will realize $161 billion in productivity gains. These cloud-enabled small businesses will support 95.8 million jobs, 8% of total employment on average across the 12 countries studied. Meanwhile, U.S. small businesses in these sectors are projected to gain $79.8 billion, a 26% increase from current productivity gains. Within cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are expected to have the greatest impact, with 78% of businesses surveyed identifying these technologies as having the greatest impact on society in 2030.
Many businesses have already moved their services and computing to the cloud. Currently, about 63% of U.S. businesses are leveraging cloud technologies (44% globally). Most of these are large companies with the digital knowledge and resources they need to make the transition. This means many small and medium-sized businesses are missing out. First, they’re missing an opportunity to strike a delicate balance between three key goals. Second, they’re missing an opportunity to build on current successes and continue to lead positive change in our communities and across our economy.
By leveraging on-demand services and products, SMEs can access tools and approaches previously limited to larger enterprises. This means they can take advantage of emerging trends by being first to market with new products (aligning with key goal 1). They can also deliver secure, high-quality products and services, protect customer data, and provide reliable customer support to build customer trust (aligning with key goal 2). Finally, they can streamline operations and ensure financial resilience by implementing more efficient processes and better resource allocation and supply chain management (aligning with key goal 3).
Related: How to harness the power of smart technology to transform your supply chain
AI, ML and Advanced Adoption
The OECD’s definition of cloud adoption levels includes basic adoption, such as web-based email services and cloud-based storage solutions, and moderate adoption, such as customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning tools. The average rate of basic adoption in countries surveyed in the Accenture report was 44%, while moderate adoption was 19%. Clearly, many small and medium-sized enterprises are missing out on adoption, Advanced Technologies with the greatest untapped benefits. In this third level of cloud adoption, the OECD includes AI and ML tailored for advanced tasks. While the average advanced cloud adoption rate is currently at 13%, 78% of report respondents recognize AI and ML as the technologies that will have the greatest transformative impact on society.
To realize this vision, this gap needs to be closed. If so, what will we see in key sectors by 2030? In education, SMEs can make learning more accessible and provide students with personalized content and individualized feedback. In healthcare, it can empower more doctors to analyze results more accurately and integrate large amounts of data for research and development. Generative AI is expected to play a role in the development of medical devices up to 2030. 30% of all new drugs by 2025Agriculture will see increased adoption of AI and ML technologies for precision, data-driven agriculture that produces greater results with fewer resources.
Reduce costs, increase scalability, and gain expertise
This vision and the prospect of adopting cloud technologies is key for many SMEs who want to start small. Fortunately, the nature of the cloud supports this. Instead of investing heavily in new infrastructure, SMEs can use cloud services and virtualization resources on a pay-as-you-go model. Moving from a traditional fixed-cost to a variable-cost model means organizations only pay for what they use. This can scale up or down depending on demand, reducing operational costs and freeing up capital. Starting small also means working with a cloud service provider that understands the needs of each SME they work with and offers customized support and training.
Of course, starting small doesn’t mean you can’t think big. When it comes to moving to new cloud technologies, SMEs need to adopt a business-wide cloud migration strategy and leverage the knowledge and expertise of other organizations that have already made the move. No matter what market you operate in, the benefits are compelling, especially in terms of the bottom line. Finally, achieving this vision for 2030 will require buy-in from other markets and sectors of society. Continued coordination between governments, educators, and other industries will be needed to move toward this goal and leverage the cloud technologies we need.