South African internet service provider DataPro on Thursday announced a major drive to identify and court enterprises within the small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME) sector. It regards this sector as vital to the company’s growth and an important secondary market.
Marketing manager Carine Conradie noted that the SMME sector is the fastest growing today.
“A very telling point is the amount being spent on IT [information technology] by SMMEs as they realise the value of technology as a strategic weapon, pivotal to the current and future growth of their businesses,” Conradie said.
Conradie noted that SMMEs are able to grow faster than their more top-heavy and often bloated “conglomerate-type counterparts”.
“They are aiming to get where big business is — without picking up the same headaches — and many have identified clever technology as a means to lead this growth charge,” he added.
Another factor contributing to the growth of the SMME sector is the government’s continued focus on black economic empowerment. This is starting to pay dividends and is stimulating a growing number of smaller and medium enterprises.
“Statistics definitely show that the lion’s share of growth in the economy is coming from the smaller businesses. While their big cousins are delisting, collapsing pyramid structures, merging IT systems from different subsidiaries, watching expenses and staff numbers, the SMME sector — or the emerging corporate businesses — is pushing aggressively for growth,” he continued.
With business confidence in South Africa at a 10-year high and with low interest rates and a stronger rand, many companies are far more bullish.
“With this in mind we have launched Business ADSL, a complete internet access and communication solution specifically aimed at smaller business. By combining the cost-savings benefits of ADSL and Linux, we offer businesses a broadband solution that addresses their real needs and enables them to get direct, measurable benefits from their IT spend,” Conradie added. — I-Net Bridge