The increasing digitalization of business and society has prompted drastic changes within enterprises and confronted them with enormous challenges.In our exploratory interview study, we examined the impact of digital technologies on how employees work in companies as well as the specific opportunities and challenges that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face as a result.On the whole, interviews revealed that digitalization has already triggered an array of changes in how employees work.Even so, the extent of each change and the perception of technological trends overall have varied among both employees and companies depending on their context.In response to those changes, the SMEs interviewed have applied a wide range of tools and strategies that have allowed them to exploit the opportunities offered by digital technologies and overcome the associated challenges.

Our paper provides insights into which critical success factors (CSFs) for digitalization projects are seen as important from the companies' perspective based on an online survey.The results presented in this paper show that CSFs of the dimensions of Corporate organization and Technology are considered to be of particular relevance, as stated by the companies, with Corporate culture, Top management support, and a Unified digital corporate strategy / vision as the three most important CSFs.Therefore, this paper contributes to the CSF research regarding digital transformation and enables the development of practiceoriented recommendations for action and assistance in shaping digital transformation.