The revenues of Germany's leading IT service providers increased by 4.9 percent in the Corona crisis year 2020. The reasons for this include high investments in digital future topics such as cloud, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, as well as activities associated with these technology topics to build data-based business models and process improvements.

For 2021 and 2022, Lünendonk's data also shows that both SMEs and corporate groups will continue to invest consistently in restructuring their IT landscape and building a modern technology stack. The top issues are IT modernization, cloud migration, software development, Industry 4.0, digital workplace and cyber security. Cyber security in particular is experiencing an enormous increase in importance: while 47 percent of CIOs in German-speaking countries increased their spending on cyber security in 2021, 86 percent are planning to increase such spending in the coming year. In industry and the energy sector, the increasing digitization of operational technology and the product lifecycle are leading to a greater need to secure corporate networks.