The SAP Digital Transformation Executive Study found that 21 per cent of all SMEs surveyed cited lack of budget as the biggest hurdle to becoming a true digital business.
This reason was followed closely by lack of time (15 per cent) and sophisticated technologies (15 per cent).
Lack of employee know-how does not appear to be a reason for the slow pace of digitalisation in the midmarket. Just eight per cent of the SMEs found this to be the biggest challenge and only seven per cent see poor planning as a problem for their digital journey. As such, the SME segment differs greatly from large enterprises, who say their biggest challenge is a lack of employee expertise (25 per cent).
Additional insights include:
- Customer experience is the starting point for digital transformation. Almost all (92 per cent) of the most successful “digital leaders” – a group the study identified as leaders who are more intelligently, effectively and quickly creating change than their rivals – surveyed have a digital process in place to improve customer experience.
- The same group of “digital leaders” overwhelmingly (73 per cent) said that digital efforts aid in attracting and retaining top talent.
- More than half (57 per cent) of all SMEs surveyed see a shorter time to market as the biggest profit driver for their companies over the next two years. An increase in brand awareness ranked second (39 per cent), followed by an increase of employer engagement (38 per cent) and the development of new products and services (36 per cent).
- Only 3 per cent of SMEs said their digital transformation projects were managed by dedicated teams, compared to 24 per cent of large enterprises.
- No matter the size, the main responsibility for digital transformation in the enterprise lies with the IT department (75 per cent), making it critically important to have an active role in corporate planning and setting strategy.
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