SMEs at risk of tech fatigue without critical skills and expertise

The benefits of digitalisation are clear. But security risks and a relentless cycle of upgrades and updates make it challenging for smaller businesses.

- Lee Yee Fung

On Sept 24, a senior executive at CrowdStrike said the cyber-security company was "deeply sorry" for the global IT outage in July that crippled industries and led to flight cancellations across the globe. Mr Adam Meyers was testifying before the US House of Representatives subcommittee on the faulty software update that caused the outage.

The CrowdStrike incident is a vivid example of the vulnerability of systems which are so interconnected today that a single point of failure outside the control of businesses can end up affecting them significantly.

For small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs, the fact that recovery is a painstaking manual process in which each device needs to be rebooted, and the offending file deleted, simply adds to the burden and their sense of helplessness.

Nonetheless, the good news is that we are seeing more businesses digitalising and benefiting from digitalising.

In the National Business Survey - Smart-Enabled Businesses Edition, of the more than 500 businesses polled between May and July 2024, 77 per cent of Singapore businesses are enhancing their operational processes through digitalisation. They reported that these investments have improved business performance through more optimised operations, reduced operations costs, and enhanced employee collaboration.

The findings are in line with the Digital Enterprise Blueprint (DEB) launched by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information earlier in the year, where it was reported that the technology adoption rate for SMEs had increased from 74 per cent in 2018 to 95 per cent in 2023.

The Government is also doubling down on support for enterprises and workers in harnessing digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to drive growth, innovation and resilience.