In 2024, the number of Polish companies implementing digital transformation strategies has increased, as revealed by the "Business Digital Transformation Monitor" survey conducted by KPMG in collaboration with Microsoft. This third edition of the survey shows that a third of respondents plan to boost their spending on digital transformation within the next year, with 20% of those lacking a formal strategy intending to develop one soon. The survey evaluates the progress of digitalization efforts in Polish companies, highlighting an improvement in the digitalization strategy score, which increased by 0.8 points to 4.3 out of 10 compared to the previous year. Companies with formal digitalization documents scored higher at 6.1 points, which is 1.4 points above the average for those without such documents.

Dr. Grzegorz W. Cimochowski, a partner and head of consulting at KPMG Poland, underscored the importance of embedding a digital transformation strategy within the organizational culture to promote innovation, adaptation, and continuous development. The index for digitalization strategy in this year's survey marked the best result in the three-year history of the report. Polish companies are increasingly dedicating funds and hiring new employees to support digitalization, while more organizations are outlining specific actions as part of their transformation strategies.

The percentage of companies with a formal digital transformation strategy document has risen by 6 percentage points to 27%. Additionally, the quality of these documents has improved, with all respondents now including specific goals and implementation methods in their plans, an 18 percentage point increase from the previous year. Moreover, 20% of organizations without a formal strategy document plan to create one within the year, showing a 15 percentage point increase from the previous year.

Larger companies, particularly those with over 250 employees, are more likely to have a formal digital transformation document, with 42% reporting such a strategy. This figure decreases in medium and small companies, with 27% and 13% respectively. In most surveyed companies, responsibility for coordinating the digital transformation strategy typically falls to the IT department or CIO, with 37% indicating this, while 29% have the CEO overseeing the process. Although some companies have not yet assigned responsibility for digitalization, the percentage of such companies has dropped by 5 percentage points since the previous survey. Additionally, 80% of respondents reported that their employees have been informed about the strategy, reflecting a 17 percentage point increase from last year.

The financial sector leads in having formal digital transformation documents, with 60% of companies in this sector using such documents, a 10 percentage point increase from the previous year. The automotive and consumer goods sectors also saw significant growth in digitalization strategy development, with increases of 36 and 24 percentage points, respectively. However, the energy sector remains behind, with only 8% of companies in the energy, mining, and utilities industries having a digitalization strategy.

One-third of respondents intend to increase their spending on digital transformation over the next year, with 11% planning substantial increases. The percentage of companies willing to invest more in digitalization has risen by 19 percentage points compared to the previous year. Nearly 60% of companies plan to maintain their spending at similar levels, and only 3% anticipate reducing their budget. Additionally, companies' plans to hire employees dedicated to digital transformation have improved, with 18% planning to increase staffing levels.

(kpmg.com)