How SMEs Can Seize the Opportunity of Digitisation: Benefits, Growth Potentials and Winning Strategies

While many organisations still see digital transformation as a complex challenge, the data tells a different story: companies that embrace digitization improve efficiency, increase agility and strengthen their competitiveness.

The infographic highlights the core advantages, growth opportunities and the business strategies most likely to succeed after economic downturns.

The Key Advantages of Digitisation

The infographic illustrates four direct performance benefits for companies:

• Increased efficiency – Technology automates workflows and reduces manual effort.

• Lean processes – Simplified structures remove friction and waste across operations.

• Increased responsiveness to change – Digital organisations adapt faster to market shifts and customer demands.

• Flexible workflows – Work becomes more dynamic, collaborative and location-independent.

Together, these advantages create measurable uplift in productivity and scalability.

Digitisation Is Viewed as Low Risk

A central insight from the infographic:

Only 5 percent of companies see digitization as a risk.

The visual risk gauge (page 1) emphasises that the overwhelming majority of organisations consider digital transformation an opportunity rather than a threat.

This shift reflects the growing maturity of digital tools, cloud technologies and automation frameworks that reduce uncertainty and strengthen business resilience.

Growth Potentials for SMEs Until 2025

According to the infographic, the economic upside for SMEs is substantial. Three industries show particularly strong growth potential from digitisation:

• IT & Communication Technology: €17.2 billion

• Metal & Electrical Industry: €15.1 billion

• Wholesale & Foreign Trade: €14.4 billion

These figures (page 1) underscore that digital adoption is not just a technical necessity but a clear economic lever for value creation.

Which Business Strategies Win After a Recession?

The infographic compares the revenue and profit performance of five corporate strategies following a recession. Progressive strategies outperform all others:

Growth in percent (Revenue / Profit):

• Average: 6.6 / 6.2

• Pre-emptive: 6.3 / 4.4

• Expansionary: 7.9 / 6.2

• Pragmatic: 9.4 / 9.0

• Progressive: 13.0 / 12.2

The message is clear:
Companies that adopt bold, forward-looking strategies recover faster and grow stronger.

Digitisation is a decisive component of this progressive playbook, enabling innovation, efficiency and scalability.

Conclusion: Digitisation Accelerates Growth and Resilience

The infographic paints a consistent picture: digitization offers clear operational benefits, substantial growth potential and a proven path to outperform competitors—especially in post-crisis periods.
Companies that act early, modernize their processes and adopt flexible, digital workflows create a measurable strategic advantage.