Fortune India Exchange in conversation with Vishal Prakash Shah, founder and CEO, Synersoft

That Googly, the Indian MSME will have to play safe

The dynamics of the Indian MSME Sector could not have been more interesting than now. It reminds me of a famous Gujarati saying, "Bagasu Khata Patasu Malyu". It means while yawning (bagasu), a tasty sweet cracker (patasu) dropped into one's mouth.

MSMEs were indeed yawning since 2012 amid the economic slowdown. Then came demonetization, GST, Covid, and war-driven supply-chain crisis fueling it further. Too many external factors out of their control in the last six years left them on a rough road. Fast forward to today. In the last two years, things have improved for all valid reasons. Let us understand them one by one. 

The World during the War and After the Covid

The Covid crisis has exposed the influence of China on global trade and supply chains. It has sensitized the rest of the world to establish a balance. Russian aggression in Ukraine has major world markets looking for a friendly trade partner. Somehow, the world finds its comfort zone in dealing with democracy compared to pseudo-democracy. India, a democracy with all its demographic features, tops the list of countries to look upto to restore trade and supply chain balance, as seen by the affluent western world.

MSME-Centric Economic Growth

We have constantly been observing the Government of India's reforms, policies, and initiatives for Indian MSMEs. Consistent policies supporting SMEs like skills development, finance availability, debtors protection, infrastructure development, tax reforms, make in India, and Atma Nirbhar India initiatives have equipped MSMEs with the required capital, skills, and confidence.

Opportunities and Challenges Ahead

The Indian MSMEs are the most appropriate candidates for these mega factories' vendor empanelment and development programs. It can realize the dream of "making for the world". What will it change for the Indian MSMEs? There will be the googlies they will have to defend and score against. For those unfamiliar with the game of cricket, Googly is a style of bowling that deceives the batsman by spinning in an unanticipated direction.

The Googly

In the last decade until five years ago, MSMEs have been lazy about IT adoption. For most of them, accounting software is IT, and IT is accounting software. On the other hand, MNCs are far ahead on the IT adoption curve; they have fully digitized and are now adopting smart manufacturing through Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and IoT (Internet of Things). They expect their vendors to cope with them. Not only that, but also, the Personal Data Protection Bill proposed by the Government of India will require companies to provide adequate measures to protect data.

MSMEs have already seen a sudden change in competition standards. Vendor empanelment policies of MNCs mandate certain IT compliances from MSMEs.

They are suddenly compelled to adopt the latest form of IT, go through rapid digitization, and comply with the stringent international standards of information security.

It is indeed a Googly for the Indian MSMEs. They need an experienced batter to defend and score against this Googly. In our context, it translates to IT Talent on the MSMEs' side.

Unfortunately, these MSMEs do not have access to IT Talent because promising IT Talent does not aspire to work for MSMEs. "Make for World" will need them to catch up to customers' expectations about information security compliance. Imagine all designs, drawings, cost sheets, tender bids, customer data, formulae, IPR, business data, documents, communications, and transactions that have gone digital and are stored, used, and exchanged electronically. Maintenance of Business Continuity and Avoidance of Competitive Exploitation will mandate Data Protection and Information Security compliance and provisions. They have to play this googly safe.

The available solutions for Data Protection and Information Security are designed to weather large-scale usage; hence they are complex and expensive. They need simple and cost-effective solutions.

Here is an important role the IT industry can play in helping Indian MSMEs to be capable of "Making for World". There is a massive opportunity for startups that make simple, affordable products to help millions of Indian MSMEs. Such a trend is already validated by the emergence of "IT in a Box" products and "One Cloud" services targeted to MSMEs. Such services offer plug-and-play compliance with information security, data protection, and IT standardization without engaging IT Talent.

Synersoft has detected it early and is the pioneer in developing "IT in a Box" solutions for MSMEs. Its flagship product, BLACKbox, helps MSMEs achieve IT Standardization, Data Protection and Information Security objectives without having to employ IT Talent.

About the author

Vishal Prakash Shah is the founder and CEO of Synersoft. He is known as a seasoned technology stalwart, an inventor of specific patented technologies, a writer, a serial entrepreneur, an investor, and, importantly, a "Go to Guy" for MSMEs.

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