Business apps for SMEs

If Indian telcos mobilise their sales force and drive adoption of mobile business applications (MBAs) among SMEs, they could gain incremental cumulative revenues of $490 million to $1 billion by FY17, of which 50-55 per cent would come from mobile apps and 45-50 per cent would come from higher data consumption, finds a Google-AT Kearney study.

Globally, SMEs across verticals have adopted an array of MBAs to drive operational efficiencies. In 2013, about 45 per cent of the world's SMEs were using MBAs - and it is expected to jump to 60 per cent by 2016. In India, the SME market is huge. SME spending on information and communications technology (ICT) has also been growing steadily over the past two years, at a CAGR of 15 per cent to $7 billion in 2013.

A large part of this comes from larger SMEs, which spend $3,500 per year on IT services, mostly on telephony and connectivity services. However, little of this spending goes toward mobile business apps. The adoption has been hampered by security concerns, the cost of data-enabled devices, and a lack of employee internet literacy.

The study says telcos can drive MBA adoption among SMEs by capitalising on following strengths: An established billing platform, insights into SMEs' business needs and relevant mobile apps and building ability to extend ICT service support to other services, including mobile device management and security solutions.