The Singapore State of Business Growth 2025: Part 2
The Digital Divide: Systems vs. Integration
Why having technology isn't enough — and what separates the winners
The digital divide isn't just between companies that have technology and those that don't — it's between companies whose systems work together seamlessly and those juggling disconnected tools. Integration determines whether your systems accelerate growth or create bottlenecks.
Singapore's Digital Landscape: High Adoption, Big Gaps
The vast majority of businesses have achieved some digitalisation (91%), but only one in five are fully digitalised.
Large businesses are the furthest along with 72% significantly or fully digitalised, compared to 69% of mid-market and 46% of small businesses.
“While smaller businesses in Singapore are behind their larger peers when it comes to digitalisation, they have the most to gain in adopting systems that enable them to compete on a level playing field with better-resourced organisations.” Carol Fong, Head of Asia, HubSpot
The Digital Impact: Productivity and Customer Experience Gains
93% of businesses say digitalisation has improved their productivity. One in five have seen productivity gains of 20% or more, and that proportion rises to one in three among businesses with more than 200 employees.
Technology improves customer experience, too. Nine out of 10 companies say digitalisation has had a positive impact on customer experience, with 65% reporting a moderate or significant positive impact. Enterprises see the most positive impact from digitalisation — 78% report a moderate or significant positive impact, compared to 71% of mid-market and 52% of small businesses.
The Performance Multiplier: Why Integration Wins
This is where the real performance gap emerges. While most businesses have begun to integrate their systems, very few are fully integrated (15%). This has implications for growth potential — fully integrated companies are 2x more likely to report outperforming their peers and 3x more likely to realise ROI from new tech investments within just one month.
According to The State of Martech 2025, integration becomes more critical as businesses scale. Tech stacks are growing again, with the average tech stack expanding to 275 tools in 2024 (according to US-based data). Meanwhile, only 59% of companies say AI tools integrate well with their current platforms, creating new barriers to AI implementation.
Unified data layers and interoperable platforms are essential for experimentation, measurement, and ROI velocity. Composable martech stacks — modular systems connected via integration — have become a strategic driver, enabling rapid scaling and cross-functional consistency.
"Tech adoption is a great first step, but it’s integration that truly unlocks growth. Integration is the bridge between potential and performance. What good is customer data if it’s isolated in one system or only accessible to one team? The companies that win have fully integrated systems that connect every part of the customer journey.”
Scott Brinker, VP of Platform Ecosystem, HubSpot
Integration Success Stories: How Singapore Businesses Turn Unified Systems into Growth
Parcel Perform creates cross-functional alignment with unified systems
The Challenge:
AI delivery experience platform Parcel Perform had already adopted HubSpot when Sabine Kempe joined as VP of Marketing, but wasn’t using it effectively. Sales teams were managing multiple spreadsheets, marketing was juggling multiple tools, and customer data was spread across disconnected systems, and therefore under utilised.
The Transformation
To drive cross-functional alignment, the company unified their sales, marketing, and service teams on HubSpot CRM, Marketing Hub, and Service Hub. The team cleaned and structured data to enable accurate lead qualification and reporting, automated lifecycle workflows to streamline marketing-sales handoffs, and created smart segments to power targeted ABM and customer delight campaigns.
The Impact
This integration enabled seamless cross-functional collaboration between account managers, marketers, and service agents — transforming Parcel Perform’s GTM execution. With all teams aligned on a single platform and shared customer data, the company moved from managing complexity to delivering value across the entire customer lifecycle.
Sabine Kempe, VP of Marketing, Parcel Perform
"For us, the value of HubSpot has been the single source of truth. We don’t need to spend time cobbling together a bunch of manual processes any more. Now, our team is aligned on one platform, and we can focus on what really matters — creating value across the entire customer lifecycle.”
Global Schools Group scales smarter with integration
The Challenge:
An international K-12 education group, Global Schools Group (GSG) operates 64 campuses across 11 countries. Previously, the group had no standard operating procedures, relying on individual Excel spreadsheets to manage each campus. This led to duplicate data, security risks, inconsistent reporting, and a fragmented funnel that made it impossible to do reporting or provide a good experience for parents.
The Solution
GSG adopted HubSpot CRM, and integrated it with third-party applications. This implementation established a single source of truth for global admissions, enabling faster, more consistent engagement with prospective families.
The Impact
As a result, GSG reduced the average lead response time from 48 hours to under 12, and now drives better ROI on marketing spend. HubSpot also helps GSG unlock new channels, especially paid digital, for new schools, leading to higher net enrolments and an overall positive impact on growth.
The Integration Advantage
These success stories demonstrate a clear pattern: integration doesn't just clean up data — it drives smarter execution, faster decisions, and measurable business outcomes. Whether improving internal alignment or accelerating customer response times, unified systems consistently deliver competitive advantages. So where does your business stand? Use these frameworks to evaluate your current position and identify your next steps.
Your Integration Action Plan
Two practical frameworks to accelerate your transformation
What's Next?
Use these assessments to transform insights into action
Build Your Business Case
Identify highest-impact integration opportunities and quantify potential ROI
Create Your 90-Day Plan
Prioritise quick wins that deliver immediate improvements to team efficiency
Track Your Progress
Set measurable goals and monitor transformation success across key metrics