EVEN before the pandemic hit, technological advancements have always been crucial to reshape businesses and help companies stay on their toes when it comes to competition.
But now, the increasingly-contactless environment driven by the pandemic has further accelerated the need for digital transformation.
To answer this call, United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) launched an innovation accelerator tasked to assist businesses (mainly the small and medium enterprises [SMEs]) on its digitalisation journey, known as The FinLab.
Since its launch in 2015, The FinLab received interest from more than 2,000 businesses in Malaysia, Singapore and even Thailand, running business transformations, engaging with numerous SMEs from various industries and helping them adopt technology for the sake of productivity and growth.
“In 2019, The FinLab expanded to other ASEAN markets with the launch of its Smart Business Transformation programmes for SMEs in Thailand and Malaysia. In Malaysia, the programme is called the Jom Transform Programme,” explained The FinLab head, Pauline Sim.
Sim noted that participants of the programme’s first edition in Malaysia saw an increase in productivity of up to 30% through digitalisation.
This year, The FinLab introduced The FinLab Online, a regional cross-border digital platform that connects SMEs and start-ups across ASEAN with resources and digital tools to transform their business.
The FinLab Online gives more SMEs easy access to a robust, cross-border regional ecosystem that provides end-to-end support to bridge knowledge gaps and reduce barriers to successful uptake of digital solutions.
Through the programme, Sim explained that SME participants will gain knowledge on digital transformation through workshops that cover various topics.
“In addition to developing their skills, they can also join workshops relating to business operations, robotic process automation and e-commerce, all of which will be hosted by subject matter experts and The FinLab mentors,” she said.
“On top of that, SMEs will also be matched with specially chosen technology partners to pilot relevant solutions,” Sim added.
In an email interview with FocusM, Sim revealed that 88 SMEs in the programme’s first cohort this year came from various backgrounds, with top industries being retail, trade and services industry, while the second cohort (185 participants) largely comprise of SMEs in the professional, wholesale, logistics and retail trade industries.
From the interview, Sim stated that even though the programme takes a structured approach to guide the participants in their digitalisation journey, SMEs also need to be open and willing enough to go commit to it.
“Right now, most SMEs are on reviewing and analysing its respective business models and plans for the business to thrive post-pandemic. The need to digitalise is (finally) sinking in,” she noted.
When asked of the most common challenges businesses face, Sim said that it all comes down to getting started in embracing the right knowledge and skills, investments required for digitalisation and the cashflow required to sustain the transformation.
“The main challenge for companies is the fundamentals in improving their core processes and to be able to implement the process of digitalisation in order to grow and scale,” she said.
Echoing this sentiment, UOB Malaysia executive director and country head of channels and digitalisation Yap Kok Tee cited a recent survey conducted by UOB, Accenture and Dun & Bradstreet in 2020, that showed 88% of SMEs have lowered their revenue expectations this year while almost half of them (44%) still plans to increase their overall technology budget.
“This suggests that ASEAN small businesses are looking beyond the present challenges and are set on adopting technology to improve their competitiveness,” he said.
“This is also an indication of SMEs’ realisation of the potential for digitalisation to improve business sustainability and to continue digitalising to tap on digital economy opportunities,” he added.
Kok Tee also pointed out that the positive impact of business transformation requires intensive cooperation between different parties.
“Having a clearly articulated, and well-structured business strategy is crucial in helping businesses identifying and creating meaningful partnership which aids them to transform and survive in evolving business environment,” he opined.
Additionally, Sim mentioned that through one of the programme’s exercise, known as Digital Needs Assessment (DNA) Test, participants from both cohorts of the programme pinpointed a few key areas that they intend to focus on in terms of digitalisation: 45% of the participants indicated digital marketing as an area of focus for their businesses, while 33% and 32% cited e-commerce and business operations as areas of focus, respectively. – Dec 9, 2020
