Because of Corona: Digitization boost for German companies

Despite the serious effects on the economy, the Corona crisis has at least one positive aspect. According to a Bitkom survey, it is providing a noticeable digitalization boost in Germany. According to the survey, 75% of companies with more than 100 employees have increased their investments in digital equipment, technologies and applications. Only 0.2% of the companies stated in the survey that Corona has no impact on digitization. “The more digital a company is, the better it gets through times of crisis,” says Dr. Axel Pols, Managing Director of Bitkom Research. “Especially larger companies are therefore now intensifying their digitization efforts. (...) Corona must be a wake-up call for more digitization.”

Digitize business models and processes faster

For 40% of companies, the Corona crisis has accelerated the digitization of their business model and changed their range of products and services. A quarter have increased the pace of the digitization of business processes. 39% of the companies surveyed report that openness to digital technologies and the way these are handled has changed for the better since the outbreak of the global Corona pandemic.

Mechanical engineering particularly pushing digitization

A look at the various sectors of the German economy reveals that the mechanical and plant engineering sector in particular has made higher investments in digitization (80%). In contrast, the efforts of banks and insurance companies are comparatively restrained (66%). Chemical and pharmaceutical companies (48%) and the IT and telecommunications sector (47%) are leading the way in digitizing their business models. Here, too, banks and insurance companies tend to lag behind with 28%. However, they report most frequently that the Corona crisis has increased the pace of digitization of their business processes. In this respect, the mechanical and plant engineering sector is at the bottom of the list (19%).

Representative survey

The representative study on the effects of the Corona crisis on digitization was conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the IT consulting company Tata Consultancy Services on the basis of a survey of 955 companies in Germany with 100 or more employees. The interviews were conducted with managers who are responsible for digitization in their company, for example managing directors, board members and decision-makers from the fields of digital technologies, information technology and operations.