Remote Access and Networking Technologies for SMEs

In 2003, a year in which Hong Kong's small and medium-size enterprises faced an extraordinary disruption of normal operations as a result of the outbreak of SARS, the advantages of Internet-facilitated, remote-access solutions such as IP-VPN, telecommuting capabilities, and video conferencing became all the more evident. In February 2003, the Information Technology Services Department and the Hong Kong Productivity Council released the results of their biannual survey on the progress of e-business adoption in Hong Kong. The survey found that 47% of active businesses in Hong Kong had not adopted and/or did not have any plans to adopt online business capabilities (in even the most basic forms) within a six-month, forward-looking time frame, an increase of three percentage points over the previous survey. As a result of economic difficulties, a number of businesses had abandoned basic Internet capabilities such as e-mail accounts and company Web sites altogether to save on operating costs. Just one month later, many of these companies had reversed course and were scrambling to deploy technologies to support business operations as uncertainty gripped the region. In what ways were network technologies able to assist small and medium businesses in contingency planning? What were the long-term cost and efficiency improvements that might be realized with a "virtual office" capability? Examines how some businesses have enhanced their Hong Kong and regional presence by deploying technologies to facilitate communications and collaboration.

• Business communication
• Economic cycles and trends
• Technology and analytics
• Operations strategy