ICT should be the way forward for SMEs

Small Enterprise India.com,

‘Need to simplify technology and do away with jargons to help SMEs understand ICT better’ – this was echoed by industry experts at the 4th Conference on ICT for SMEs – Taking to the Cloud, Pay for what you need organised by IndiaMART.com and IAMAI.

The conference helped SMEs gauge the potential of cloud and connected them to this new emerging technology. The panellists, representing different fields of ICT, brought forward their perspectives to demystify the move to cloud for SMEs.

With encouraging words from the Chief Guest Mr. N Ravi Shanker, Additional Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Government of India, the conference was off to a flying start. Relating ICT for SMEs to the cable TV era, he shared how the latter was seen as a harbinger of change. It required subscription on monthly basis to view different channels. Similarly, Indian SMEs should be paying only for those services that they require or use.

Mr. N K Goyal, President, CMAI Association of India and Member Governing Council, Telecom Equipment & Services Export Promotion Council, Govt. of India moderated the inaugural session. Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMART.com recalled how for last 20 years, IT has transformed the country. He added, “It is important to make technology invisible for SMEs. Only if we simplify it for SMEs, they would pro-actively use for their own businesses.” Mr. Desi Valli, Executive Director & COO, Net 4 India Ltd. also laid stress on use of ICT by SMEs.

During the event there were important issues discussed which focused on how SMEs can grow further with minimum overhead costs.