Under the title "Why SMEs need a digital infrastructure in the age of digital business", IDC and Atos present a current study on the status of digitization in German SMEs.

"For SMEs in the age of digital business, a modern digital infrastructure is no longer an option, but a crucial necessity," says Matthias Zacher, Senior Consulting Manager at IDC Germany. The analysis shows that German SMEs are at different stages of digital transformation. According to the study, 22% of the companies surveyed consider themselves to be "digital beginners", while 52% classify themselves as "digital practitioners" and 27% as "digital champions". Large SMEs and public limited companies in particular have a higher level of digital maturity, while smaller family businesses still have potential for development.

Where are the priorities?

According to the study, the priorities for SMEs are to increase employee productivity, boost the company's agility and increase profits. According to the analysis, 44% of SMEs plan to use more automation and AI in the next 1 to 2 years to further increase employee productivity.

Digital champions are investing significantly in new IT projects, as the study also shows, with 33% of this group spending the IT budget planned for 2024 on new IT projects. They use the entire spectrum of cloud offerings, from hybrid cloud to edge computing, which gives them a clear competitive advantage, according to Atos. Digital champions are increasingly relying on multi-cloud, with 60 percent using at least two public cloud IaaS in 2025, and the integration of edge computing will also increase.

Three maturity levels of digital infrastructure

Digital newcomer (22 percent): For companies in the digital entry phase, the focus is on establishing fundamental digital structures. The modernization of the IT infrastructure is being initiated in order to support the first steps towards digitalization and lay the foundation for future developments.
Digital practitioner (52 percent): In the digital practitioner stage, the focus is on optimizing the existing infrastructure. IT and cloud environments are increasingly being integrated and improved in order to create a uniform IT platform. The aim is to increase efficiency and achieve further growth.
Digital champion (27 percent): Digital champions are characterized by the use of a uniform IT platform. At this stage, companies focus on accelerating the digital innovation of products and services in order to achieve competitive advantages. These companies use technology as a key driver of their success and strive to further develop their digital infrastructure.

The survey was conducted at the end of 2023 among 200 companies with more than 1000 employees and in various sectors in Germany. Further information can be downloaded here.