PLDT, partners set SMEs on fast track to growth

Eric Alberto

MANILA, Philippines–While the jury is still out on whether a surge in the number of social media followers may translate to actual business growth, small and medium enterprises (SME) still need to reach out to their online customers.

According to Google public data culled by the World Bank, 37 percent of the Philippine population had access to the Internet in 2013. The country ranked fourth in Southeast Asia after Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

SMEs accounted for 99.6 percent of total businesses in the country and 60 percent of total employment.

Small companies are now trying to maximize the use of technology to grow their businesses.

“Enterprises need business-enabling solutions to sustain high economic growth,” said Eric Alberto, executive vice president of PLDT and president and CEO of ePLDT.

Once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is in place, there will be a free flow of trade, investments and skilled labor across the region, Alberto said, referring to the integration of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) into a single market.

The Philippines, he noted, has already opened the doors to its neighbors.

“This will boost the total Asean economy to compete with the entire world,” Alberto said during the launch of PLDT SME Nation’s “Growing your Business in the Digital Age.”

To further strengthen its information technology and communications (ICT) solutions, PLDT “beefed up its suite of services by converging ICT solutions from its subsidiaries—PLDT, Smart Enterprise, Sun Business and ePLDT,” he explained.

“With our new campaign, we are forming a convergence of groundbreaking products and solutions that will level the playing field for Filipino SMEs,” Alberto said in a statement.

In recognizing the power that SMEs have in lifting the economy, PLDT has customized solutions to suit the enterprises’ needs and budget.

Solutions that used to be available only to large businesses, have now been customized for SMEs, allowing them to compete head-on with bigger players.

“More SMEs are discovering the potential of cloud and M2M (machine-to-machine) solutions,” added Kat Luna-Abelarde, first vice president and head of PLDT SME Nation.

“Cloud computing involves the use of secure remote infrastructure, applications and soft  ware that allow SMEs to streamline operations and reach new markets,” she said. “M2M, on the other hand, is a technology platform that automates manual, time-consuming tasks.”

PLDT has also strengthened partnerships with companies that also support SMEs.

(From left) PLDT SME Nation AVP and head of SME and Marketing Amil Azurin, Samsung Philippines managing director Harry Lee, PLDT first vice president and head of SME Business Kat Luna-Abelarde, Microsoft Philippines director for Small, Midsize Solutions Partners Diana Tibbs, PLDT executive vice president and ePLDT president and CEO Eric Alberto, Samsung Philippines enterprise director Irene Catane, Samsung Philippines business manager James Kwon and Microsoft Philippines Business Group lead Tovia Va’aelua formally launch their partnership.

The telecommunications firm recently partnered with Samsung and Microsoft “to ensure that SMEs would be able to overcome the challenges integration brings.”

For years, PLDT and Samsung have been offering business solutions to SMEs. With the entry of Microsoft, the partners now offer “supercharged” business solutions to fully address the needs of SMES—from hardware to software and network connections.

The new broadband packages come with “supercharged flexible freebies” ranging from relevant and business enabling Cloud Solutions, such as Microsoft Office 365, and PLDT Cloud apps for video monitoring, asset tracking, POS, infrastructure and more.

SMEs may also avail themselves of the latest smart devices from Samsung Philippines and high definition (HD) TV content from Cignal.

“SMEs must transform into the (most) fundamental ways,” explained Amil Azurin, assistant vice president and head of Marketing of PLDT SME Nation. “They have to embrace technology to help level the playing field.”

Azurin explained that the company bundled PLDT’s fiber connectivity with Samsung’s gadgets, “optimized with the efficient collaboration tools of Microsoft.”

The supercharged bundles promise to help SMEs address challenges like “how to compete with businesses that provide online services.”

“These broadband offerings provide unlimited access, giving entrepreneurs the ability to conduct continuously online activities without the fear of bandwidth throttling. Our services also feature committed information rates (CIR), which guarantee minimum bandwidth speeds for businesses, and static IP, which is used to power up websites and enable faster inter-office data transfers,” Azurin said.

And the services are not limited to urban areas, Azurin added. The partners have reached out to SMEs in the provinces through different community organizations and associations.

The partners have been holding road shows to explain the different solutions for small businesses.

Existing subscribers may upgrade to supercharged solutions or maintain their current PLDT subscriptions.