Use of information and communication technologies in SMEs in the city of Cuenca.

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), which have become a catalyst for organizational processes, without a doubt are constituted in tools to support business management, leveraging the construction of strategies oriented to competitiveness and innovation, thus generating sustainability for the organization and society (Stern, 2002). Even so, the incorporation of ICT into the scope of the company is a complex process, since it involves multiplicity of dimensions (Peirano and Suárez, 2004). ICT, as electronic means of capture, processing, storage, and dissemination of data and information, facilitate their use in the design of strategies that favor the progress of the organization (German and Sam, 2006). Its main components are: the human factor, the contents of the information, the equipment, the material infrastructure, the software and the mechanisms of electronic information exchange, the elements of policy and regulations, and the financial resources. Several companies of these are maintained in the market without prior planning, which causes problems that mostly cannot be solved by the lack of procedures in their administration, which results in a non -competitive company with not always satisfactory products, not because of quality, or use, but, rather because of the poor management of its owners causing a company with good possibilities of success to die in its attempt for these reasons; This is why the study of the use of technology is indispensable in the daily work of a company that wishes to become a success, satisfying not only its business needs, but maintaining a competitive, orderly company and with a lasting operation. Without a doubt, the implementation of ICTs in SMEs allows them to take advantage of various tools and technological resources, promoting an important change in their processes and procedures. The objectives of this research work are to determine the degree of infrastructure and access to technologies, diagnose the use of ICTs and, use of electronic media. Therefore, the research question tried to answer is: Is there an adequate level of use of ICTs in SMEs in the city of Cuenca?