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NEWS: IT and SMEs, Lexsite in Bangalore (2 REPORTS)
IT-SMEs
IT yet to catch up with India's small sector enterprises, says study
by Sumeet Chatterjee, India Abroad News service
New Delhi, Feb 22 - Despite the information technology (IT) boom and the
turbo-charged financial growth maintained by the software service
heavyweights in India, the usage of IT by the small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) has recorded only a modest growth over the past year.
According to a survey conducted by industry lobby group the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII), covering responses from SMEs members from all over
the country, 33 percent of the respondents described the degree of IT usage
in the company as marginal, against 28 percent in 1999.
"While 28 percent respondents described the degree of IT usage as good, up
from 20 percent in 1999, 28 percent respondents termed IT usage as adequate
in 2000, against 34 percent," a press statement issued by CII said here
Thursday.
The percentage of respondents who described IT usage in their firms as
excellent has gone up marginally to seven percent in 2000, against five
percent in 1999.
The respondents cited faster execution, better customer service, cot
savings, increased productivity, improved quality and better relationship
with partners as the main benefits that accrue to companies from IT usage,
the survey said.
"The lower than expected usage of IT as a tool to increase productivity and
cut production cost clearly highlights the fact that the IT sector in the
country hasn't been broad-based and only selected sectors have benefited
from this," an IT industry analyst said.
The high cost of IT applications and poor infrastructure in small towns
creates major roadblock for the greater usage of IT enabled services in
India, the analyst added.
The number of SMEs who were not using IT at all in their companies has,
however, declined considerably from 11 percent to four percent, the survey
said.
"Seven percent of the respondents cited the usage of Internet as excellent,
22 percent rated it as good, 27 percent rated Internet usage in their
organization as adequate, 39 percent as marginal while five percent of the
respondents were not using Internet at all," the CII survey said.
The surveyed SMEs cited product display and description of product usage as
the most frequent use of their Web site. "Selling, advertising, data
collection, data transfer and training are some of the other purposes for
developing and maintaining the company Web site," it said.
A whopping 62 percent of respondents were not satisfied with the return on
investment from the Web site, while 31 percent stated they were satisfied
with the return on investment and seven percent said they realized more
return on investment from the Web site than their expectations.
Accounting and inventory management are the two areas where e-commerce is
currently being used in the SME sector. "Over the next two years, the sales
function, customer support and after sales service will be the focus of
e-commerce in SME organization," the survey said.
-- India Abroad News Service
India-IT-LexSite
LexSite sets up office in Bangalore
by Deepshikha Ghosh, India Abroad News Service
New Delhi, Feb 22 - LexSite.com, a Web site offering legal and taxation
information, has opened an office in Bangalore and tied up with a
Delhi-based offline sales firm to increase its subscriber base and market
penetration.
"The use of our on-line information resource on legal and tax issues is on
the rise from better connected cities such as Bangalore and Delhi, creating
the need for direct customer contact", said LexSite.com CEO Ananth Nayak in
a press release Thursday.
The Web site has also signed up with Andromeda, an offline direct sales firm
in Delhi.
Nayak said that apart from assisting business development, LexSite would be
able to liaise directly with its customers and provide better offline
support more easily.
One of the earliest online properties to be launched and to receive funding
in India, LexSite specializes in information and analyses on indirect tax,
corporate law, direct tax and foreign exchange laws. It has also increased
its offerings to legal matters of individual interest like drafting of
wills, marriage laws, common draft deeds and agreements.
The site, which has received investments from Draper, SIDBI and ICICI,
offers online tax calculators and search for lawyers countrywide and
recruitment opportunities.
-- India Abroad News Servi
