Digi and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has kicked off the Business Continuity Digitalisation (BCD) Programme aimed at helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) leverage digital opportunities.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing Movement Control Order (MCO) have forced businesses to leverage digital means to survive—whether venturing into e-commerce or working remotely. What’s clear is that the “new normal” is adopting digital solutions or risk being left behind, or worse, shut down. Some may realise the importance of digitalisation, but many are caught off-guard and are clueless on how to go about digitalising their operations.
This is where the BCD programme comes in, designed to equip SMEs with the right knowledge and right digital tools to get their businesses running and gunning.
The BCD programme is in collaboration with MDEC’s 100 Go Digital (100GD) initiative, which aims to enable SMEs to adopt digital solutions to improve customer service and improve business efficiency.
The programme will feature a series of free webinars and online clinics that will address critical areas in business digital transformation. Each webinar will provide practical steps and resources on digitalisation, covering operational efficiency, maintaining sales, engaging customer support, and more.
Digi, a Technology Solutions Provider (TSP) recognised by MDEC under the SME Business Digitalisation Grant, will help SMEs assess BCD readiness and assist them in finding the best digital tools and solutions to help their business survive and thrive.
Commenting on how Digi strives to help SMEs be BCD-ready, Praveen Rajan, Digi’s chief digital officer says, “The Movement Control Order (MCO) has driven many SMEs to leverage digital means to remain in operations, from going into e-commerce to managing their workforce remotely, setting a ‘new normal’ in how businesses operate. What we hope to achieve with our BCD Programme is to help SMEs adapt to this changing landscape. During this period, Digi has remained focused in protecting our customers and employees, as well as maintaining our ongoing digitalisation efforts for business continuity. Based on our best practices, we will be consolidating a ‘playbook’ with solutions that SMEs can reference and utilise for their BCD efforts.”
Surina Shukri, MDEC’s chief executive officer adds, “Many SMEs are still experiencing interrupted supply-chain and difficulties operating business. This is on top of having to manage cash flow and workforce capacity as well. To ensure businesses can overcome these challenges, MDEC and Digi are collaborating to provide the necessary digital tools and support that SMEs need to continue running their business in this current situation. This will certainly help SMEs accelerate their recovery and enable them to adapt successfully in the post-MCO era. Together, we are targeting over 5,000 SMEs to benefit from the Programme including the digital workshops.”
Additionally, Digi will walk SMEs through details of the SME Business Digitalisation Grant. Announced during Budget 2020, the government is committing a 50 per cent matching grant of up to MYR5,000 per company for the subscription of any three of five digitalisation areas:
- Point of Sale system (e-POS)
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- Electronic HR payroll system/CROM
- e-Procurement
- Digital marketing and sales platforms
Digital solutions eligible for grants
SMEs who subscribe to the following digital solutions from Digi are eligible to apply for the grant:
- altHR: an all-in-one, easy-to-navigate HR app that simplifies tedious HR paperwork including leaves, claims expense and document management from the convenience of a smartphone.
- Omni Hotline: a virtual phone system that allows a business to operate its very own call centre and business phone system from a smartphone.
- Digital SMS (dSMS): a direct SMS broadcast and communications solution that enables businesses to instantly and effectively reach out to their customers.
To learn more about these solutions, please visit www.digi-x-my/bcd.
Relief for SMEs
In March when the MCO just came into force, Digi introduced its Business Continuity Booster programme in support of MDEC’s #DigitalvsCovid campaign. The programme covers essential connectivity and turnkey services to help SMEs stay connected and productive. More about it here: www.digi-x.my.booster
The #DigitalvsCovid campaign is to marshal local tech companies to extend digital solutions and services to affected local businesses especially SMEs and micro-enterprises.
SMEs are encouraged to apply for both the SME Business Digitalisation Grant as well as tech solutions and services under MDEC’s #DigitalvsCovid umbrella.
Header photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam on Unsplash
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