How to analyze ICT needs  

Cluster level needs for MSMEs to have successful ICT adoption

1. No single point of failure and control

• Software ecosystems should not be dependent upon any single instance or actor. From the technology point-of-view this refers especially to the utilization of organisational perspective to balanced and decentralised governance models.
• When aiming at piloting new technology with real business, the sustainability of the technology in use is a central success factor. Long-term credibility is crucial for adoption by MSMEs and can be enhanced by several measures by having support from large players in the software industry, from large established development communities and/or from standardisation organizations.
• The infrastructure should reuse whenever possible standards and technologies and should build on top of previous successful research and development. However, in the areas where new technologies are deemed necessary, they should provide enough competitive advantage against existing integration solutions and emerging proprietary products to justify the cost of switching.
• The use of the technology should be simple and easily integrated into the daily operating mode of the SMEs; the underlying technology should enable the SMEs to interact efficiently with other, bigger systems (interoperability) and provide the savings the SMEs are looking for.

2. Sufficient trust and identity management and data security

• The major current problem seems to be in the area of trust and security. The absence of reliable and durable solutions to be applied within a distributed Point to Point architecture could greatly slow down the diffusion and prevent the full realisation of the benefits of the concept of digital business ecosystem.
• The bootstrap of services in a software business ecosystem is based on the attractive business cases for service providers and consumers. The business benefits should be clearly demonstrated and widely communicated to the SMEs in different regions and opportunity spaces.  

3. Allows open entry to new territorial markets

• The benefits of the infrastructure can be fully realized only when a critical mass of providers and consumers have joined as users. Highly skilled and hi-tech companies may be chosen to lead this implementation, but to reach critical mass the territorial pilots should be widened involving a much wider array of enterprises.

Firm  Level Need Analyses

• Providing cost and time savings in the daily operations, with the recognition of the need to change their way of working to take full advantage of the new management systems.
• Improving customer relationships management: services that make the sales, marketing and customer care processes and interaction with customers more effective.
• Improving internal communication: services such as intranet, collaborative team work, remote work and project management.
• Exchange of information between companies: services such as electronic invoices, technical and sales documents.
• The IT-infrastructure for must be easy to use and to maintain. There is a growing need for MSME local IT-caretaker services that would provide services such as installation, upgradings and trouble-shooting.
• Seamless cooperation between large and small operators, governments and businesses, allowing full interoperability.