Exabytes Founder and CEO, Chan speaks to Dagangnews.com on the issues arising in view of the current Covid-19 pandemic. Is digitalising a solution for business continuity?
Digitalisation for startups and SMEs, is this a necessity or a financial burden?
With our livelihoods being threatened as the Covid-19 pandemic hits our shore, startups and even established businesses have had to close down. And it is in times of uncertainties like this that brings out the question of company’s uncertainties. Will digitalising their company save them or would it be an unnecessary financial burden?
Is business digitalisation vital?
Going into the conversation of this, Chan shares that “while some may hesitate to digitalise, we cannot deny it is certainly vital for long-term sustainability. This is true even for anyone who has just kicked-off their entrepreneurship journey”. On Instagram, many of our friends have started a business just by selling on their social media profiles. “My point is, a simple act of selling on Instagram is also a step towards digitalisation”
As Southeast Asia’s leading Cloud Service Provider, Exabytes’ goal is to help SMEs all over Southeast Asia to kickstart and grow their businesses through digital transformation. The core of our business has always been digitalisation.
Accelerating business digitalisation
Exabytes launched the #SamaSamaDigital initiative earlier in August. This is a CSR program where Exabytes collaborated with Ekuinas, a government-linked private equity firm, offering subsidised packages to Bumiputera businesses. “We aim to accelerate digitalisation for Bumiputera SMEs affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. With our affordable digital solutions offerings, we hope it could be a stepping stone for SMEs to jump on the digitalisation bandwagon”.
“We realised that some SMEs and companies have delayed digitalisation due to the cost involved upfront. Here’s where we want to change that mindset, by guiding these SMEs on their digitalisation journey at a fraction of the cost”.
Digitalising for the present economic situation
There are success stories from the #SamaSamaDigital program thus far. These come as encouraging assurance that the program is getting somewhere, achieving its aims.
“Changing the way you run a business by digitally transforming it to cater to the present economic situation will enhance the productivity in the company as well as in customer satisfaction because your company is updated to consumers’ needs and preferences”.
The new normal has taught us to live differently, and to adapt for survival. But, does this have to apply to our businesses too? Read the full interview of our Founder& CEO Chan Kee Siak on Dagangnews.
