Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) exporters are encouraged to immediately undergo digital transformation in order for them to better serve the overseas markets and become competitive.

Francis del Val, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cobena Business Analytics and Strategy Inc., said “bigger is not necessarily better” when it comes to digital transformation.

“In fact, we found out that smaller organizations are more likely to succeed in digital transformation. For the MSMEs out here, that’s absolutely great news because that means that you can in fact potentially be disruptive, you can employ innovation…,” he said.

Del Val said Filipino exporters ship to the United States, European Union, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, which are highly digitally transformed economies.

“So unless we embrace digital technology today, we are at risk of losing from other countries, particularly within Asean, who are already rapidly digitally transforming,” he said.

To undergo digital transformation, del Val advised companies to understand first the kind of technology that fit in their organization.

“You can start small, you can start on platforms because nowadays, there are a lot of technologies that are already available as in service. Therefore, the capital expenditure, need not be expensive,” he said.

“You need to have the (company’s) CEO (chief executive officer), the chairman own, articulate the vision that digital transformation is going to be key to the organization. Second, you need to assign a role, someone in the organization who in fact will make it happen. So we ask ourselves: who is the person?,” he added.

Del Val said digital transformation and data go hand in hand, noting that one without the other cannot be successful.

“Don’t try to do everything yourselves, there is an ecosystem of companies, partners out there who are prepared to support you,” he added.