A third of Swiss companies on track digitally

"How fit is my organization when it comes to digital transformation?" Many managers in Swiss companies and administrations ask themselves. The digital maturity level provides the answer by looking inwards and comparing with the industry. In cooperation with swssICT, a team of researchers from Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH and the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW have compiled a study entitled "Digital Excellence Report 2023". Based on the self-assessment of companies and administrations, the study sheds light on the digital maturity of Switzerland as a workplace.

The companies' digital maturity levels were surveyed in a self-assessment based on swissICT's "Digital Excellence Checkup", which examines seven maturity dimensions. This allows organizations to carry out a self-assessment of their digital status quo. In order to determine the need for action on digitalization, the assessment of relevance was compared with the assessment of the company's own maturity. Where maturity is low and relevance is high, the authors assume that there is a great need for action. Conversely, similar values in the relevance assessment and the maturity assessment indicate that organizations are on track according to their self-assessment.

The "big picture": there is a need for action in all sectors

The authors analyzed data from over 600 Swiss companies and over 1,300 survey participants. The evaluation shows a surprisingly homogeneous, but at the same time worrying picture: There is a significant need for action in all sectors. A quarter of the organizations have a very great need for action. There is the greatest need for action in the dimensions of "strategy and transformation management" and "data". "Of all the questions that the participants answered, the one with the lowest fulfillment scores was the one on the existence of measurable transformation goals in the company and the pursuit of these goals," notes Prof. Bramwell Kaltenrieder, project manager of the study. "Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that the digital status quo and digital ambition are still far apart in two thirds of companies."

Major differences between the individual companies

A third of companies are on track. One percent of organizations are even well advanced, while a quarter of companies have a very great need for action. Three groups of companies can therefore be distinguished, which are of a similar size. Those on course, those with minor problems and companies with major problems.

The digitally fit group

The first group of companies (35%) is coping well with the digital transformation. They have mastered the challenges successfully so far - a few even excellently. This group of digitally well-positioned companies is dominated by companies for which the digital transformation is of medium relevance and which have achieved a medium level of maturity.

The middle range: medium to high relevance and accumulating deficits

The second group (39%) consists of companies that have smaller but accumulating deficits. Half of these companies consider digital transformation to be particularly relevant, while the other half consider it to be of average relevance.

In conclusion: big gap between aspiration and reality

The third group (26%) consists of companies that are far from the targeted level of transformation. It is characteristic of companies with a great need for action that digital transformation is of above-average relevance to them, but they are still in the bottom fifth in terms of maturity. Christian Hunziker, Managing Director of swissICT, is surprised: "Switzerland is currently well ahead in international rankings for various topics. The fact that we have such a need for action in digital transformation shows that swissICT's commitment is needed more than ever." Digital transformation means leadership responsibility and the report shows how sensitive the situation is in Switzerland as a workplace, says Hunziker.

Source: www.swissict.ch