SINGAPORE, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research
commissioned by NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading
provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce
software suites, today announced the findings of a joint study with
Frost & Sullivan, revealing a strong correlation between the
use of the cloud to access IT resources and the degree of
internationalisation of a business. According to the study, 70
percent of Asia-Pacific businesses
that currently use the cloud1 are
internationalised, compared to only 22 percent of non-cloud users.
Furthermore, 71 percent of cloud users have entered new geographic
markets in the past five years, compared to only 31 percent of
non-cloud users. Additionally, 45 percent of cloud users believe
that use of cloud solutions has enabled them to internationalise
more quickly, including 41 percent of businesses in Singapore and 45 percent of businesses in
Hong Kong.
The study, conducted by Frost & Sullivan, surveyed more than
800 senior executives (CEOs, CFOs and finance managers, CIOs and
other senior managers) across Australia, Hong
Kong, New Zealand,
the Philippines and Singapore. It was carried out to understand
how businesses are responding to the pace of industry change in
2016 and how business confidence in exploring international
opportunities is on the rise. Findings show that overseas expansion
is viewed as a major growth engine for businesses in Singapore and Hong
Kong, which often face limited growth potential domestically
due to the small population size and falling growth rates in their
local markets.
"Our research has shown how industry change is not just
continuing, but accelerating. Two new key factors that are driving
this change have emerged from this study: significant increase in
business costs and evolving customer needs," said Mark Dougan, Managing Director for Australia and New
Zealand at Frost & Sullivan. "These trends may create
new challenges for organisations, but at the same time they also
create significant opportunities for growth, with
internationalisation topping the list."
The study shows that in 2016, 38 percent of senior executives
believe their industry is changing "fast" or "very fast," compared
to 28 percent in 2014 and only 7 percent in 2010. A critical area
that businesses are exploring is to expand their international
footprint, in part supported by increasing economic integration in
the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the study, while not all businesses have yet
entered overseas markets, globalisation is currently seen as an
opportunity rather than a threat by 83 percent of organisations,
particularly in Singapore,
New Zealand and the Philippines.
"For Hong Kong in particular, a
significant majority of small businesses are already
internationalised at 75 percent, well above Singapore's figure of 54 percent," Dougan
said.
Hong Kong Businesses Plan for Expansion but Legacy Systems
Can Hold them Back
According to the survey, Hong
Kong trailed only the
Philippines in the number of businesses that said they plan
to enter additional overseas markets in the next five years, at 67
percent. However, Hong Kong-based
companies face the biggest challenges with existing business
software, with 31 percent of executives reporting that their
existing software is not effective in supporting international
expansion. The research also found that despite efforts to drive
economic integration between Hong
Kong and China, such as the
Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), 50 percent of
Hong Kong executives still view
China as the most challenging
overseas market. Regulatory issues can hamper entry into the
Chinese market; for example, it takes over 30 days to set up a
business in China compared to only
two days in Hong Kong.
According to the research, the top three challenges to
internationalisation in Hong Kong
are:
- Taxation issues
- IT issues
- Recruiting suitable employees
Cloud Winning Converts in Singapore
According to the survey, companies in Singapore appear particularly susceptible to
increasing business costs, with 48 percent of executives
respectively say it is having a very significant impact on their
industry. Additionally, changing customer needs are particularly
noticeable for businesses in Singapore, with 42 percent citing it as a
significant impact on their business. Cloud users in Singapore were some of the biggest proponents,
with 73 percent seeing it as a competitive advantage.
According to the research, the top three challenges to
internationalisation in Singapore
are:
- Recruiting suitable employees
- Taxation issues
- IT issues
While the opportunity for international expansion is not new,
many businesses have yet to exploit it, particularly smaller firms.
According to the research, the trend is most apparent in
Australia and New Zealand, where 61 percent and 62 percent
of businesses respectively are domestic only, in comparison to 42
percent in Singapore and only 30
percent in Hong Kong, countries
with greater geographic and economic contiguity to overseas
markets.
Rise of the 'Born Global Business'
The survey also showed how the rapidly-evolving environment has
paved ways for a new type of business to emerge. The 'born global
business' refers to new businesses that have successfully
internationalised by leapfrogging the traditional expansion stages
and entering overseas markets at an extremely early stage of
development. One distinctive feature of born global businesses is
their ability to leverage IT solutions and platforms to quickly
scale their business into overseas markets.
These businesses typically undertake critical business functions
such as accounting, order processing, taxation and statutory
reporting using cloud-based software that is already adapted for
international markets, instead of the earlier generation of
on-premise software requiring substantial and costly enhancements
to support overseas operations.
Cloud Adoption Plays Key Role in Internationalisation
Survey insights show that respondents view the main competitive
advantages of cloud computing as lower operating costs
(particularly in Singapore, where
29 percent of respondents cited it as a significant advantage, the
largest percentage by region), increased responsiveness to customer
needs and an enhanced ability to enter overseas markets. Other
benefits also include the ability to introduce new products and
services faster and enhanced productivity.
Yet, the findings also show that a very low percentage (less
than 20 percent) of businesses that have expanded overseas found
their existing IT platforms fully effective in doing so,
highlighting the critical need for businesses to equip themselves
with the right cloud solutions to accelerate innovation, expansion
and business transformation.
According to Zakir Ahmed, Vice
President and General Manager, NetSuite Asia: "Today's enterprises
need to be agile and flexible enough to continually adapt with the
fast-changing business pace, but factors such as aging IT
infrastructure remain as major hindrances, holding businesses back
from capitalising on growth opportunities abroad. NetSuite's
cloud-based business management software solutions can play a
crucial role in helping businesses expand more easily and cost
effectively, by giving them the agility, flexibility and speed to
set up new business operations or transform business models."
A more detailed analysis of the research can be found in the
Frost and Sullivan white paper: "The Born Global Business."
About NetSuite
Today, more than 30,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on
NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes
globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has
established itself as the leading provider of cloud-based
financials/enterprise resource planning (ERP) and omnichannel
commerce software applications for businesses of all sizes. Many
FORTUNE 100 companies rely on NetSuite to accelerate innovation and
business transformation. NetSuite continues its success in
delivering the best cloud business management software to
businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs
significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption
of the cloud accelerates.
For more information about NetSuite, please visit
www.netsuite.com.sg.
Follow NetSuite's Cloud blog, NetSuite's Facebook page and
@NetSuiteAPAC Twitter handle for real-time updates.
NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are service marks of
NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of
their respective owners.
1 Cloud users are defined as businesses that
currently access most of their main business management software
over the Internet
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090924/SF81218LOGO-b
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cloud-enables-international-growth-for-businesses-in-hong-kong-and-singapore-300276505.html
SOURCE NetSuite Inc.