Most of the small firms are still in the very early
stages of IT and Internet adoption and very few
show any inclination to proceed and invest in more
advanced forms of IT and electronic commerce.
More specific, our survey results reveal that the
most commonly applied software solutions are
office applications (83.83%), accounting
applications (58.62%) and in-house databases
(26%). On the other hand, the engagement of more
advanced IT solutions such as Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) solutions was very low (e.g. only
5.86% for ERP).
The majority (76.7%) of the companies surveyed
reported that they do not have a network
infrastructure, while a minority (21.72%) indicated
that they have a LAN network in place. Regarding
Internet access, most firms (68.2%) have some form
of Internet access, whether PSTN, ISDN, Leased
Lines or Wireless but very few make use of a
broadband connection.
The participation in e-commerce projects
generally proved an uncommon practice for the
companies surveyed as long as only 8% of the SMEs
are already participating in such a project.
Finally, regarding the number of IT-literate
individuals that surveyed companies employ, this is
relatively low (1 or 2 IT employers) in most cases
(39.76%), whilst almost 50% of the surveyed
companies do not employ any IT employee. Looking
at whether companies have a formal education
scheme for IT staff, this is in most cases negative
(87.48%).
The above statistics have been estimated for
Epirus, Messinia and South Central Bulgaria regions
and do not include the German region of Saxony
Anhalt.
3 SMES’ PRIORITIES
In addition to regional business environment, the
envisaged LAURA framework should address the
actual SMEs operational and functional
requirements, in order to support in the best possible
way its interactions with the target audience (most
importantly the SMEs).
For this reason, we adopted a solid requirements
managements approach for eliciting, organising,
communicating and managing these requirements.
Based on the conducted survey, all the necessary
information has been collected by the consortium
and the frameworks’ first high-level requirements
has been extracted in accordance to SMEs priorities
in organisational, operational and functional level.
3.1 Operational and Organisational
Priorities
The term “operational and organizational” refers
mainly to specific operations or services that
expected to be provided within the LAURA
established “electronic commerce zones” to SMEs
of participating regions.
These organisational and operational
requirements could be grouped under four main
headings:
• E-commerce Promotional Activities. One key
priority for European LFRs is to raise
awareness of SMEs and stimulate their
interest in e-commerce. Basic terms,
opportunities, benefits, solutions, case
studies, good practices and references will
constitute the promotional content.
• Training Services for SMEs. SMEs training
should concentrate on subjects such as e-
commerce concepts and technologies, new
emerging business models, business
opportunities, etc. The training should be
preferably organized and supported by a
regional organization with direct access and
interest for the local community.
• Business Consulting Services. The surveys’
results identify the need for changes in
SMEs’ current business and trading practices
in order to respond to emerged e-commerce
models and increased market competition.
The SMEs participating in an e-commerce
effort, similar to that of LAURA project,
should have the appropriate assistance and
guidance for adoption of the appropriate
trading practices and of a real entrepreneurial
culture. A local organisation entity should be
able to provide effective consulting services,
when this is required, that will help SMEs to
create and implement a realistic e-business
strategy and overcome related problems.
These services should be commercially
independent, impartial and business focused.
• Undertake an administrative role Finally, the
need for an organisational entity that should
undertake an administrative role in the
established e-commerce zones has been
identified during the survey. This
organisation should (i) operate as the
intermediate in the process of introducing and
supporting new business networks and
synergies among the participating companies;
(ii) undertake the assessment of e-commerce
impact on the regions or the industrial
sectors. It should identify barriers and
enablers to the greater uptake of e-commerce
ICEIS 2004 - SOFTWARE AGENTS AND INTERNET COMPUTING
312