How Can SMBs Use Tech to Overcome Challenges, Drive Growth, and Meet the Future Head-On?

To succeed in the modern world of business, the right technology is a must. Every moment of opportunity can be seized sooner, faster, and more effectively when a business has the IT tools it needs to overcome challenges, drive growth, and stay ahead of the competition. But how exactly are small and midsize businesses (SMBs) like yours using technology to their advantage?

To find out, the research experts at Forbes Insights and SAP teamed up to survey 300 financial decision makers at SMBs in the United Kingdom and North America. They then used that data to inform a series of business scenarios that reflect the ways in which technology can help SMBs get ahead.

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To begin with, technology has incredible potential to enhance business performance by making standard processes smarter and faster. Take, for example, paper- and e-mail-based invoice management that requires hours to key data into spreadsheets and can result in errors; missed, late, or duplicate payments; and negative impacts on vendor relationships and cash flow. With intuitive vendor invoice management technology that integrates with core ERP systems, the entire process can be streamlined using intelligent data capture and automated invoice review, matching, approval workflows, and payments. The result is faster, more-accurate invoice management that’s easier for business and finance teams alike. Plus, with all the invoice data and analytics in one place, SMBs have the expanded spend visibility and control they need to stay one step ahead of the competition and the market.

It's no wonder that the vast majority of survey respondents (85%) agree that process redesign featuring advanced technology is good for business and that more than half (57%) are increasing their investments in tech and process automation.

Simpler processes also lead to happier employees. Staying with the topic of spend management, let’s imagine an SMB with 200 employees that’s growing fast. Managing budgets for countless expenses can quickly become overwhelming – making fast, in-the-moment budget decisions nearly impossible. In order to see where things stand, finance teams have to stop everything and crunch the numbers – a frustrating and unsatisfying task that can mean burning the midnight oil. With the right spend management technology, all that information is available at a click in a simple, user-friendly dashboard, giving finance the immediate insight needed to make the right decisions and keep work hours within the workday.

This is why 82% of survey respondents report that advanced technology gives them more time to focus on value-adding activities and 81% say that it improves productivity, creativity, work-life balance, and overall job satisfaction. When you add that to the 83% reporting that tech speeds decision-making and fosters greater certainty, you find you have a winning solution that can increase capacity without overburdening staff.

Another new business reality is anytime, anywhere work. Nearly 40% of SMBs are expanding business process outsourcing, and 41% of SMBs are relying on independent contractors and freelancers. Almost half of survey respondents also report recruiting and relying on “digital nomads,” who expect to work from wherever and have the technology to do so efficiently.

With workers like these, technical inconveniences can cause major frustration. Take, for example, travel and expense management. When workers are on the road, they need to stay focused. Traveling is stressful enough without the added burden of saving paper receipts, wondering if a purchase complies with company policy, and coming home to fill out complicated expense report spreadsheets. Tech-savvy workers expect the same consumer-grade payment technology at work that they use in their daily lives. The answer is mobile-friendly travel and expense management technology that allows them to log expenses on the go, flags noncompliant purchases right away, automatically generates reports, and speeds reimbursement. Plus, with the same level of reporting and analytics we saw in our invoice management example, supervisors and finance teams can quickly see where dollars are going, spot spending trends, and adjust spend management policy and strategy as needed.

SMBs like yours are not just using technology to better manage operations today; they are also using it to facilitate growth for the future. Cloud-based solutions that integrate with existing ERP systems are key to this endeavor. Not only do they allow you to expand IT capacities gradually as needed, but they also make the adoption of new tools much easier for business users. This explains why 70% of survey respondents say that tech experimentation is taking place in lines of businesses rather than just in IT.

Over the next three years, 80% of survey respondents plan to invest in cloud technology, and 73% will invest in a distributed IT architecture. Read the full report to help decide if you should do the same.