A host of issues relating to finance and technology were the flavor of the discussion at this SME event in Bangalore.
When finance and technology come together, it makes for an interesting concoction that can make any good business idea take wings fast. The Knowledge Forum, an exclusive SME event targeted at the IT cluster in Bangalore, saw lively discussion between the people from the SME sector and the veterans from the field of finance and technology. The event, held on December 10, witnessed an impressive lineup of panelists. This included M V Satya Prasad, Joint General Manager, Head-SEG Cluster Banking Group at ICICI Bank; A Pooventhan, SMB Business Development Head, South India for Tata Consultancy Services; Srinivas BV, Business Development Manager, Cisco; and S.Panikkassery, Director, MSME Development Institute, Bangalore.
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It all started with a one-to-one discussion between a select group of participants and the experts on finance and technology. Those looking for solutions as varied as a loan to grow their business or solutions to leverage technology to their benefit came face to face to see what’s on offer. This was followed by a brief presentation by panelists and then a stimulating panel discussion.
The interactive discussion saw Satya Prasad of ICICI Bank talk of the challenges facing the SMEs with regard to the access to the funds for growing their businesses. He pointed out that if a business plan was viable there was no reason why a bank should turn down the application seeking a loan. With the economy remaining on the back foot for the whole of last year, banks have been fairly cautious while extending a line of credit to small businesses. But slowly this is changing with the economy on a rebound. The economy grew 7.9 percent in the second quarter FY2009-10, as against 6.1 percent in the last fiscal. Panikkassery talked on the various policies and programs announced by the government for the benefit of SMEs.
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On the technology front, TCS’ Pooventham talked at length on how low-cost solutions were now being made available to SMEs to help them leverage technology to grow business. The Software as a Service (SaaS) model is becoming popular among small businesses and can help them get a higher return on investment. Cisco’s Srinivas focused on the need to use a host of networking solutions such as video conferencing to connect at low cost. A number of SMEs are now expanding both in terms of offices and manpower, and can avail these solutions to save money and time.
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