Digitization of the service provision process - Requirements and readiness of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector

ABSTRACT

Revolution 4.0, which all enterprises have to face, may affect entire industries, changing the way of design, production, delivery and payment for goods or service provision process. One of the major changes, that is required, is full automation and digitization of processes and the use of electronics and information technology. A large increase in interest in e-services can be observed, which is related not only to the digitization of society, but in the last year to the Covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictions. The service sector is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for which the digitization process is often more difficult, mainly due to small financial resources. The aim of the paper was to assess the readiness of enterprises from the SME sector to digitization of service provision process. The survey allowed to indicate what is the knowledge about digitization of service provision process among respondents, what types of solutions related to digitization are implemented in their enterprises and what is the status of their implementation. Additionally, the respondents indicated the advantages of the digitization of service provision process. The research allowed to indicate the level of advancement of digitization in service enterprises of the SME sector. © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.