SINGAPORE (April 16): Small and medium businesses (SMBs) in Singapore has emerged top among 14 Asia Pacific countries in Cisco’s APAC SMB Digital Maturity Index, but not without facing challenges in their digital transformation journeys.
According to the Index results released by the security firm today, the top three hurdles cited by respondents was a lack of digital skills and talent within the organisation (16.7%), a lack of insight into operational and customer data (16.7%), followed by a lack of perceived value for digital transformation in their respective industries (13.1%).
Based on the survey of 1,340 respondents representing SMBs across 14 countries, Singapore was classified at the ‘Digital Observer’ stage of digital maturity – a stage defined by a heavy focus on process automation to achieve efficiencies, and one that is best exemplified by the technologies each country’s SMBs are prioritising their investments in.