Editor's note

Is IT holding your business back?

You have an idea, and start a business. You rope in a friend or two, and work out of your homes to save on rent and other overheads. Eighteen to 24 months later, the business looks like it's going somewhere: You've got an office, more staff, a couple of regular customers, and your daily schedule is packed with business meetings. The future looks extremely promising.

But it's not all good, especially in the back end. Staff aren't trained and IT systems aren't operationally ready to handle the new customer requests and expanded business requirements. For example, you don't have the right database and application software; computing hardware bought two years ago aren't processing data as quickly as before.

This month's SMB IT Essentials special report focuses on helping small businesses make change happen. The lack of adequate IT systems and support shouldn't be the reason for holding the business back. Buying the right technology is one of the most important, albeit difficult, decisions facing CEOs of small businesses, and we want to help.

Find out why--and how--businesswoman Jocelyn Chng uses IT to keep Sin Hwa Dee Foodstuff Industries competitive. Check out our tips for buying the right PC and server, and explore different hiring options if there's a need for IT experts to join the team.

Recognizing the numerous challenges when expanding beyond the local market, Gartner's Pranav Kumar says there are more than a few things to watch out for. META Group's Damien Wong also offers useful advice for firms ready to take the business to the next level.

According to AMI-Partners, a New York-based consulting firm specializing in SMB trends, there are over 27 million SMBs in the Asia-Pacific, that's an increase of over 632,800 compared to 2003. Overall IT spend last year was US$84 billion, a 16 percent rise from 2002.

Although IT has become more affordable for SMBs, making the right buying decisions hasn't gotten any easier.

The good news is the technology vendors recognize this. Intel has a team focused on educating their partners--OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and ISVs (independent software vendors)--on how to do a better job at presenting technology's business case to corporate buyers. Other vendors including HP, Microsoft, Dell, SAP and Oracle, are also looking at how they can better articulate their products' features and benefits more clearly.

This is reassuring, because if the vendors are committed to removing tech jargon from their sales pitches and ensuring customers implement technology in the right way, it'll be a boost for the industry. IT is in danger of becoming no more than marketing hype, so it's time the vendors did a reality check to ensure their products did what they were designed to do--solve a business problem and make life easier.