Swiss companies invest in Big Data and Internet of Things

Respondents are more sceptical about digitization efforts in their companies than they were a year ago. A trend that is also evident among Swiss organizations. According to the survey, 69% of Swiss respondents do not consider their company to be very advanced in this area. In the previous year, the figure was 54 percent. 

DSAG member companies continue to invest in IT in general. For 31 percent (DACH 40 percent) of the Swiss companies surveyed, the budget is increasing by an average of around 13 percent compared to the previous year. (DACH 16 percent). SAP investments are similar to general IT investments. They are increasing at 25 percent of Swiss companies (DACH 42 percent), by an average of 16 percent (DACH 27 percent). "A certain reluctance to invest on the part of many Swiss companies could be due to the fact that there is still no clear strategy regarding the future design of the software," comments Christian Zumbach, DSAG Board Member Switzerland. A new question this year asked whether the budget for software-supported business processes is provided and managed by the specialist department. In 39 percent of cases (DACH 28 percent), the specialist department is largely in charge. In 44 percent (DACH 41 percent) of companies, IT budgets remain the responsibility of IT. They therefore follow the traditional division of tasks.

In terms of current trend topics, more than half of Swiss companies (53%) are investing in big data (DACH 46%) and 44% in the Internet of Things (DACH 43%). Projects in the field of artificial intelligence are on the agenda for 25 percent (DACH 32 percent). Robotics Process Automation is on the agenda for 11 percent (DACH 23 percent). 17 percent of respondents have no projects planned for these topics (DACH 19 percent). Multiple answers were possible here. "Big data, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence/machine learning have arrived in Swiss companies. This is an incentive for DSAG to continue to focus intensively on these topics in 2019," comments Christian Zumbach, DSAG Board Member Switzerland.

The main investments in the Business Suite are declining. Only around 3 percent of Swiss companies are still planning high investments for 2019 (DACH 10 percent). By contrast, 11% are planning high investments for S/4HANA (on-premise) (DACH 14%) and 8% for S/4HANA (cloud) (DACH 3%). "A new understanding of S/4HANA seems to be emerging here, albeit not yet as pronounced," comments Christian Zumbach.

This trend is also reflected in the switch from ERP 6.0 to S/4HANA. This year, 3 percent still want to switch (DACH 5 percent). For 33%, the switch will be an issue in the next three years (DACH 39%). From 2021/2022, 31 percent plan to do so (DACH 30 percent). The number of those who have not yet made a decision has risen to 28% (+13%), while in DACH it has fallen to 16% (-9%). "The fact that the number of undecided companies has risen so much could indicate that many Swiss companies are examining additional alternatives before taking a concrete path," says Christian Zumbach, interpreting the result. On the other hand, the number of those who want to stay with SAP ERP 6.0 has fallen further to 3 percent (DACH 6 percent). That is 9 percent less than in 2018 (DACH -7 percent).

When it comes to high and medium investments in SAP cloud solutions, C/4HANA is in the lead for 17 percent of respondents in Switzerland. (DACH 12 percent). On a par with SuccessFactors, also with 17 percent (DACH 16 percent). Concur follows with 11 percent (DACH 7 percent). SAP Cloud Platform (SCP) (DACH 10 percent), SAP Analytics Cloud (DACH 9 percent) and the planning solution Integrated Business Planning (DACH 8 percent) have each been chosen by 9 percent. Three percent are planning with Ariba (DACH 6 percent). "On the one hand, this reflects the affinity of Swiss companies for cloud solutions. On the other hand, there is probably a slightly greater willingness to adopt new solutions such as C/4HANA more quickly than in the DACH region as a whole," says Christian Zumbach.

In connection with investments in digitalization efforts, DSAG member companies continue to differentiate between existing business processes and new business models. The focus on existing business processes (very important and important) in Switzerland has increased by 7 percentage points (DACH + 5 percentage points to 90 percent) compared to the previous year to 94 percent. Investments in new business models were rated as important by 69% of respondents in Switzerland (DACH 68%). "The continued high importance of existing business processes shows that companies are still working very intensively with their ERP system," summarizes Christian Zumbach.

Investments in existing business processes are still more popular among Swiss companies than new business models. It will be interesting to see when the majority of DSAG members tackle new business models in the context of digitalization. The high level of investment in the Business Suite has decreased significantly. More than half of those surveyed are only planning to invest a small amount. Some of the budgets are being allocated to C/4HANA and SuccessFactors, among others. 

Consequently, it will also be an important focus for DSAG in Switzerland this year to support DSAG members with meaningful information and assessments regarding investments in new solutions. More work needs to be done to convince the growing number of Swiss companies that are undecided about switching to S/4HANA.