Page 44 - DTPA Journal Aug 18

DTPA - J | 2017-18 | Volume 3 | August 2018

BIG DATA AND SMES –
IS BIG DATA TOO BIG FOR SMALL BUSINESSES?

CA Sanjib Sanghi

It's not what you know. It's what you do with what relevant to them.
you know. That's something companies worldwide
will be learning, for better or worse in the coming SO WHERE DOES THE CHALLENGE LIES? - THE
year when it comes to big data. Big Data and INTEGRATION CHALLENGE
analytics techniques may have received a lot of One of the biggest practical challenges for most SMEs
attention in recent years, but they still have a very are poor integration systems. Some of them are:
low adoption rate among SMEs (Small and Medium
Enterprises). Is it true that these developments ØIntegration of Different Software: Despite
have little practical relevance to most small small IT environments, SMEs buy different
businesses? Or are small businesses missing out point solutions – such as different software for
on real possibilities to improve their performance? finance, different software for CRM (Customer
Relationship Management) etc. This makes
Small businesses are often described as the integration and consolidation of data difficult.
“backbone” or “engine” of our economy. They're also a
key market for our profession; the majority of small ØLack of Data Standards (Formats): Similarly,
businesses take the services of professionals and the lack of clear data standards in many
many regard their chartered accountant as their most industries leads to many different data formats
trusted business adviser. So we play a huge role in the which makes the data useless. This means that
growth and success of SMEs and in helping them to significant amounts of work is often required to
build their resilience and durability. clean-up data before it can be used for more
sophisticated analysis.
So Do SMEs really have 'big data'? And is 'big data' a
useful way to engage with SMEs? While the term has a Focusing only on analytic skills and knowledge
wider meaning and can attract attention, it can also therefore misses the need for getting the resources in
switch a lot of businesses off as they feel that it isn't right shape, quantity and quality. Without this, SMEs will

41 | Direct Taxes Professionals' Association - Journal www.dtpa.org