A Methodology for M-Transformation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and its Application in Practice Using CBEADS

Abstract

Organisation worldwide come to realise that in the ever changing business world, survival and success is closely linked to adopting information and communication technologies (ICTs). Along with the technology however, organisations have to also adjust their processes to take full advantage of the potential ICTs have to offer. This process, of technology adoption, linked with with process adjustment and re-engineering is called e-transformation. For organisations that have successfully e-transformed, it is now necessary to become more agile through the adoption of mobile technologies. This adoption leads to the need m-transformation which is the next logical step from e-transformation. In this chapter we define m-transformation and present a methodology that SMEs can adopt in order to m-transform. The methodology takes into account the special characteristics SMEs have and allows them to leverage their strengths towards a smoother m-transformation process. Furthermore, we show how m-transformation can be practically applied, and in doing so we introduce our technology platform called CBEADS. Finally, we present some of the lessons learnt and demonstrate how SMEs may progress through the adoption of mobile technologies into their operation into gaining increased competitiveness and a global reach.