Technology for MSMEs: Running personal computers (PC), which are more than four-year-old in businesses and having older operating systems, can cost SMEs over double productivity losses vis-a-vis new computers, said a study by Microsoft and global small business IT market research firm TechAisle. The chances of old computers requiring repairs are 3.8 times higher for SMEs that can lead to a minimum loss of 132 hours worth of productive time. The study was conducted among nearly 2,000 SMEs in the Asia Pacific of which close to 43 per cent have been using PCs that are over four-year-old and running older operating systems leaving them exposed to cyber threats.
The delay in the adoption of the latest systems and technology was because of issues including perceived app incompatibility, high costs with respect to acquiring and maintaining new IT hardware and software. This makes obvious why close to two-thirds (66 per cent) of SMEs surveyed said they did not have the policy to refresh their PCs even as they didn’t focus on it actively.
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