SMEs’ talent crisis a real opportunity for the channel
Was anyone surprised by the news that many SME owners are struggling to retain digital talent due to competition from larger companies and are suffering from a digital skills gap in their sector as a consequence?
The distortionary effect of larger companies on the ability of small businesses to attract and retain skilled IT workers is an enduring issue that SMEs have had to live with for years. The situation in Ireland is intensified by the presence of giant multinationals in the country. This has been a fact of life for Irish businesses, big and small, for many years.
The survey conducted by Censuswide on behalf of digital growth consultancy LeanBPI, also found that 46% of small business owners reported feeling out of their depth, 48% admitted managing digital transformation was stressful and 43% lacked the confidence to drive digital change within their organisation.
Frankly, I’m surprised those figures aren’t higher. The bland confidence expressed by so many regarding digital transformation can often be replaced by weary resignation and a sense of disappointment as projects make their way to a slightly underwhelming conclusion.
Perhaps some of the other business owners are blessed with great awareness and understanding of what digital transformation means and how to achieve it or, possibly, they are blithely unaware of what is happening but are reassured it will all work out fine in the end.
For my part, I can’t help feeling there’s nothing wrong in feeling out of your depth or finding managing digital transformation stressful. If you’re a business owner, your expertise is probably connected to your area of business. For example, someone running a small hardware company probably isn’t going to be completely au fait with the latest developments in technology and their relevance to the business.
Maybe those that do have confidence are assured not because of their own abilities but due to the competence of whoever is guiding and implementing their digital strategy.
From a channel perspective, I find myself, yet again, seeing this as a tremendous opportunity for channel businesses to use their digital expertise and talent to provide an invaluable service to the small business community.
It’s easy to see how a standardised service could be replicated for many SME customers. I had assumed this was already happening and had been for years. Which makes it so surprising that such a large percentage of SMEs feel the need to acquire digital talent in the first place. Why? Are they being underserved by channel companies? Or are they unsure of the benefits of outsourcing their digital strategy to a third party?
To me, this highlights a particular confusion that may arise because of the messaging by IT companies concerning the merits of adopting their technology. Too often, technology is marketed not as an enabler but as a transformation. Such lofty ambitions can sometimes make people nervous.
It can make it difficult to sell too if you’re arguing all businesses need transformation but you also wish to emphasise the unique advantage it conveys for the specific company you’re pitching to.
Life would be so much easier for business owners and channel companies if IT was viewed in the same way as electricity or water. Business owners don’t often lose sleep over their electricity or water supply. Nor do they feel the need to employ their own electrician or plumber.
I’m not sure if that will happen anytime soon because the technology industry is far more addicted to ‘innovation’ than anyone else – including its customers. It still hasn’t exhausted the possibilities of technology even if, sometimes, it can be exhausting for users to keep up.
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