Zooming in on SMEs: How Workato is democratising technology for all.

While?conversations on digital transformation often spotlight larger companies with vast resources to embrace technological advancements, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) too need to up the ante when it comes to getting on the digitalisation path.?

At Workato , our commitment is to democratise technology and make it accessible to everyone, including SMEs that form the backbone of many economies in the Asia Pacific region. At the heart of this initiative is our partnership with HReasily, Asia’s premier payroll and human resource management solution, to proactively address the changing needs of its clients by simplifying and integrating HR systems with broader business processes.

Through this collaboration, HReasily leveraged our user-friendly integration platform to minimise inefficiencies in manual data exchanges for their SME clients. With integrations made possible between HReasily and various business applications, SMEs can optimize and streamline HR and finance automation workflows to supercharge their business productivity.

To further examine challenges faced by SMEs in Singapore, we partnered with SGTech, the leading trade association for Singapore's tech industry, to conduct the "State of Digital Automation ” survey in 2023. This survey provided us with invaluable insights into the dynamics of digitalisation within the SME landscape and has empowered us to craft strategies and initiatives to support SMEs in the digital age.

Supporting Homegrown Businesses

The survey findings revealed that 85% of SMEs recognise the tangible business impact of automation, yet they lag behind larger companies in their digitalisation efforts. We discovered two formidable challenges that stand in their way:

• The Financial Conundrum: SMEs often grapple with the tight constraints of their financial resources. These very real challenges act as formidable roadblocks on the path to embracing digital automation.
• The Complexity Conundrum: SMEs often find automation to be riddled with complexity—they find it too technical and seemingly insurmountable. This perception of complexity becomes a formidable barrier to embracing digital automation.

To address these challenges, we collaborated with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) under the Advanced Digital Solutions (ADS) scheme to create the Workato's SME Automation Accelerator Programme. Within this programme, we’ve strategically partnered with key organisations, including SGTech, a leading trade association that guides SMEs on their digital journey through a series of modular workshops based on the 3S (Strategy, Solutions, and Skills) Framework, and Stone Forest, a business solution provider offering digital consultancy services under IMDA's Chief Technology Officer (CTO)-as-a-service programme to provide SMEs with in-depth advisory and access to resources needed for digital transformation.?

Growing the Local Tech Talent Pool

Beyond financial and complexity challenges, SMEs venturing into digitalisation must acknowledge critical human elements in making digitalisation efforts sustainable and impactful. Equipping the next generation workforce with automation and integration skills, mindsets and experiences is pivotal for SME success in the evolving digital landscape.

In the past year, we’ve taken a significant step forward by establishing partnerships with local institutes of higher learning (IHLs) to equip the next generation workforce with automation skills, mindsets and experiences. Specifically, working with IHLs to introduce and craft automation modules, courses and job opportunities. These efforts are all about fostering the next generation of tech talent, promoting innovation and creating opportunities for students and mid-career professionals to engage with industry.

Today, over a thousand individuals are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the evolving landscape of digital automation. We believe these partnerships will support our efforts in driving automation at scale across organisations in the Asia-Pacific and Japan market to provide solutions and build a sustainable ecosystem that empowers individuals and organisations alike.

Our strength lies in unity, and we firmly believe that collaboration is the key to success. We extend an open invitation to all interested SMEs to join us on this transformative journey of digitalisation.

We're actively seeking technology partners to join us in uplifting SMEs as they navigate their digitalisation and transformation paths. If you represent a product or technology company serving SMEs, join us and get in touch here .

Together, we can be? the architects of change, and through our collective efforts, we are crafting a future where innovation, education, and community collaboration converge to propel our shared vision forward.