Digitalization continues to pose major challenges, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany. More than half see themselves as laggards, while only around one in three companies consider themselves pioneers, according to a study by the ICT association Bitkom.
56 percent of companies with 20 to 499 employees say they are digital laggards. At the same time, only 37 percent of small and medium-sized companies say they are pioneers of Digitalization Only a small minority of 2 percent believe they have completely missed the boat. In stark contrast, the majority of larger companies in the Bitkom survey state that they are at the forefront of digitalization. 58 percent of companies with 500 to 1,999 employees and 65 percent of companies with more than 2,000 employees see themselves as digital pioneers. Overall, 39 percent of all companies surveyed consider themselves pioneers in digitalization, 55 percent as laggards, and 3 percent as completely left behind. The industry association surveyed 606 companies with at least 20 employees from all sectors.
Retail companies master digitalization best
"Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the German economy. From mechanical engineering to automotive suppliers to logistics, it is precisely the smaller and previously considered particularly innovative companies that play a central role in the German economy,"
says Bitkom President Achim Berg.
“We must succeed in making precisely these companies pioneers of digitalization — with digital products and new, digital business models.”
Retail companies lead the industry comparison, with 49 percent of them considering themselves pioneers. Among service providers, the number is just 37 percent, and among industrial companies, only 30 percent.
