Without euphoria

CIO Barometer: Digitization progressing only slowly

In the CIO Barometer index study, CIOs and IT decision-makers award only 102 out of a possible 200 points for the current status quo of digitization. They even take a slightly negative view of developments over the past twelve months. But there are also some positive trends in the study conducted by Voice, the German Association of IT Users, Koblenz University of Applied Sciences and sourcing and benchmark specialist Metrics.

Above all, IT decision-makers are concerned about the persistently poor general conditions. They fear a shortage of skilled workers and complain about the lack of digital expertise in the top echelons. In the CIO Barometer, IT decision-makers answer the question of which factors are driving digitization in Germany and which are slowing it down. 

The study differentiates between internal and external (market) factors as well as the development of the general conditions. The CIO Barometer is made up of these three sub-aspects, with a slightly higher weighting for internal developments. The CIOs assess the latter most positively. The internal factors are rated at 106 index points, the markets at 103 and the general conditions at 97. 

"If the respondents had not rated the digital advancement of their own companies so positively, the assessment of the current state of digitization would have been significantly more negative," explains the lead author of the study, Professor Ayelt Komus from Koblenz University of Applied Sciences. For example, the respondents rate the financial resources for IT and digitization as satisfactory. Perhaps even more importantly, the CIOs are satisfied with the perception and importance of IT and also see the development here over the past twelve months as clearly positive. They are similarly satisfied with the overall level of IT resources.

The respondents' assessment of IT expertise in the various corporate divisions is mixed. Their own employees tend to score well, while employees in the business units score worse. But they also see major digital knowledge gaps among managers. In the markets, the lack of specialists is perceived negatively in particular.