Almost a third of small business who commit to technology show demonstrable growth, according to new research.

The whitepaper launched today (April 9) and titled ‘Tech-Savvy Businesses do it better’ was commissioned by market and technology leader in cloud accounting, Sage, and conducted by IDC.

With over one million new customers following Sage to the cloud in 2016, it is clear that small businesses are beginning to see the advantages of technology. Nevertheless, the research shows that over half (56 per cent) of all small businesses interviewed have yet to adopt digital technologies - preferring to maintain their business with traditional methods, despite the rewards shown in the findings, which include:

Automation Drives Innovation: Small business owners that are digitally mature dedicate more time to innovation.

•    32 per cent of small business that have a significant focus on digitally innovating their business reported growth of more than 10 per cent last year

•    Despite innovation featuring in the top three challenges overall, only 8 per cent of small businesses indicated that they spend quality time on innovation:

o    Despite innovation featuring in the top three challenges overall, only 8 per cent of small businesses indicated that they spend quality time on innovation; in contrast looking at tech-savvy businesses, this jumps to around 29 per cent.

•    Overall, 79 per cent of small business owners very much enjoy working for their own business; with this percentage rising to 94 per cent among those that use IT very well.

Digital Focus Enables Opportunity: With tools to automate and free up time easily available, many small business owners are seeing the opportunity.

•    57 per cent of the respondents see new digital business models as an opportunity for their business with 1/4 of the total calling it a "significant opportunity".

•    Also, over 57 per cent are focused on digitally innovating their business

Getting on Track with Technological Adoption: Some small businesses feel they have fallen a little behind their peers in terms of their use of technology.

•    13 per cent of business owners feel they are ‘a bit behind’ their peers in their use of technology with an additional 2 per cent feeling that they are ‘far behind’

•    30 per cent say they need to improve on their IT skills to make full use of the IT tools they have

Jennifer Warawa, EVP of Product Marketing, Sage commented: “With the stakes high for business owners, Sage are solving for our customers’ needs with the following outlook. We want to make the cloud a reality for businesses of all sizes, without the need for them to migrate from their much loved Sage business management solution. We want to give our customers mobility choices and enable them to work from wherever, whenever in a way that that suits the way they run their business. Above all, these solutions need to be cost effective and part of the journey that our customers experience as they grow their businesses – we don’t want growth to be prohibited by difficult choices.”

Driving a world of Invisible Admin

With the research showing high rewards of adopting technology, Sage is on a mission to drive a world where admin is invisible for businesses of all sizes with world class cloud products that free business builders up to focus on what is important to them.

“This second round of new cloud products releases in 2017 sees us move our customers closer to a professional environment for entrepreneurs where admin is invisible by 2020, freeing up business builders to follow their dreams,” said Nick Goode, EVP of Product Management at Sage. “We have our foot on the gas and will continue to deliver the solutions to market that our 3 million customers worldwide are demanding.”

These product launches include:

•    Sage X3 - A business management solution tailored to the needs of demanding, growing businesses. The latest iteration of this cost-effective ERP solution which changes how midsize businesses compete and grow by delivering faster, simpler, and flexible business management is now available across the Middle East.

•    Sage X3 People –  A powerful, flexible, agile, and yet simple human resource management software with multi-country and multi-language support transforms how businesses recruit, manage and cultivate their workforce by delivering increased people visibility, productivity and engagement, at a fraction of the cost of typical enterprise HR solutions.

“Sage X3 and Sage X3 People are the preferred Sage products across the region amongst businesses of various sizes and sectors. We are delighted at the increasing acceptance and adoption of cloud computing solutions across the Middle East, and look forward to offering more of our products in the future,” said Keith Fenner, vice president—Sage Enterprise Middle East and Africa. – TradeArabia News Service