Monday, April 30, 2012

Locally-developed software cuts accounting costs for SMEs

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can now eliminate the cost of buying computer servers and employing ICT personnel by tapping into a locally developed web-based business management system — Biashara Cloud.

Biashara Cloud is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software developed for SMEs.

It can be accessed remotely through cloud computing technology through laptops, personal computers, and mobile phones.

The system offers applications that support everyday company activities such as sales, stock management, banking, and purchasing — meaning a business owner who subscribes to Biashara Cloud only needs to enter business transactions into the software to automatically generate a balance sheet or profit and loss account.

It costs SMEs between Sh800,000 and Sh2 million to acquire computer servers.

This has made it difficult for most businesses to leverage on technology, cut costs, and improve efficiency.

Tony Mutonga, the commercial director of Biashara Cloud Ltd, said that at a monthly fee of Sh1,500 per user, SMEs can access the system from wherever they are so long as the area has Internet connectivity.

"The system is able to manage and co-ordinate all business transactions.

Therefore one can keep track of all their records from anywhere, and since it does not require one to buy physical servers it reduces the number of IT support," said Mr Mutonga.

Through the system, business records can be shared in real time between the office and field officers. Since its launch two months ago, Biashara Cloud has attracted 21,000 users.

Mr Mutonga said that they were working with financial institutions, such as Family Bank, who have roped in their SME clients to enable them conduct their businesses efficiently. Biashara Cloud has joined a number of firms such as Safaricom, Kenya Data Networks, and Flexus which are battling it out to offer cloud computing technology to corporates, government departments, and SMEs.
To secure data, Mr Mutonga said, the firm has encrypted information. Encryption is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) using an algorithm (called a cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key.

Cloud computing involves using multiple server computers via a digital network to store data and allow clients secure access to a variety of applications and data from any network device.

It also provides an easy to use, cost efficient, flexible, dynamic, and secure environment for modern business transactions.

Gaining traction

The practice is gaining traction among corporate organisations that want to cut down on capital and operational expenses.
Other than Biashara Cloud, other firms targeting SMEs with similar services include Flexus Technology.

Mr Oscar Ahere, a product development manager at Flexus Technology, said that while some Saccos had started embracing the use of money transfer services such as M-pesa, Zap, Orange Money, and YuCash, they were yet to link them with their back office financial databases.
"With technology such as cloud computing, Saccos can cut their operation costs by embracing the latest technologies which will help them trim the number of their field officers, reduce fraud, and increase efficiency," said Mr Ahere.
Flexus Technology's Kopesha web-based application aims at helping microfinance field officers to minimise errors associated with manual entries.

Sacco field officers can use Kopesha to register members, manage savings, make loan applications, disburse loans, and receive loan repayments.

The software can be used on simple mobile phones that cost as low as Sh4,000.
As a result, Saccos may no longer require data entry clerks to update and reconcile information that field officers or their members submit.

National Co-operative Housing Union chairman Francis Kamande said most co-operative societies use internal servers which are not only expensive to buy, but also mean that they must employ ICT staff.

This not only adds to their operational costs, but also makes it hard to retain the professionals making the investment not fully utilised.
However, by adopting new technologies such as cloud computing they would be able to cut such costs.

It costs a co-operative society about Sh200,000 to buy a server, while the cost of maintaining cloud computing could be as low as Sh30,000.

"This is a new method of storing huge amounts of data using the Internet and outside the physical premises of the parties involved, the server is no longer necessary," Mr Kamande said.

"Cost saving in harsh economic times rationalises the need for cloud computing by eliminating the need for costly infrastructure purchases every year," he added.

Kenya has 14,000 co-operative societies with 10 million members who have mobilised about Sh230 billion or 30 per cent of national savings.

By Okuttah Mark

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