The new expectation of digitization: quick benefits instead of a 5-year roadmap
Digital transformation was long regarded as a major strategic project. Companies developed target architectures, defined multi-year roadmaps and launched programs that were often more reminiscent of infrastructure modernization than concrete business improvements. But the reality has changed: Economic pressure, a shortage of skilled workers, volatile markets and the enormous momentum surrounding AI are causing many companies to fundamentally reassess their expectations of digitization. What is needed today is no longer just grand visions of the future, but above all quick, visible results.
Or to put it another way:
Companies no longer want to wait until five years from now to benefit from digitization. They expect an impact NOW because they have to. Nobody in Germany can invest an infinite amount of time in major strategic long-term plans – everything is geared towards upheaval, speed and improvisation. This change is particularly evident in the SAP environment.
Many companies today are undergoing several transformation processes at the same time:
- S/4HANA migration,
- Cloud strategy,
- Process automation,
- AI initiatives,
- Modernization of grown system landscapes.
At the same time, the demands for efficiency, speed and cost control are increasing. As a result, major transformation programs are coming under increasing pressure to justify themselves. This is also shown by the latest DIHK digitization survey conducted by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Companies today cite increased efficiency, cost savings and quality improvements as the central goals of their digitization. At the same time, a lack of time, complexity and high costs are seen as the biggest hurdles.
The discussion is thus clearly shifting: the focus is no longer on “What could we theoretically digitize?”, but rather on “Where can we achieve concrete operational benefits as quickly as possible?”
SMEs in particular are getting nervous
The current KfW digitization report shows:
- Only 30% of SMEs are still actively implementing digitization projects,
- investments are declining.
This can also be interpreted in this way: Many companies are now critically questioning the ROI of long-term transformation programs.
The real problem is not the technology
There are enough technologies. Never before have companies had so many platforms, tools, cloud services and AI solutions at their disposal as they do today. Nevertheless, many digitalization initiatives fail to be operationalized because no technology – no matter which one – is simply not a sure-fire success. In any case, the use of AI & Co. only makes sense when one-off innovation offensives are turned into a systematically functioning, freely transferable management tool.
A study by Strategy& (pwc) shows:
96% of companies are currently undergoing transformation processes – but only a fraction manage to successfully scale digital technologies.
The reason often lies not in the strategy, but in the reality of complex IT landscapes:
- isolated individual solutions,
- lack of integration,
- lengthy development cycles,
- overloaded IT departments,
- Media discontinuities between departments and systems.
Many companies therefore experience a familiar pattern: pilot projects work, but the productive rollout is slow, expensive and organizationally difficult.
Why modular digitization is winning right now
This is precisely why the approach of many companies is currently changing: Instead of major “big bang” transformations, modular, iterative digitalization strategies are becoming increasingly important:
- smaller, clearly defined use cases,
- rapid implementation,
- visible results in a short time,
- Continuous further development instead of target programs that last for years.
The focus is shifting from theoretical target architecture to practical feasibility. In the SAP environment in particular, it is becoming clear that not every challenge immediately requires a new large-scale project or a complete replacement of existing systems.
The greatest efficiency gains are often achieved where companies orchestrate processes intelligently, automate manual workflows, provide faster digital support for specialist departments, integrate existing SAP and non-SAP systems sensibly or implement individual requirements flexibly.
This is precisely where central automation and integration platforms are becoming increasingly important. This is because they enable companies to bring digitization closer to their actual operational needs without having to start months-long development projects every time.
Digitization is getting closer to business again
Another change is particularly exciting: digitization is once again being thought of more from a business perspective. For a long time, technological objectives dominated: Cloud-first, clean core, platform strategies, architecture harmonization.
Of course, these issues remain existentially important. But many companies are now asking an additional question:
“What concrete improvements are there in the day-to-day work of our employees and processes?”
Acceptance is not achieved through strategy papers, but through tangible relief. For example, when approval processes run faster, information no longer has to be transferred manually, specialist departments can work more independently or processes become more transparent and efficient. It is precisely visible improvements such as these that create the basis for transformation to be passed on internally in the first place.
The new expectation of digitization
The requirements for digital transformation are therefore changing fundamentally.
Companies expect today:
- faster benefit,
- less complexity,
- shorter implementation times,
- better scalability,
- more flexible further development,
- measurable operational impact.
This does not mean that long-term strategies are disappearing. But the days of purely theoretical future roadmaps without visible interim successes are slowly coming to an end. This also means that providers of digitalization solutions who only describe impressive scenarios “on paper” and only advise rather than act will hardly be able to withstand the pressing question of feasibility in practice. The era of inch-thick handouts and endless workshop sessions seems like a prehistoric relic against the backdrop of AI dynamics. If you want to accompany companies on their IT transformation journey, you have to jump on the fast train and put pragmatism before consulting marathons. The most successful companies today are not necessarily digitizing more radically, but more pragmatically, modularly and closer to the actual business benefits. In other words, the future does not belong to the biggest roadmaps, but to companies that generate impact more quickly.
