// NEWS //

intelligent

. tech

Intelligent SME. tech is an Intelligent Global Media publication for professionals with an interest in global SME news and events.

ello and a warm welcome to the 68th edition of Intelligent SME. tech. Within these pages, you will find news, features and whitepapers from around our regions with a core focus on technology for SMEs.

Audits are on the rise in Europe and greater demands are now being placed on European businesses. Indeed, regular audits are now a fact of life even for SMEs. Selim Ourtani, CEO at Secrato, explores the aggressive rise of audits, what’ s causing them and how organisations can adapt. Turn to page 35.

On this month’ s front cover, we feature Luke Owen, Founder of Luke Owen Rural Services, who is a sole trader in the UK providing a mixture of agricultural and fencing contracting. While growing his business, he was struggling to juggle all the paperwork the company was generating in invoices and receipts. He turned to accounting software from Sage which has improved how existing customers and prospects see his business and also made sure he completes his VAT returns correctly. Turn to page 14 to read more.

Our Talking Point is from Alana Muir, Head of Cyber at Hiscox, who explains why preparation matters more than payment with regards to cybersecurity. More than a quarter( 27 %) of SMEs in the UK have experienced a ransomware attack within 12 months, according to Hiscox’ s Cyber Readiness Report, highlighting how widespread cyber extortion has become. Turn to page 18 to read more.

We also have an Intelligent Technology section dedicated to all the latest technology developments affecting SMEs and a page called Project Round-Up which features news from across our regions.

I hope you enjoy the magazine and if you’ d like to contribute to any future issues, please contact me by emailing rebecca. miles @ intelligentglobalmedia. com

Rebecca Miles Managing Editor

Access PaySuite commissioned new research which found that 3.4 % of transactions fail on average, with 55.8 % of those never recovered. Nearly half of businesses report checkout abandonment, and one in five say customers have switched to competitors for a better payment experience. The average annual revenue loss stands at £ 159,500 per SME. Jon Reynolds, Head of Product at Access PaySuite, delves into the structural inefficiencies within modern payments and the emerging role of AI in addressing them. Turn to page 24 to read more.

Intelligent SME. tech

3