EFL: Business reality of SMEs within 5 years

Ten post dostępny jest także w języku: polski

According to a report by the European Leasing Fund (EFL) outlining the 30 most important trends for SMEs in Poland over the next five years, the pandemic has become a major impetus for the digitization of companies in Poland. This manifests itself, among other things, in the interest in cloud-based solutions and artificial intelligence, but also in the field of electronic documents.

Pandemic as an impulse for changes in the field of digitization

The market is undergoing rapid changes, in which digital transformation plays a key role. Companies are increasingly identifying this process as key in their business strategies, while citing the benefits of implementing it. According to the EFL research, this impulse turned out to be the COVID-19 pandemic. 65% of SMEs in Poland confirm that it was as a result of the coronavirus that they changed their attitude towards technological solutions. Moreover 69% underline that such attitude will be maintained in the following years.

What speaks for the interest in digitalization is primarily the acceleration of the company’s development and the possibility of developing the offer. These aspects are pointed out by 46% of SMEs in Poland each. However, the specific benefits differ depending on the age of a given company. With technology, younger organizations want to accelerate business growth and increase speed. More experienced companies, on the other hand, expect to develop innovative products and to meet customers’ expectations. At the same time, 68% of SMEs in Poland describe technology as a good friend, as opposed to 18% as their best friend and 15% as a friend by sight.

Cloud already in 73% of SMEs in Poland

When it comes to development in terms of technology, it is hard to ignore the aspect of solutions based on cloud computing. The EFL research shows that 73% of SMEs in Poland already use it, and 71% see in it the potential for development in the coming years.

The highest percentage of enterprises using cloud-based solutions is found in sectors such as services and manufacturing (77% each). At the same time, it is in these enterprises that the greatest potential for growth is seen in the coming years.

AI the technology of the future

The situation is slightly different in case of solutions based on artificial intelligence. Currently only 15% of SMEs in Poland use such tools, but 53% declare their willingness to do so within the next five years. The bigger the company, the greater potential it sees in AI usage (micro – 45%, small – 53%, and medium – 59%).

In the next few years, digital documents will also become common. As many as two thirds of SMEs in Poland declare that within the next 3 years they will switch from traditional, paper documentation to electronic documents.