By Abhishek Dalmiya
The Business Management Software industry has seen tremendous growth in the recent years, due to the vast adoption of new-age technologies. According to industry estimates, it is forecasted to touch a market volume of US$1.04bn by 2028 with a CAGR of 10.48% in India alone. Demand and the need to have right kind of SaaS solutions has also increased with the booming MSME / Start-up ecosystem which clearly indicates the need for constant innovation to address the challenges faced by today’s business owners.
While the Business Management Software industry grew many folds especially post GST implementation and Covid-19, witnessing a strong adoption by MSMEs, it is still a long journey to cover. India is home to an estimated 63.4 million MSMEs, contributing about 30% to the country’s GDP, 40% of exports, and employing 111 million people yet the adoption is below 40%. Challenges phased by Indian MSME’s are incredibly unique to their counterparts in west and adoption of future technologies like Hybrid Cloud, E Rupee, ChatGPT, AL / ML can revolutionalise the way Business Management Software industry progresses and how it will address various challenges faced by the MSMEs & Start-up community today.
Let us delve into how these innovations are set to address the distinctive challenges faced by the Indian MSMEs and the startup community.
- Hybrid Cloud: Hybrid Cloud stands as one of the key technologies reshaping the BMS landscape. While cloud technology has become pervasive, grappling with challenges such as security issues, Hybrid Cloud solutions are currently combining the best of traditional setups and cloud technology, offering a balanced approach to expenses, security, speed, availability, and scalability. It utilises the benefits of both cloud and on premise solutions. This is crucial for BMS, which currently requires real-time end-to-end business management capabilities. Incidentally, both tech and non tech players have advanced their investments into hybrid cloud to augment business capabilities.
- E Rupee: The Central Bank Digital Currency introduced the concept of digital currency (E Rupee) few months back to increase financial inclusion and promote ease of doing business / money transaction in India as well as globally. Since the MSME ecosystem deals with many challenges like compliance issues, reconciliation challenges and money movement, E-Rupee can play the role of a game changer if leveraged effectively in business management software. It can increase the velocity of money, enable better management of businesses and empower the business owners to have better visibility of their financial health. For example, businesses in remote location with limited internet connectivity, can now benefit with e-rupee. E-rupee can be held in a wallet and can work in offline mode.
- ChatGPT: This technology has the ability to analyse available data, content and shape it for first consumption and it can play a significant role in improving customer experience in the BMS category. It can be leveraged very well at the beginner / decision-making stage when the customers need to understand the products and solutions a company has to offer. Furthermore, chatbots that are used for compliant management can also become more effective for first level interface with this technology. Multiple use cases of automating several manual processes/steps can also be done as it evolves.
- AI / ML: AI and machine learning will transform business management software, but challenges like data privacy and on-premise edge AI integration need solutions. Protecting sensitive data with advanced anonymization techniques is crucial. One exciting use case for the future is the deployment is Gen AI engines for on-premise software that will handle private data with encryption and access control. Integrating on-premise edge AI reduces reliance on the cloud, especially for privacy-conscious businesses. Democratizing AI will make it more accessible, especially for small businesses. The future vision is AI/ML becoming an invisible, adaptable technology, enhancing business efficiency with strong data privacy and on-premise edge AI.
- Cyber Security: Cybersecurity plays a pivotal role in overhauling the BMS industry. It fortifies data protection through encryption and access controls, preserving the privacy of sensitive information. Compliance with regulations like ISO, GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS is imperative to evade legal repercussions. Cybersecurity acts as a shield against cyber threats targeting BMS software by deploying intrusion detection systems, firewalls, and security monitoring. Moreover, stringent access controls curtail unauthorized usage, and disaster recovery plans ensure minimal downtime in the event of cyber incidents. Regular software updates address vulnerabilities and sustain security. Secure integration with other business software (e.g., CRM, accounting, inventory management) safeguards data flow and operational efficiency. These elements collectively enhance the security, robustness, and performance of BMS solutions, instilling trust in users and catalyzing the positive transformation of the BMS industry.
Overall, in the past three decade, the business management software industry has seen a lot of disruption, and the ever-evolving change is here to stay. The pace of change is expected to be 10X of what it was earlier. While it is important to look at developing comprehensive solutions for the mature audiences, it is equally essential to come up with simple solutions that can help the masses. MSME ecosystem in India is remarkably diverse and all of them are at various stages of their understanding of how the technology ecosystem operates and benefits them. Digital transformation does not come naturally to traditional Indian players, a lot of groundwork is required to address that ecosystem for whom smart phone, and WhatsApp marketing is still the highest form of technology adoption. Hence, it is necessary to understand the use cases as per the maturity of the market and the customer base. There is no doubt that technology disruption will continue, however, what scale of disruption is applicable for which customer is something players in the market need to evaluate carefully.
The author is head – product management, Tally Solutions
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