According to a research study developed through a collaboration with IDC and SAP, Canadian businesses aren’t prepared for the upcoming digital apocalypse.
While 60 percent of Canadian organizations recognize the importance of a digital strategy, the report reveals that just 17 percent of these businesses actually have one.
Furthermore, less than half are investing resources that place digital at the forefront of their development plans, such as cloud software, analytics tools, cyber security, and mobile solutions. At the same time however, 84 percent of Canadian businesses agree that “every business is a technology business” in some way.
While Canada’s level of digital maturity is equal to that of Europe, it lags behind the United States and Asia/Pacific regions. The report does, however, go on to identify five key areas of technological development among Canadian economy. These include, cloud computing, cybersecurity, supercomputing, hyperconnectivity (advancements in high speed wireless connectivity, and the smart economy.
“The research suggests there is a lack of understanding around what is needed for a business to truly become a part of the digital economy. This has led to caution in terms of committing to meaningful action to address it,” said Tony Olvet, Group Vice President, IDC Canada, in a statement.
“For digital transformation to happen there needs to be a common understanding of the concept within a business and a shared goal to initiate change. Getting there is a matter of developing and unleashing enough digital talent to carry the business into the new economy,” he continued.
IDC went on to discover that while Canadian business people have a firm understanding of the digital economy, it’s largely seen as something to deal with tomorrow. 43 percent of those surveyed conveyed that they were “cautiously thinking about the idea” compared to the 16 percent “embracing the idea and taking action.”
While Canada isn’t moving as fast as its southern neighbour, over 80 percent of Canada’s businesses have at least discussed the development and implementation of a digital strategy, while 63 percent have made formal plans to initiate digital transformation within their companies.
The report cites Bell as a leader in digital optimization mainly for its reverse logistics team, which manages the end-to-end return process for handsets. Bell has been using this data to determine the life cycle of a handset as well as predictive analytics.
“The ability to get instant KPIs from your systems, to know exactly how many devices are back in our inventory. How did we use each and every one of these devices? All of this is enabled through systems and technology,” said Hadeer Hassaan, director of Reverse Logistics Transformation and at Bell, said in a statement.
Other statistics suggest that Canadians see data as a “strategic asset,” and that businesses are looking to achieve agility and productivity through their digital transformations.
This survey comprised 200 decision makers across Canadian businesses, 150 large organizations and 50 mid sized organizations across several economic sectors.
Related reading: Mobile services add value to the Canadian banking experience, study says
[source]IDC[/source]
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