IN THE race to the forefront of global business, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia-Pacific face distinct challenges. The global economy continues to advance at a great pace and demands accelerated decision-making, scale knowledge and an improved level of productivity.

SMEs recognise this, but the problem is that smaller businesses do not have the same level of resources as larger organisations, and so find it harder to remain competitive and productive to operate on the global stage.

But what these companies lack in size, they can make up for by addressing these issues head-on.

Building a mobile workforce

The mobile workforce is growing rapidly, and IT departments are feeling greater pressure to support off-site workers.

According to the latest mobile enterprise device usage forecast by IDC, worldwide shipments of corporate-liable mobile devices will register a 54 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next four years. By 2011, there will be more than 82 million units.

The advantages of mobility are evident - improving efficiency and affording workers greater flexibility and convenience. However, the overarching purpose behind the push for mobility is to develop a seamless communications network whether an employee is at their desk, at home or travelling.

Any SME looking to operate on a global scale needs to ensure it has the IT capabilities and expertise to make mobile communications happen without major disruption to its business.

With an effective mobility infrastructure in place, SMEs can dictate when and where work happens, while meeting the demands of decision-making and talent management in a worldwide economy.

Converging with the right technology

To truly compete with the big boys, SMEs have to embrace technological solutions that not only allow them to keep hours lost to travel at a minimum, but also allow geographically dispersed staff to keep in touch with one another.

Increasingly, SMEs are exploring video communications as a must-have enterprise tool. This can be attributed to the extraordinary technological developments over the past five years or so, including camera phones, webcams and real- time video streaming.

The convergence of voice, video and data over IP networks allows workers to log in, schedule a meeting, invite participants and access information from a remote location.

The ability to video-conference from a desktop PC marks a major cultural shift that benefits SMEs as they go global, meaning a short meeting need not take the entire day because of travel time.

One may argue that telephones have been allowing this to happen for years. But according to a Roper Survey, 90 per cent of people place a higher level of trust in video and 81 per cent believe it causes less confusion and misunderstanding than other forms of communication.

Employing technologies that allow numerous participants to theoretically attend a meeting from different locations visually also allows for quicker decision-making, clearer communication, reduced cost and easier scheduling.

Think long-term

A core problem for many SMEs is that management is focused on the short term, preoccupied with profit, tax, competition and regulation - in other words, with survival. While this is obviously important, it is equally essential that management spends time assessing the strategic elements of the business. How is it going to operate in the future? What technology investments are needed to ensure this can happen?

By looking to the future and planning for the long-term development of the business, companies can ensure they make the right decisions now and will not have regrets later.

Forging partnerships and affiliations

Small and medium companies run lean businesses. But they do not run alone. To make them more competitive and ultimately, more profitable in the long term, SMEs need to forge affiliations and partnerships with similar companies abroad.

This will facilitate faster growth and provide numerous benefits without the financial outlay of a foreign office.

This creates a platform for scaling knowledge through interaction among SMEs. Networking also allows for content creation, knowledge-sharing and partnership events.

There are numerous government and private networks that focus their efforts in fostering creativity and entrepreneurship. Such bodies also organise networking sessions, creating opportunities for SMEs to interact with potential partners.

SMEs are now operating on a global scale, and to be truly competitive they need to accelerate decision-making and respond to changing market needs as quickly as possible.

By utilising advancements in technology, SMEs can scale knowledge and manage projects and data efficiently to take advantage of worldwide opportunities.

Managing mobility and technology are little things - but they will help companies to break into the global market, and more importantly - stay there.

The writer is president, Asia-Pacific (excluding China and Japan), Tandberg