Digitalization in Mid-Sized Businesses
An interview with Martin Schulze, CEO BusinessCode GmbH, Bonn
What does digitalization in mid-sized businesses mean from BusinessCode’s perspective?
Digitalization is not a new phenomenon but an economic reality since the 1980s. What is new today is that every area of a company is being reshaped by digitalization, including core processes and, above all, products. This is where the real revolution is happening.
Has digitalization already arrived in the mid-market?
Yes. Every company sees the challenges, but also the opportunities. What is often missing is implementation experience and know-how about the technical possibilities that exist today. A prime example is the cloud, which can deliver enormous value especially for mid-sized businesses. The persistent hesitation is largely due to a lack of expertise. This is where our support comes in.
Does digitalization mean replacing Excel — is that the prevailing opinion in the mid-market?
I like to say that every successful digitalization starts with an Excel sheet. It becomes problematic when this develops into shadow IT. We help companies with pragmatic approaches to bring that part of IT back into the light before it leads to serious issues, for example in data protection or because the only employee who knows the Excel sheet leaves.
What kinds of digitalization inquiries do you currently receive?
Most inquiries we receive are about replacing existing applications — some in use for more than 20 years — with modern solutions that meet today’s requirements. In these projects, the challenge is balancing innovation with continuity of proven workflows. And the people who use the software must always be brought along.
Do your customers come with concrete requests?
Most customers have a very clear idea of how and where the software should support them. What is unclear is the technical implementation — which is why they look for support from a partner like BusinessCode.
Do you implement requests exactly as desired?
No. Software projects are always a process in which requirements evolve so that the optimal solution emerges in the end. This is also where the strength of an agile approach lies, in which solutions are developed step by step. We always focus on efficiently developing the best solution together with the customer.
Does digitalization have a fixed start and end?
The term digitalization describes a process that changes all areas of business life. In its significance and depth, it is comparable to industrialization. That is why digitalization should not be viewed narrowly as a single project. But concrete initiatives do have a beginning and an end.
When is digitalization completed?
Digitalization in general has only just begun. Even companies in the digital sector keep reinventing themselves. From another angle, I believe a company has arrived in the digital world when it thinks about its products and its contribution to value creation digitally.
How do you support customers after a project is completed?
We support our customers holistically, end-to-end from analysis to software deployment. That means, for example, we provide user training and can take over operations if needed.
In addition, our experience from successful projects often leads to exciting new topics that we like to pursue further with the customer.
Thank you!
You can also watch and listen to the interview here!
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3: