Canadian businesses picking up the digital transformation pace: study
By PLANT STAFF
Industry Innovation & Technology Manufacturing Dell digital transformation manufacturing pandemic TechnologyOrganizations recognize they need a more agile/scalable IT infrastructure to allow for business continuity.
Seventy-six per cent of respondents have fast-tracked some digital transformation programs.
Photo: Adobe Stock
TORONTO — In light of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, mid- to enterprise-sized Canadian businesses recognize the need to pick up the pace of digital technology deployment, according to a new study.
Prior to the disruption caused by the pandemic, the pace of digital transformation in Canada was lagging behind other parts of the world, say the study authors. Conducted by UK technology research firm Vanson Bourne and Dell Technologies (offices across Canada), it surveyed director to C suite executives across a range of businesses including manufacturers (around the world). The Canadian responses showed 89% of organizations recognize they need a more agile/scalable IT infrastructure to allow for business continuity.
Seventy-one per cent are investing in on-demand digital services, but less than half (40%) have fully completed their latest round of investment or are in the mature stages of investing. As a result, only 34% were able to say that having the right technologies to work at the speed of business enabled them to successfully accelerate in 2020.
More than three quarters (76%) of the respondents have fast-tracked at least some digital transformation programs this year, but not without challenges:
· 28% fear their organization won’t exist in a couple of years.
· 61% believe they will survive the pandemic, but will shed many jobs and it will take years to return to profitability.
· 48% say they are worried about employee burn-out, while 49% worry they didn’t transition fast enough.
· Almost all (96%) are facing entrenched barriers to transformation including lack of budget and resources (44%), data privacy and cybersecurity concerns (37%) and being unable to extract valuable insights from data/information overload (29%).
Download a copy of the Digital Transformation Index, which surveyed 4,600 businesses worldwide.
