Lark Suite for SMEs: Affordable Enterprise-Grade Productivity Without the Price Tag
For most SMEs in Malaysia, balancing productivity and cost efficiency is a daily challenge. Many small businesses subscribe to multiple tools—Zoom for video calls, Slack for team chat, Trello for project management, and Dropbox for file storage. While these apps help, the monthly subscription costs stack up quickly, especially for growing teams.
But what if SMEs could access all these enterprise-grade features in one platform—without the heavy price tag? That’s where Lark Suite comes in.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- Why relying on multiple paid apps hurts SMEs financially
- How Lark Suite combines video meetings, chat, calendar, and cloud storage in one
- Statistics on productivity loss and software costs
- Why Exabytes Malaysia makes it easy for SMEs to get started with Lark
- FAQs on affordability, features, and setup
The Hidden Cost of Multiple Paid Apps
SMEs account for 38.4% of Malaysia’s GDP and 48% of employment. Yet, many SMEs still struggle with managing operational costs, especially digital subscriptions.
Here’s an example of what a typical SME in Malaysia pays monthly for different tools (per user):
- Zoom: ~USD 14.99 (~RM70)
- Slack: ~USD 8 (~RM37)
- Trello (Business): ~USD 12.50 (~RM58)
- Dropbox: ~USD 12 (~RM56)
For just one employee, that’s around RM221/month. For a team of 20, this adds up to RM4,420/month or RM53,000/year.
For SMEs that already face tight cash flow, these costs are simply unsustainable.
Lark Suite: One Platform, Many Solutions
Lark Suite consolidates multiple apps into a single platform—chat, video conferencing, calendar, project management, and cloud storage—all without extra fees.
Key features include:
- Unlimited Chat & Groups – Replace Slack or WhatsApp groups with threaded, organized discussions.
- Video Meetings with Screen Sharing – Built-in Zoom alternative.
- Smart Calendar – Avoid overlapping meetings with auto-scheduling.
- Project Management (Docs & Tasks) – Manage work like Trello.
- Cloud Storage & File Sharing – Like Dropbox but natively integrated.
- Multi-language Collaboration – Useful for teams working across Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond.
By unifying all these tools, SMEs cut subscription costs drastically while improving workflow efficiency.
Key Benefits SMEs in Malaysia Will Notice
- Cost Savings of Up to 70% Instead of paying for 4–5 different subscriptions, SMEs get everything in one affordable platform. This frees up budget for growth.
- Improved Productivity Studies found that employees spend as much as 2.5 hours daily searching for documents. With Lark, files, chats, and tasks are centralized, reducing wasted time.
- Seamless Collaboration Malaysian SMEs often operate across departments and locations. Lark’s real-time co-editing in Docs ensures no one is left behind.
- Enterprise-Grade Features Without Complexity Unlike traditional enterprise software that requires training and IT support, Lark is intuitive. SMEs don’t need a big IT team to get started.
- Scalability for Growing SMEs Whether an SME has 5 or 500 employees, Lark scales easily without requiring costly migrations.
Why Exabytes Malaysia?
As the official partner of Lark in Malaysia, Exabytes goes beyond simply providing access to the platform. We understand the unique challenges faced by Malaysian SMEs, from budget constraints to limited IT resources. That’s why we offer:
- Local onboarding and training – Hands-on guidance to ensure your team adopts Lark quickly and effectively, without confusion or downtime.
- Seamless migration from existing tools – Whether you’re moving away from Zoom, Slack, Trello, or Dropbox, we help you transfer your data and workflows smoothly.
- Dedicated customer support in Bahasa Malaysia and English – Our local support team ensures you always have someone to turn to, without language barriers.
- Affordable pricing packages tailored for SMEs – We design cost-effective solutions so even micro and small businesses can enjoy enterprise-grade productivity tools without breaking the budget.
- Proven track record with Malaysian businesses – Having supported thousands of SMEs across the country, Exabytes understands local business culture and provides solutions that fit right in.
By partnering with Exabytes Malaysia, SMEs don’t just get a powerful productivity tool in Lark—they also gain a trusted local partner who ensures long-term success.
Conclusion
For SMEs in Malaysia, running a business means finding the right balance between growth and cost efficiency. Relying on multiple paid apps like Zoom, Slack, Trello, and Dropbox may seem manageable at first, but over time, it creates unnecessary financial strain and workflow inefficiencies. Every extra subscription means more logins to manage, more scattered data, and ultimately, more wasted time.
Lark Suite changes that equation. By combining video meetings, messaging, calendars, task management, and cloud storage into one seamless platform, SMEs gain access to enterprise-grade productivity tools without the enterprise price tag. This isn’t just about saving money—it’s about giving SMEs the same digital edge as big corporations.
Think about it:
- Sales teams can close deals faster without juggling five different apps.
- HR can onboard employees in days instead of weeks.
- Remote teams can stay connected without messy email threads or WhatsApp overload.
In Malaysia, where SMEs make up 98.5% of businesses and contribute nearly 40% to GDP, improving productivity with smarter tools like Lark is not optional—it’s essential for survival and growth.
With Exabytes Malaysia as your partner, you don’t just get access to Lark—you get local support, onboarding, and training tailored for Malaysian SMEs. This means you can implement Lark quickly, without disruption, and start enjoying measurable cost savings and productivity gains almost immediately.
In short: Lark Suite helps Malaysian SMEs do more with less. And in today’s competitive market, that’s the ultimate advantage.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- How much can SMEs in Malaysia save with Lark Suite?
Most SMEs pay for 3–5 different tools, costing an average of RM200–RM250 per user per month. With Lark Suite, SMEs can save up to 70% of these costs. For example, a 20-person SME in Kuala Lumpur could save over RM35,000 annually—money that could instead be reinvested in hiring, marketing, or expanding operations.
- Is Lark Suite secure for Malaysian businesses?
Yes. Lark Suite is built with enterprise-grade security, compliant with ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 2 Type II standards. For Malaysian SMEs dealing with sensitive customer data (e.g., in retail, healthcare, or finance), this ensures compliance and trust. Additionally, Lark encrypts data in transit and at rest, providing the same level of security that multinational corporations rely on.
- Can Lark integrate with tools SMEs already use?
Absolutely. Lark integrates with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Jira, and other popular tools. This means SMEs don’t need to abandon their existing workflows overnight—they can gradually adopt Lark while still accessing the apps they’re familiar with. Many Malaysian companies start by using Lark’s chat and video features, then expand to storage and docs over time.
- Will Lark help reduce wasted meeting time?
Yes. A study revealed that poorly run meetings waste 31 hours per employee each month. In Malaysia, where many SMEs juggle hybrid or remote setups, overlapping meetings are a common problem. Lark’s smart calendar reduces this by auto-detecting availability and sending reminders, ensuring meetings are focused and productive.
- What makes Lark different from WhatsApp or email?
WhatsApp and email are useful, but they weren’t designed for structured collaboration. Lark, on the other hand, organizes discussions with threads, searchable history, integrated tasks, and file sharing. Instead of losing track of a contract buried in a WhatsApp chat, SMEs can keep everything in one place. This saves countless hours each week and avoids costly miscommunication.
- How many employees in Malaysia are working remotely?
During the pandemic, DOSM reported that 28% of Malaysians worked remotely, and hybrid work is still common today. For SMEs with distributed teams, Lark provides a single workspace that keeps employees aligned—whether they’re in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, or working from home.
