The Corona pandemic has led to digitization becoming much more important in the German economy. At the same time, however, many companies have also been made aware of their own shortcomings in their previous digitization efforts. And there is a risk that the digital divide in the economy will continue to grow, as not all companies are equally able to intensify their digitization efforts.
This is the result of a representative survey of 605 companies with 20 or more employees from all sectors commissioned by the digital association Bitkom. “The corona pandemic is clearly a driver of digitization for the German economy,” said Bitkom President Achim Berg when presenting the study. “The good news is that companies want to do something and drive digitization forward. The bad news is that not all of them are able to do so.”
Digitalized companies come through the crisis better
More than 8 out of 10 companies (84 percent) say that digitalization has become more important for their own company due to the corona pandemic. 86 percent say this for the economy as a whole. At the same time, none of those surveyed believe that digitalization has become less important for their own company or the economy due to the pandemic. A record 97 percent of companies see digitalization primarily as an opportunity for their own company in November; in April the figure was significantly lower at 90 percent.
And 7 out of 10 (70 percent) believe that companies whose business model is already digitalized will get through the corona pandemic better. “Companies can be immunized against crises beyond corona by consistently setting themselves up digitally ,” says Berg. 54 percent of companies say that digital technologies are helping them to cope with the pandemic.
One in three companies fears insolvency as a result of the pandemic
Overall, the Corona pandemic has hit the German economy hard. Two thirds (69 percent) of companies say they have come through the crisis “very badly” (40 percent) or “rather badly” (29 percent). In contrast, only 29 percent are doing “rather well” (20 percent) or “very well” (9 percent) with regard to Corona. 6 out of 10 (61 percent) homeowner database companies expect to end up “rather weakened” (32 percent) or “significantly weakened” (29 percent).
Just 11 percent expect to emerge from the crisis “rather stronger” (7 percent) or “significantly stronger” (4 percent). And around one in three companies (32 percent) even consider it “rather likely” (20 percent) or “very likely” (12 percent) that they will have to file for bankruptcy as a direct result of the corona pandemic.
One in four sees themselves as a pioneer in digitalization
However, the increased focus on digitization in the wake of the corona pandemic has also led to a much more critical assessment of its status within their own company. Only around one in four (27 percent) see themselves as pioneers in digitization. In April, the figure was still 36 percent, and in 2019 it was even 39 percent. Conversely, 71 percent currently admit to being among the laggards – compared to 60 percent in April and 55 percent a year ago.
When asked to rate the level of digitization on a school they have entrusted their data grading scale, managers give their company just a “satisfactory” (3.4). Berg: “When looking at digitization, there is a lot of self-criticism. But this must not lead to resignation under any circumstances; we have to get to work.”
From Bitkom’s point of view, it is encouraging that Corona will advance digitalization in companies. 61 percent expect a general boost in innovation. Just over half (54 percent) expect that the Corona pandemic will drive digitalization in companies in the long term.
Companies are taking a variety of concrete digitization measures
Specifically, companies are taking digitization measures in atbdirectory three areas due to the corona
pandemic: technology, business processes, and employees. 75 percent have purchased new software
or are planning to do so, 70 percent have purchased hardware such as laptops or smartphones or are planning to do so, and 58 percent have set up a digital infrastructure such as VPN access or an intranet or are planning to do so. The aim of these investments is to digitize processes within the company. 81 percent of companies have been using video conferences instead of face-to-face meetings since the corona pandemic or are planning to do so, and 79 percent are using digital collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams or Slack. 63 percent each rely on digital documents instead of paper and digital signatures, and 38 percent have used consulting services on digitization.
