For 45.2% of small and medium-sized industrial companies, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are "still important", but 18.9% see the technologies as "more important than ever". Especially when it comes to surviving the Covid-19 pandemic successfully or largely unscathed. For around a third (31.6%) of the companies surveyed, they play a subordinate role ("still not very important"). An interesting aspect here is that this figure is significantly higher for micro-enterprises with up to 20 employees (43.6%) than for companies with up to 400 employees (25.3%). This is the result of a techconsult study commissioned by Microsoft Germany, for which 196 online interviews were conducted with managing directors and IT experts from the industry in May 2020.

Securing liquidity at the top of the agenda

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the whole world. However, despite the lockdown, the majority of SMEs surveyed feel "less affected" (47.4%) or "not affected at all" (8.7%) by the crisis. Only 10.7% stated that they were "very strongly" affected and 33.2% "strongly" affected. Nevertheless, the companies surveyed are dealing with the consequences of the pandemic. The top priority for 56.6% of respondents is securing liquidity, followed by the digitalization of business processes (41.8%). 21.9% see the best future prospects in a realignment of the business model. In addition, mobile working models have proven their worth during the shutdown: In the freely formulated answer options as to how the crisis can be overcome, the home office is at the top of the list. Companies are therefore planning to expand their IT equipment for mobile working beyond the shutdown.

Artificial intelligence requires a structured education and training program

Artificial intelligence is on the rise. One question in the study related to the prerequisites for the increased use of data-based or machine learning approaches; multiple answers were possible here. 60.2% of respondents named employee training as the most important prerequisite for AI. However, there is a difference between small and large companies: For companies with up to 19 employees, 50% voted in favor of training and further education for their own workforce, compared to 72.4% for companies with 100 to 499 employees. The result is confirmed by another Microsoft study, according to which companies are most successful with AI projects when the training of their own employees is given the same priority as investments in intelligent technologies.