Banking is that sector of an economy which is very sensitive to changes in worldwide economics events, in a negative or positive way. International banks infuse the required capital and technology into a developing country’s financial system apart from risk sharing. But after 2007 subprime crisis international banks have received some criticism. Therefore some questions regarding trust issue, supervision of these banks by developing nations,  reduced access to SME’s and households and impact of digital technology on international banks have to be answered. Read more at https://blogs.worldbank.org/allaboutfinance/globalization-and-banking 

SME’s have a large number of advantages in using big data technology and it is found to play an important role for them recently. Firstly it is important to understand that what big data is. Big Data is defined as a popular term to describe exponential growth and availability of data, both structured and unstructured and is important for businesses. It is a series of combined data lakes used for more accurate analyses. SME’s should move to Big Data storage solutions because storing the new data generated each day is becoming expensive for the companies and its increasing their costs. When SME’s start using such combined datasets, they will have enough data to analyse and improve their decision making. Interest in big data has reached new heights for SME’s as they take their chances of capturing more information from everywhere possible. SME’s can also use big data to attract new customers, tap new markets and reduce costs. Some more ways how big data technology can help SME’s prosper are by using big data tools which increase their ability to use predictive analytics for decision making. It also helps SME’s move unused data into different less expensive places. Hence SME’s should definitely be looking forward to such big data technology for improved performance.

Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/bruce-robbins/329520/big-data-smes

For start-ups and SMEs, Open Source (OS) software will be the most attractive option because it’s free and also there is no vendor lock in. So there are no contracts to break. The biggest advantage of OS software is that is gives us the option of operating, sharing, and modifying the software as we choose. Collaborators are able to access the software from around the world to share ideas and add features that could improve it. Its drawbacks involves low costs, which gets further complicated by a lack of support with OS software. Lyndsay notes four questions that needs to be answered in Wise’s book, Using Open Source Platforms for Business Intelligence: Avoid Pitfalls and Maximize ROI. Read more about this article at: http://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/is-open-source-analytics-software-the-right-option 

Like everything else, businesses must also do yearly cleaning of their contents to remove redundant, obsolete and trivial data from their systems commonly known as ROT. This ROT makes it difficult to find data which are important and useful. A few tips to do this daunting tasks of data cleaning given by experts are: • Identification of relevant and critical data for the business from the identified repositories with the help of Subject Matter Experts (SME)

• Analyzing data in these repositories which are suspected to be important with the help of SMEs, automated processes and leveraging software.

• Establishing metadata for finding and retrieving documents, access control, privacy policies and potential business value

• Metadata needs to be classified for all documents in the repository. This classification process reveals the ROT.

These essential chores can lead to cost-effective information governance by eliminating ROT.

Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/do-your-chores-clean-out-your-data-029232.php

Small Medium Businesses (SME) contribute to around half of the GDP and two-third of all private sector jobs in UK, thus playing a massive role in innovation. Nearly 9% of the UK adults are now in early-stage entrepreneurship.  Tech firms & digital enterprises has sprung up all over the country. Banks are helping smaller companies with correct tools and best practice in their earlier stage so that these companies can achieve their full potential. Read more about this interesting article by Richard Phelps, Head of Corporate and Employer's Solution at: https://barclayswealthblog.com/index.php/fostering-fast-growth-start-ups/ 

According to the bi-annual Entrepreneurs Index, entrepreneurship is booming in UK. The future growth of these relatively new businesses will enhance UK's Small Medium Enterprises (SME) landscape further. These businesses contribute to around half of the GDP and two-third of all private sector jobs in UK. Since entrepreneurs are fast becoming the center of the modern day business world, wealth managers must found the best way to meet their demand. To know more, please read the article by Richard Phelps, Head of Corporate and Employer Solution of Barclays at:  https://barclayswealthblog.com/index.php/the-age-of-the-entrepreneur/

Whether you are a startup, entrepreneur, SME or a large business enterprise, cloud technology is the thing that should come to you handy. Unlike the past, where a newbie in a business has to think twice over investing in costly equipment, cloud has made the job easy. With scalability, ubiquity and user centricity, it is the cloud that should be on your agenda in setting or developing up your business, irrespective of size.

With cloud, you can have access to technological advancements at a cheaper cost enabling you to compete with your rivals. With cloud technology in your hands, it can even happen that you are defeating your rivals!

Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/apr/15/cloud-computing-large-businesses-benefit.