Such is one finding of the “e-business barometer 2006/2007” which was published yesterday. For the study 6.000 e-business decision makers in German industrial and service companies had been surveyed in the spring of 2006. The study analyses the status quo and prospects of e-business implementation in the German economy.
Here comes a brief summary of the most important findings: The importance of e-business is constantly growing for all companies, i.e. also for small and medium-sized entities (SMEs). However, the growth is not as strong as previously expected. Since the previous study quite a lot of e-business solutions planned were implemented. Most solutions came for the field of standard software, content management systems as well as electronic order, invoice and payment processing. In the future e-business experts will mainly focus on document and work flow management, CRM, knowledge management as well as electronic order processing.
In accordance with a further growing importance of e-business forecast, companies extend their budgets. For 2006 there are increasing investments planned for CRM, IT security solutions, business intelligence, e-commerce and mobile services.
The study was carried out by the Wegweiser GmbH in co-operation with the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Technology (BMWi), the Network of Electronic Business, the Confederation of German Industry e.V. (BDI), the Confederation of German Information Management, Telecommunication and New Media e.V. (BITKOM), the Institute of Electronic Business e.V. as well as the Fraunhofer Institute of Work and Organization Management (IAO). The study is available free of charge online.