The State of Applied Information and Communication Technologies and E-Business Practices in Bulgarian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent the dominant form of business organization in the economic system globally and play an important role in the economic development and increased competitiveness of the economy, both in Bulgaria and in the European Union (EU). The presented article is scientifically applicable in nature and is based on an extensive survey whose purpose is to analyze the current state of information and communication systems in small and medium-sized industrial enterprises in Bulgaria. Based on the collected and processed information the study reveals the current state and existing practices and problems related to the operation and maintenance of specialized information and communication systems and e-business technologies. The presented survey reveals important aspects related to the security of information resources in organizations in order to overcome existing obstacles and disadvantages in the e-business system and to improve it in the future, which will lead to its increased sustainability and competitiveness in the economic market.

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO INTRODUCE AN INTEGRATED MODEL IMPROVING SMEs E-BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES

“…Therefore, along with the imposition of organizational, administrative, legal, moral, and ethical norms, this article focuses on that the corporate managers and ICT specialists must necessarily improve their information security strategy with the increasing variety of hardware and software technical tools and technologies that are available on the market. In this sense, given the development of today's information society, a more competent, more knowledgeable team with high digital skills (Mladenova, 2019) has a higher rate of success and contributes to enhancing the organization's competitiveness and image with contractors, partners and consumers. Therefore, the main thesis discussed in this article is that to achieve productive development and high competitiveness organizations must implement a comprehensive innovative strategy for the constant search for and implementation of new and more efficient technologies for upgrading, improving and addressing possible weaknesses, threats and vulnerabilities in the corporate information infrastructure.…”