Ready for digital transformation, Canada? Take the survey.

Gauge your digital progress against Canada benchmarks

We recently conducted a national survey to see how far along Canadian companies are in their own digital maturity. The survey measured six digital readiness factors and asked a few additional questions to shed light on what helps and hinders companies from undertaking automation projects.

So what does digital transformation mean and how do you know if your organization is ready for it? Let’s find out.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation refers to investments in IT assets to modernize an organization’s business processes, both internal and external. It’s an umbrella term for individual automation projects designed to work together to bring efficiencies to company operations, like sharing client records or accounting data between internal applications. Digital transformation initiatives also strive to deliver convenient, remote-friendly user experiences for employees, customers, and constituents.

Before any projects can be rolled out, there is a lot of preparation to be done. Strategic decisions must be made about which workflows are ripe for automation and how discrete processes will eventually work together. Task forces must evaluate necessary resources, and the impact of outcomes and how to measure them must be considered. These things and so many more are part of digital readiness.

Canada Study: Benchmarks in Digital Readiness

Ready to assess your digital readiness? 

There are six factors of digital readiness included in the survey. These six elements will give you a good sense of what is needed to successfully prepare for digital automation projects. They are:

  1. Strategic vision
  2. Culture of innovation
  3. Digital talent and capabilities
  4. Technology assets
  5. Strategic alignment
  6. KPIs to measure success

Use this digital readiness questionnaire to gauge your own organization’s digital progress. Your results will help identify gaps in your preparedness and benchmark your activity relative to other Canadian companies.

Rate your organization’s digital readiness for your desired digital transformation projects.

1.  We’re just getting started – evaluating organizational processes ripe for digitization

2.  Our initial assessments are underway, budgets are approved, timelines agreed upon 

3.  We’ve begun to implement one or more workflow automation projects

4.  We’re well on our way to implementing projects on our digital projects roadmap

5.  We’ve completed several digital transformation projects

Your score _____

Canada benchmark: 63% of Canadian corporations polled have begun the shift to digital operations by hiring specialized staff, automating processes and preparing for more. More than half of organizations report initial digital implementations complete or being well on their way.

What are the primary drivers for your organization’s digital transformation? Rank your top 3.

  • Stay competitive in our marketplace
  • Maintain compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
  • Respond to customer demand
  • Create efficiencies and accessibility for employees
  • Improve the customer experience
  • Expand reach to national/global scale

Your top drivers

  1. _______________
  2. _______________
  3. _______________

Canada benchmark: The strongest driver for digital transformation projects is staying competitive, regardless of company size.

Keeping your specific digital transformation goals in mind, rate your organization’s progress in the following six areas.

1. Strategic vision

Has a clearly defined digital strategy been articulated and documented for your organization and has it been mapped to digital needs?

1. Our organization has barely begun to assess digital requirements

2. We’re on the way: a task force or committee has been assembled to assess digital needs

3. Our task force is operational. We’re about 50% there

4. An initial digital roadmap has been prepared and presented to management

5. We have an approved digital strategy – defined both short and long term projects

Your score _____

Canada benchmark: Strategic vision is the #1 rated digital readiness factor, rated as “very significant” in influencing and achieving digital transformation goals.

2. Culture shift to innovation

Does your organization encourage innovation and reward risk-taking? Is there an internal effort to get employees primed for the coming digital changes to their processes and workflows? 

1. Our employees are new to digital technology and we have not yet begun to indoctrinate or train

2. We’re on the way: a team has been assembled to create internal comms and training

3. Staff is being introduced to new, automated processes and is being prepared for more to come  

4. Initial digital processes are now common so there is little resistance to digital enhancements

5. Digital processes are common in our organization. We are a digital-first operation.

Your score _____

Canada benchmark: More than 13% of Canadian companies identify as progressive “digital first” organizations. 

3. Digital Talent & Capabilities

Do you have the necessary digital capabilities and vision at leadership levels to set the company’s digital strategy, and is technical talent available within your organization to execute on digital transformation projects?

1. We are new to digital technology and will have to hire leaders/consultants to help set our digital strategy and support project execution

2. We have assessed our digital capabilities and gaps within the organization and have some of the right talent for digital transformation projects but lack others

3. A task force has been created with our most digitally savvy staff to set priorities, manage implementations, lead rollouts, create training for employees, etc.

4. We have most of what we need but may have to hire a few specialized individuals

5. We are a digitally savvy organization and have what we need to execute on our digital transformation strategy

Your score _____

Canada benchmark: More enterprise-sized companies reported having the talent needed to execute their digital transformation strategies. 

4. Technology Assets

How digitally advanced is your organization in the use of technology assets? For example, do you use software and automation tools for standardized processes? Do you rely on Cloud computing for remote access to key operations?  

1. We have few digitized, automated processes for common business functions

2. We have digitized a number of basic workflows but still rely heavily on paper

3. We’ve made some progress but have a ways to go for full digital/mobile access to our services

4. Our primary functions are accessible online – both for customers and employees

5. We’ve achieved most of our paperless goals by digitizing key workflows and using Cloud storage for full remote accessibility

Your score _____

Canada benchmark: Over 43% of Canada’s companies have already moved primary functions online and are achieving their paperless goals. 

5. Strategic Alignment

Is there strong alignment between leadership’s digital initiatives and desired outcomes and the rest of the organization, eg: business unit managers, software investments?

1. Digital initiatives seem daunting throughout the organization and are met with trepidation 

2. As more stakeholders realize digital plans align well with business goals, they begin to support automation plans

3. Short term losses and inconvenience brought by transformation projects are easier to accept as managers/departments embrace the upsides of longer term automation advantages

4. Digital processes are now common so there is much more support for digital enhancement projects

5. Digital processes are fully embraced in our organization. We are a digital-first operation

Your score _____

Canada benchmark: 64% of large organizations are finding the support they need within their organizations. 

6. KPIs to measure success

To what extent have you determined how your organization will measure the success of your digital transformation projects? ( Rate 1 – 5)

Your score _____

Canada benchmark: The smallest companies are least likely to have discussed ways to measure digital progress. 

What are the things, if any, standing in the way of your organization either starting or completing digital enhancement projects?

  • Executive buy-in
  • Project leadership
  • Budget
  • Tech tools
  • Personnel

Your responses __________

Canada benchmark: 66% of companies cited budget as a key factor in their ability to implement digital projects.

Where do you stand?

If you’ve begun automating processes and have plans and approved budgets for more, congratulations! You’re part of the two-thirds of Canadian organizations well on the way to achieving their digital transformation goals. 

Regardless of the size of your company and where you are in your digital evolution, every organization can make these pledges to digital readiness:

  • Build tolerance for change
  • Align stakeholders behind digital initiatives
  • Develop digital talent and tools
  • Commit to better user experiences
  • Embrace automation to stay competitive

Be prepared for digital transformation. 

Download Canada Study: Benchmarks for Digital Readiness

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