According to the IT Priorities: 2023 Report released by GoTo, a company that provides IT management, support, and business communication services, Indian SMEs prioritize the consolidation of communication, collaboration, and IT management tools to increase productivity and reduce costs. The report, based on a survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan with 1,000 IT decision-makers at companies with less than 1,000 employees globally, including business owners, managing directors, senior IT professionals, senior finance, admin, and operations positions, also revealed that SMEs in India have four main objectives to ensure success: growing revenue, improving operational efficiencies, reducing costs, and increasing customer satisfaction.
With an increase in tasks and ensuing challenges in the current working model, 89% of the Indian IT decision-makers believe that their IT workload was significantly higher in 2022 as compared to 2021. Nearly half (48%) business leaders globally, including India said it was very important to consider reducing the burden on IT when choosing new software, compared to only 35% last year. 68% of these leaders say they are more involved in the purchase process of products and tools than they were a year ago.
Key trends:
The survey also identified several key IT trends for Indian SMEs in 2023.
- First, hybrid work remains the preferred way of working, with 48% of knowledge-based employees working from physical locations and 37% working on a hybrid basis. Year-over-year results show a decrease of 10% in the number of businesses that have official rules on the number of days an employee needs to be in the office, meaning that employees have more flexibility now than ever.
- Second, 90% of Indian SMEs consider consolidation of communication, collaboration, and IT management and support tools as an essential initiative for the year, with 93% already in the process of completing or planning consolidation efforts.
- Third, Indian IT decision-makers report a significant increase in their IT workload, leading to an increase in involvement in the purchase process of products and tools.
- Fourth, 45% of Indian SMEs reported using IT Help Desk Systems every day, with 22% acknowledging their impact on employee productivity.
- Finally, expansion of the customer base is a top business priority, with 82% of Indian business leaders feeling there is a gap between customer engagement and experience platforms designed specifically for SMEs. Partners play a key role in decision-making: 44% of businesses globally choose a partner versus 27% going to the solution provider directly to find new business communication and IT support tools. The survey saw a 55% increase in the usage of partners in the past year.