KUALA LUMPUR: Most Malaysian businesses are planning to accelerate their use of technology over the next year to drive efficiency and tap into bigger profit opportunities, according to CPA Australia’s Business Technology Report 2022.

The vast majority of the 108 Malaysian respondents (94 per cent) expect their business to increase technology use over the next 12 months, as the findings show a positive link between technology use and higher profit margins.

CPA Australia’s Malaysian Digital Transformation Committee Chairman Bryan Chung said it is apparent that most Malaysian businesses are taking action to improve technology adoption.

“Over the next 12 months, a higher percentage of Malaysian businesses compared to the survey average are planning to improve technology adoption by increasing technology training for employees, increasing investment or upgrading technology and implementing a digital transformation strategy.

“One key finding from this year’s survey is that big data has become a focus point when making business decisions.

“Not only are businesses hiring staff with this expertise, they are also investing in software that will help them in the area of data analytics for the future,” he said.

Operational efficiency is a leading reason for the take-up of new technology among respondents (62 per cent), corresponding with findings of an expected increase in the use of data analytics and visualization software, robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence.

“The uptake of RPA in Malaysia is particularly exciting. 39 per cent of Malaysian respondents said their business plans to increase the use of this technology to drive operational efficiency in the next 12 months. This is 15 percentage points higher than the survey average,” he added.

The findings from this survey coincide with the findings of the CPA Australia’s Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey 2021-2022, which found business owners are motivated to pursue technological innovations for long-term growth as opposed to short-term survival.

The Business Technology Survey 2022 was conducted from May 28 to July 12, 2022.

The findings came from 820 accounting and finance professionals working in Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

In Malaysia, the 108 respondents came from a wide variety of industries, with consulting (15 per cent), education and training (13 per cent) and public practice/CPA firm (11 per cent) having the largest representation.

47 per cent of the Malaysian respondents (51 people) worked in a company with 500 or more employees and 53 per cent (57 people) worked in a company with fewer than 500 employees.