5 years ago: SMEs shy away from technology

24.02.2000: SMEs are failing to exploit new technology, according to the minister for small business and ecommerce, Patricia Hewitt.

Speaking to silicon.com at an inaugural event for the ISI/Interforum Ecommerce Awards, Hewitt said too many small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) still haven't woken up to the opportunities offered by the internet and needed help to adopt the "power of ecommerce".

"We've got some great small businesses who are really exploiting the new technology but we haven't got enough of them and too many are lagging behind," she said.

Research by BT last November found that UK SMEs still lag behind larger businesses in their uptake of web technologies, with 67 per cent not online at that time.

Hewitt said the key to success of the knowledge economy was for government to work hand-in-hand with business. She added she wanted to see the government become a leading edge user of information communications technology as part of the country's entrance into the digital age.

24.02.2005: SMEs may never be as tech-savvy as large enterprises simply because they tend not to have the budget to support costly IT. But in the past five years, smaller organisations have made big strides toward embracing technology.

Recent research shows that even the smallest SMEs now associate growth with IT and many are fans of mobile and wireless technology, particularly wireless LANs.

As opposed to 2000, now most SMEs have internet access and increasing numbers are selling online as well. Ecommerce, SMEs are learning, is often a great task to outsource, thanks to the plethora of easy-to-use and affordable hosting services available today.

Government is making efforts to welcome SMEs into the tender process for public sector contracts of all types, including IT projects, with the launch of a new e-procurement tool. Yet despite this small businesses have accused the government of running a "closed shop" that prevents SMEs competing with the bigger IT vendors for public sector contracts.