Editor's note

Technology can help David beat Goliath

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, took a simple, innovative idea and turned it into a billion-dollar business. His business idea wasn't to open just another bookstore. He saw the opportunity to run the bookselling business more economically than established brick-and-mortar players like Barnes and Noble by going high-tech.

If you've read the stories about Amazon.com's growing-up years, you'd be like me--inspired. Bezos is an inspiration to entrepreneurs and small businesses. His story shows that even a David can beat a Goliath in these modern times. With the help of IT and the Internet, Bezos took a stab at the same market opportunities previously thought to be within reach of only the book Goliaths, and succeeded. He proved his skeptics wrong: e-commerce does work. Last December, Amazon.com sold 2.1 million items in a single day.

In this month's issue of SMB IT Essentials, we speak to one SMB who's opting for a different way of doing things in the timber business. Kenny Tok tells CNETAsia's Aloysius Choong information is money, and how technology has enabled his business to gain an edge over his slow-moving competitors.

Several governments and industry associations are making concerted efforts to help SMBs upgrade themselves so as to compete in the global arena. Roger Low, secretary general of the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation, makes a special contribution to this report, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of Singapore SMBs. He talks about the changing business and competitive landscape and cites several routes in which SMBs can take to sharpen their competitiveness.

But it's always easier said than done, as most SMB owners will tell you. Often, the business heads are busy fire-fighting and tending to operational issues. But this is something that Peter Poh, chief operating officer of IT products distributor C2O, hopes to change. He explains to our reporter why he is determined not to let the daily operational issues get in the way of his planning for the firm's future.

C2O is not unique. Many SMBs are caught up in the day-to-day operations, which is one of the key reasons these firms continue to lag behind the technology curve, says Pranay Mital of SAP.

Besides these inspirational stories, we hope our features on selecting the right technology and experts' advice help you make the right decisions for your business this year. For those wondering if it's time to upgrade your business information systems, check out what some experts have to say.

Stay tuned for our next issue as we bring you more business success stories. In the meantime, if you've a question or a story to tell, drop us an e-mail. We'd love to hear from you.