Closing the digital gap
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Technological change is happening at an ever-increasing pace. To
remain competitive and ensure their future, companies can’t just
adopt digital technology; they must embrace it. The mere use of
digital tools is not enough: to become “digitally mature”, companies
must also implement a robust digital culture to fully leverage their
digital investment and manage the attendant change.
Keep up or fall behind
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Digital maturity : Assessment of a company’s degree of digital transformation.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in cooperation with Capgemini
Consulting, has developed a methodology to measure digital maturity.
Digital intensity : Use of digital tools such as client- and supplier-relationship
management systems, data collection and use to inform decisions,
digitization and integration of business processes.
Digital culture : Ability to implement changes such as a new strategy or vision,
to plan, to support management, to foster an environment that supports risk-
taking and innovation, training and continuing education.
Digital maturity is described in terms of digital intensity and transformation management. Technocentric companies achieve better financial results than techno-shy ones. One quarter of all companies combining low digital intensity and poor transformation management have seen their income drop over the last few years.
What is digital maturity?
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The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is a government financial institution specifically set
up to complement private banking services for entrepreneurs. The BDC recently released a report
on digital penetration within Canadian SMEs, defined as companies with less than 500 employees.
Hoping to encourage these companies to adopt new technologies and make the technological shift
to spur growth, the BDC surveyed over 2,000 entrepreneurs on their current digital status. Suffice it
to say that there is room for improvement in most of the companies surveyed. Even as technological
change has occurred increasingly rapidly since the beginning of the century, and as connectivity,
automation and data have acquired strategic importance, most SMEs still show lagging digital maturity.
LOW
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DIGITAL INTENSITY
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Four digital maturity profiles
TECHNO-SHY COMPANIES ADVANCED COMPANIES
CONSERVATIVE COMPANIES TECHNOCENTRIC COMPANIES
14% 19%
10%57%
of companies of companies
of companiesof companies
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The advantages of digital transformation translate to hard numbers:
Canadian companies with the most advanced digital maturity are
62% more likely to grow their sales significantly, 52% more likely to
enjoy high profits, and three times more likely to have innovated in
their industry. On the flip side, SMEs who did not invest in digital
transformation over the last three years are more likely to have seen
their sales plummet.
The power of digital transformation
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Despite the demonstrated advantages of investing in technology, just 19% of Canadian
SMEs are digitally mature, while their United States competitors fare no better, at 18%.
But this national average hides huge gaps between provinces: Quebec SMEs are
leaders in digital transformation, at 26%, while BC and Atlantic Canada trail far behind,
at 15%.
Of course, company size is a factor in high level of digital maturity (19% of Canadian
SMEs compared to 34% of large companies). The industrial sector also plays a role:
services companies other companies post higher maturity rates than goods-producing
companies.
Canadian businesses: Room to grow
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Atlantic CanadaQuebecOntarioPrairiesB.C. and North
15%26%19%17%15%
Setting social media presence aside, it appears that only
a minority of companies have fully integrated digital technology
in their operations. Overall, 57% of SMEs of all sizes display
low digital maturity, which means that they do not use
tools for digital marketing, operational management or
productivity management such as CRM and ERP systems,
data storage or analysis tools, or digital design, production
and automation tools.
Digital tools: A slow integration
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Communications tools: Digital marketing tools: E-commerce tools:
Popular digital technologies for Canadian businesses
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• Social media
• Mobile apps
• Websites
• E-commerce website builders
• E-commerce research tools
• Inventory tracking and shipping tools
• Email automation
• Ad banners on websites
• Search engine optimization
• Email marketing
• Marketing automation software
• Office software (e.g., Microsoft Office, Apple iWork)
• Project management software
• Online collaboration tools
• Management software (e.g., ERP, CRM & SCM systems)
• Accounting and invoicing software
• Web, social and video content analytics
• Predictive analytics, data mining and machine learning
• Cloud computing
• Online data backup services
• Computer-aided design (CAD), manufacturing (CAM), engineering (CAE), etc.
• Daily management systems
• Digital dashboards
• Industrial Internet of Things (wireless sensors and analytics)
• Automation technologies
CUSTOMER-FACING ACTIVITIES:
BACK-OFFICE ACTIVITIES:
Digital production tools:Business management and productivity tools:
Analytical, data storage and data management tools:
The BDC has identified five crucial steps to digital transformation:
DEFINE AND SHARE YOUR DIGITAL VISION.
Learn about digital technologies
Focus on customer needs
Build a change team
Look at the data you already collect
Measure your performance
Map out your processes
Line up resources and financing
Train youremployees
Keep track of useful information
Keep looking for change
Create an action plan
Make gradual changes
Rewardrisk-taking
Use data for decision-making
Adapt your business model
INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY.
ESTABLISH A CULTURE OF CHANGE.
UNLEASH THE POWER OF DATA.
WORK FOR CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT.
The five steps to digital maturity05
01 02 03 04 05
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La Fabrique Arhoma
Arhoma, a Montreal bakery with some one hundred employees,
needed a tool to make order-taking more efficient and to help
it optimize its production of breads and pastries. As it couldn’t
find an off-the-shelf solution to fit its industrial logic, the
company turned to a bespoke Web application solution.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
RESULTS:
Analysis of information cycle and internal processes.
Work on usability and user experience for enhanced operational efficiency.
System development.
User tests and performance measures.
Paperless processes and optimized information flow.
Customer service staff freed up to work on pitching new offerings and increasing sales.
Efficient, accurate and quick order processing.
Sharp drop in errors, from order entry to delivery through production.
CASE STUDY
60 PROMENADE DU PORTAGE
819 205-1800
110 JEAN-TALON STREET WEST
514 272-0979
323 KERR STREET SUITES 101-102, 202
647 477-3401
OTTAWA - GATINEAU MONTREAL TORONTO
Digital transformation done right• 150 in-house digital experts committed to results.
• Over 1000 projects delivered across multiple industries.
• 15 years of digital services for over 400 customers.
WEBSITE CREATION
CUSTOM SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
WEB APP DEVELOPMENT
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS, IOT AND M2M
MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT