SMEs in developing economies are faced with numerous
challenges that make a fair competition between them
and their counterparts in developed economies chal-
lenging. It is widely accepted that SMEs do play a pivotal
role in the economic growth of any country, notwithstanding
the numerous challenges that they have to contend with.
It is, therefore, only fair that considerable attention be
accorded to these SMEs with a view to finding ways to
help them improve their competitiveness.
Social context and challenges from within the
organization are a hindrance to successful ICT adoption
within SMEs in developing economies. To be able to
have sustained productivity and growth and remain
competitive, SMEs need to re-evaluate every aspect of
their strategies and pay close attention on the effective
use of ICT, including better decision about their
investment on such technologies, and the management
of the ICT infrastructure. ICT within SMEs need to be
dynamic, supporting the current business strategy, at the
same time being able to respond to the changes in the
market.While majority of SMEs in developing economies
are making use of COTS because they are readily
affordable and available, we submit that since most
COTS are developed in developed economies, they are
not tailored to suit the unique needs on individual SMEs
in developing economies. To realize much from their ICT
investments, SMEs in developing economies need to
consider using custom-made ICT solutions. This study
further reveals that it is how SMEs explore the ICT resource
together with other resources that will determine the nature
of benefits that it can derive from the use of ICT. If well
implemented and used optimally, ICTs can help SMEs in
developing economies solve some of the perennial
problems they are facing. Due to their scarce resources
and poor operating environment in their countries, SMEs
in developing economies have an uphill task accessing
resources required for using ICT solutions to support their
enterprises.
With proper strategies, SMEs in developing economies
could effectively use ICT solutions to their advantage,
notwithstanding the challenges they have to contend
with. The use of quality ICT will enhance the usage of the
technology within SMEs, as such, ICT have the potential
to help meet the needs of these SMEs. From our review
of literature on this subject we propose certain future for
research.