The challenge of digitisation disconnection

Digitisation is critical for businesses of all sizes to succeed. In fact, recent research conducted by MYOB has shown that small and medium sized enterprises with advanced levels of digitisation are 50% more likely to grow revenue, eight times more likely to create jobs and seven times more likely to scale.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg - Read on to find out the key learnings and discover the effects of bad digitisation.

The 3 key learnings from the research

• Digitised SMEs are frustrated by disconnection issues

• 3 in 5 SMEs are experiencing bad digitisation while 2 in 3 want better connected digital tools.

• Disconnection is a waste of time, money and resources

SMEs are wasting one day a week (7 hours) on disconnection issues. 1 in 2 businesses are wasting time on manual tasks and 2 in 5 are having to duplicate tasks, leading to $1.77bn wasted annually in unused digital tools.

Disconnection is a strategic risk and holds businesses back

1 in 3 Australian businesses are making decisions without full visibility of the business or a clear picture of the business data. 34% of SMEs say disconnection makes it difficult to add capabilities or adapt.

Digitised, but actually disconnected

SMEs across ANZ are collectively investing around $2.6bn each year on digital tools. At least one or two new software systems were added to businesses’ suite of tools in the past year – a figure that is likely set to increase as the company grows.

Businesses expect the tools to help them, not hinder - however the latter has been the experience for 3 in 5 SMEs across Australia and New Zealand.

57% of the 2,000 SMEs we surveyed are currently experiencing ‘bad digitisation’ - where the digital apps and tools they rely on are not integrating with each other properly, or simply don’t talk to one another.

It’s unsurprising, therefore, that 2 in 3 SMEs are crying out for digital systems to be better connected and united, frustrated by the reality of ‘bad digitisation’.

• $2.6bn spent each year on digital tools across ANZ SMEs

• Only 43% of ANZ businesses say ‘most’ or ‘all’ of their systems connect seamlessly

• 2 in 3 SMEs calling for digital tools to be better connected

Research into larger businesses by Forrester conducted in 2021 found employees are wasting 12.5 hours each week due to ineffective digital solutions, which equates to an annual cost of over $2.7m for each business employing 100+ people.

The productivity cost of disconnection

This lack of integration – or disconnection – is causing a significant loss of productivity. SMEs across Australia and New Zealand are currently wasting the equivalent of one day a week (7 hours on average) because of challenges brought about by disconnection.

This includes: manually entering data from one system to another; checking for consistency of data between different systems; and dealing with errors following incorrect transferring of information between systems.

The number of different digital systems in use does vary by size and type of business, however we know over quarter of Australian SMEs and nearly two fifths in New Zealand rely on four or more different digital tools to manage their business.

Businesses are finding themselves having to duplicate tasks across different systems and wasting valuable time on manual tasks that shouldn’t need to happen when investing in such software tools. Many noted resorting to creating their own reports in spreadsheet form, after manually pulling all the data from each system themselves.

Furthermore, nearly half of ANZ businesses note disconnection issues has resulted in business errors to date.

SMEs have to manually check data is correct or fix it after transferring between systems

• Australia 61%
• New Zealand 82%

Use four or more different digital tools to manage their business

• Australia 29%
• New Zealand 38%

One day a week is lost on disconnection issues

• 1 in 2 businesses are wasting valuable time on manual tasks

Disconnection drains cash

Bad digitisation can also result in costs blowing out, according to over a quarter of Australian businesses and a third of New Zealand SMEs.

Due to such inefficiencies, 1 in 2 businesses have stopped using some of the digital tools they invested in – but admitted to still paying for them. This means there is around $1.77bn being wasted each year across ANZ businesses on unused digital tools.

If these tools were better integrated, better connected to each other - would businesses still be using them? Most likely.

Asked why they still pay for the digital tools, many businesses noted because they haven’t found better alternatives to swap to, or it is just too much hassle to change the system.

• $1.77bn is wasted on unused digital tools across ANZ businesses

• 27% Australian and 34% New Zealand businesses say disconnection leads to costs blowing out

Overcoming the challenges of disconnection

How can you improve connectivity and become empowered through good digitisation? Your business needs to focus on the workflows that matter most and provides deeply integrated and seamless experiences.

If you want you businesses to be connected, decisive and adaptable contact us and start the conversation with our enterprise experts. Get in touch>