Digital transformation assessment: a self-check questionnaire

In short: A digital transformation assessment scores where your company stands across a few groups such as customers, processes, data and people, so you know what to work on first. Vietnam has an official index for businesses called DBI; the 24 questions below let you run a quick self-check in about one meeting. Use the result to set priorities, not to rank yourself against other companies.

What is a digital transformation assessment?

An assessment scores the business against a fixed set of criteria and shows which groups are strong and which are weak. It answers "where are we?", while a current-state survey answers "why?". The two go together: the assessment points to the weak group, and the survey digs into the processes behind it.

Say a trading company scores itself and finds the data group far below the rest. The next step is not buying a data tool. It is sitting down with sales and accounting to find out why their revenue figures never match. If the line between digitization and transformation is still fuzzy, read digitization vs digital transformation first.

DBI and DTI: which index applies to you?

DBI is for businesses; DTI is for government bodies. A company assessing itself uses DBI or its own questionnaire, never DTI.

DBI is Vietnam's enterprise digital transformation index. As of November 2026 the framework in force is the set of criteria issued with Decision 1567/QD-BKHCN of 30 June 2025 by the Ministry of Science and Technology, which replaced the older Decision 2158/QD-BTTTT of 2023. The ministry's legal documents page lists it as in force. It has two parts. SMEs answer a questionnaire scored from 0 to 100 and placed in five levels (Starting, Launching, Accelerating, Optimising, Elite). Large enterprises are scored on six pillars (customers, strategy, technology, operations, culture, data) with 140 criteria and placed in five levels from Starting to Leading. Many sources online still describe the older six-level framework (0 to 5), so read the original text before using results in any formal report.

DTI is the index for ministries and provinces. 2020 was the first year it was used to assess ministries, ministerial-level agencies and provinces (State Management Review, 2021). It tells you what your province is prioritising, but it cannot score a company.

The 24-question self-check

The questions follow six groups that track DBI's six pillars (the large-enterprise set), rewritten as everyday SME situations. Score each one 0 (not in place), 1 (partly, or not consistent) or 2 (routine, with numbers to prove it).

Group	Question
Customers	1. Can customers order, ask for prices and check order status digitally, without phoning?
	2. Is each customer's purchase and service history in one shared place, not on a salesperson's laptop?
	3. Do customers receive invoices, documents and payment reminders automatically?
	4. Do you measure response time and repeat-customer rate?
Strategy and leadership	5. Is one member of the leadership team accountable for digital transformation?
	6. Are the goals written as operating numbers with deadlines?
	7. Is there a budget for this year, including internal staff time?
	8. Does leadership review progress at least monthly?
Infrastructure and technology	9. Do the core systems (accounting, sales, inventory) exchange data without retyping?
	10. Can staff work remotely and securely, with role-based access?
	11. Is important data backed up, and has a restore ever been tested?
	12. Is there a list of the software in use, who administers it and when it renews?
Operations and processes	13. Are the three main processes mapped, and does everyone follow them the same way?
	14. Are approvals (quotes, purchases, payments) done in a system rather than on paper or chat?
	15. Has at least one repetitive task been automated?
	16. Can you measure processing time for the main processes?
People and culture	17. Are new staff onboarded to digital tools with written guides?
	18. Does each team have a go-to power user?
	19. Is new software actually used, rather than running alongside Excel indefinitely?
	20. Do staff have clear rules on AI tools and customer data?
Data	21. Are customer and product lists free of duplicates, with one home for each?
	22. Are revenue, receivables and stock reports available without anyone compiling files?
	23. Do sales and accounting figures match?
	24. Do you know where customer and employee personal data sits and who can see it?

Question 24 matters under Vietnam's Law on Personal Data Protection (No. 91/2025/QH15), in force since 1 January 2026 and detailed by Decree 356/2025/NĐ-CP. A low score here deserves attention early, whatever the other groups look like.

Scoring and reading the result

Add up each group (maximum 8) and plot the six totals on a radar chart, or simply sort them from low to high. These bands are a rule of thumb for your own use and do not map to official DBI levels:

• 0 to 3: the foundation is missing, and this group will block any project that depends on it.
• 4 to 6: in place but patchy and dependent on a few people; usually the best place to invest.
• 7 to 8: routine; next comes finer measurement and scaling up.

Every 2 needs evidence: a report, a screen, a number. No evidence means 1. Have at least three people score independently: a director, a department head and someone who does the work daily. Wherever their scores differ by 2 or more, ask why. That is usually where the documented process and the real one part ways.

From score to first project

The lowest group is not automatically the one to fix first. Pick the weak group that is blocking a valuable process. A company that sells mainly through a handful of long-standing dealers can live with a low customer score for now; a low data score that makes receivables reports wrong every month cannot wait.

1. Survey one or two low-scoring groups in depth: map the process, record current figures. Where to start digital transformation has a detailed question list.
2. Prioritise one problem you can solve within a quarter, with a KPI and an owner.
3. Pilot in one team or with one customer group, measuring before and after.
4. Scale once the KPI is met, then rescore the questionnaire after six months.

Our digital transformation roadmap walks through each phase and includes a one-page roadmap template.

Common self-assessment mistakes

• Letting only the director answer, which scores the process as it should run rather than as it does.
• Scoring for a nice number, which hides exactly the weak spots you need to see.
• Comparing totals with other companies whose business models differ.
• Assessing once and filing it away, so nobody knows whether projects moved the weak groups.
• Ignoring the people group. Good software that nobody uses lifts no score; see change management in digital transformation.

FAQ

How do you assess a company's digital transformation level? Pick a fixed set of criteria (DBI or a self-check like this one), have at least three people in different roles score it, total by group and check the evidence. Start with the weak group that blocks an important process.

Should we self-assess or hire someone? A small business can self-score first with these questions. Outside help is useful when teams score very differently or you need an independent surveyor who belongs to no department.

How often should we reassess? About every six months, or after each pilot. Use the same questions so before and after are comparable.

Do businesses need to report a DTI score? No. DTI assesses ministries and provinces. Businesses assess themselves with DBI or their own criteria.

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HAT Solutions runs current-state assessments for SMEs in four steps (survey, prioritise, pilot, scale) and turns them into a roadmap with KPIs. Get in touch to talk through your self-check results and next steps. Read the pillar guide: Digital transformation roadmap: 5 phases for SMEs.