In its latest analysis, the Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (institute for SME research, IfM) in Bonn draws on relevant data from Eurostat , according to which SMEs in Germany are now more frequently utilizing large data volumes to create value more efficiently or to develop their business model in digital form: In 2018, three times as many SMEs leveraged big data than in 2016. Overall, however, this is just one in seven SMEs. This result places German SMEs slightly above the EU average – though significantly below the German and EU average for large corporations.

When it comes to cloud computing, German SMEs are considerably more active today than in 2016: 22% stated that they had used free IT services from the virtual cloud in the past year. Nonetheless, this figure remains below the EU average of 25%.