Remote Access and Networking Technologies for SMEs
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| Product Ref: |
04/198C |
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Company: |
N/A
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| Product Type: |
Case |
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Industry: |
Others
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| Related Product(s): |
Teaching Note
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| In 2003, a year in which Hong Kong's small and medium-sized enterprises faced an extraordinary disruption of normal operations as a result of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the advantages of Internet-facilitated remote access solutions such as IP-VPN, telecommuting capabilities and video conferencing became all the more evident. In February 2003, the Information Technology Services Department and the Hong Kong Productivity Council released the results of their bi-annual survey on the progress of "e-business" adoption in Hong Kong. The survey found that 47 per cent of active businesses in Hong Kong had not adopted and/or did not have any plans to adopt online business capabilities (in even the most basic forms) within a six-month forward-looking timeframe, an increase of three percentage points over the previous survey. As a result of economic difficulties, a number of businesses had abandoned basic Internet capabilities such as e-mail accounts and company Websites altogether in order to save on operating costs. Just one month later, many of these companies had reversed course and were scrambling to deploy technologies to support business operations as uncertainty gripped the region. In what ways were network technologies able to assist small and medium businesses in contingency planning? What were the long-term cost and efficiency improvements that might be realised with a "virtual office" capability? In addition to probing these questions, this Case will examine how some businesses have enhanced their Hong Kong and regional presence by deploying technologies to facilitate communications and collaboration. |
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| Functional Area : |
Management of Information Systems
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Issues: |
Small Business communications, virtual office, contingency planning |
| Length: |
9 pages
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Country: |
Hong Kong SAR
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| Pub. Year: |
2004 |
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Level of Difficulty: |
1 |
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This product type is available in the following language(s):
English Simplified Chinese
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| Related Information: |
N/A
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This is a part of The Trade & Industry Department SME Case Series
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