Small businesses invested more in digital transformation in the second quarter

A quarterly survey on the digital transformation of companies, conducted by the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI), in partnership with the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), showed that 23% of national companies increased investments in digitalization in the second quarter of 2022. Among micro and small for enterprises (SMEs), the increase was greater: 14.1% of organizations of that size invested in digitization, compared to 9.2% in the first quarter of the year.

The survey, which is conducted every three months, aims to track the journey of companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, towards the digital economy and to identify short- and medium-term trends. Between the first and second surveys this year, the indicator measuring investments in digitization increased by 3.6 points, from 117.5 to 121.1. In the case of micro and small enterprises, the growth was 6.2 points, from 105.0 to 111.2 points.

When it comes to the investment destination, more than half of the Brazilian companies that participated in the Survey claim that they have hired or engaged employees in the technology field. At least 82.5% of organizations indicated that they have experts in the field of using management software, while 77.6% said that they have employees involved in the use of customer management software.

According to system analysis and development expert, Deivison Mozer de Souza, the list of technological updates that companies are doing to stay competitive in the market is the automation of services and processes. The race for digital transformation through automation has driven investment in hiring skilled implementation, development and maintenance professionals to meet this demand.

“Process automation is the definition of specific procedures and their transfer to a digital environment where they will be executed automatically. It can be applied in different activities and processes of the organization, reducing the need for manual tasks that take a lot of time and are prone to errors, providing agility and assertiveness in its execution”, he explains.

Expense reduction – Among the advantages of implementing technologies for the automation of services and processes is the reduction of costs. According to Mozer, when processes and activities are implemented in a digital environment, it becomes possible to map inefficient and expensive activities by collecting accurate data provided by the system and enabling its optimization, which is reflected in more positive results for business.

“Cost reduction comes from a reduction in manual work and, consequently, a reduction in manpower. Generating employee payroll based on hours worked, for example, is an activity that is still done manually in many companies and whose cost could be reduced by using automated systems,” he explains.

He believes that companies that do not invest in automation should lose their competitiveness on the market. This is because manual processes require more execution and response time for customers and suppliers, in addition to being more error-prone. “Automation technologies have become indispensable for many companies, and when they are implemented, they generate an increase in performance both in companies and in the daily life of employees and customers,” he emphasizes.

Agility and higher productivity are other advantages of automation

Another benefit that companies see when they automate their processes is the optimization of tasks and reduced time to complete manual tasks, as Deivison Mozer notes. One of the tasks that seems simple when done manually, but requires time and resources, is sending emails, especially those that are part of a company’s marketing strategy.

“Activities like sending emails can be easily automated using templates configurable for different situations, providing error reduction and fast response time. In addition, the generation of data reports can also benefit from the use of automation due to the ability to configure information filters, thus enabling the immediate generation of reports that guarantee agility in decision-making,” he explains.

The expert also notes that automated processes also affect the productivity of teams and the company as a whole. “Companies in the e-commerce sector, for example, have benefited from the automation of financial management, enabling greater security, assertiveness and control over payments and receipts. By doing so, they achieve greater productivity,” he concludes, who has seven years of experience in the field of system analysis and development.