In the last few years it appears that mobile devices have solidified their hold on Canadian enterprises as a recent survey indicates that no less than 85 per cent of local business have adopted and deployed some form of mobile technology and more than half of firms citing mobility in their top two investment priorities.
In a recent poll of 150 Canadian C-level executives in 10 industries, global management consulting and technology services company Accenture, found that the Canadian enterprise mobile adoption is markedly higher than the global mobile adoption rate of 69 per cent that Accenture recorded in a survey covering 14 other countries.
Twenty five per cent of the Canadian respondents to the company’s Accenture Mobility Insights report 2014, said they expect to generate additional revenue from converged digital technologies; 25 per cent said they planned to build entirely new digital business or services; and 29 per cent expect to penetrate new markets altogether.
When asked to name the digital technology their companies spent the most of their budgets on, 56 per cent of Canadian executives named mobility in their top two priorities – significantly higher than the global result of 43 per cent.
“Mobile, cloud, social and analytics are rapidly – and permanently – transforming industries,” said Stephen Gardiner, managing director of Accenture Digital, Canada. “Every business is now a digital business and leaders who understand this and use it to capitalize on the benefits of digital are most likely to succeed in the long term.”
The top mobile priorities for Canadian businesses are:
- To drive revenue through customer engagement on mobile devices (57 per cent)
- Drive revenue through transactions on mobile devices (48 per cent)
- Improve field services/customer service delivery with instant data access, capture and processing (40 per cent)
- Open new sales or marketing channels (38 per cent)
Challenges in obtaining the full strategic advantages offered by mobility still remain for many Canadian companies.
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The survey found that seven in 10 firms struggle to keep pace with new mobile devices and systems.
Currently, only 31 per cent or one third of companies reported that their chief executive is directly involved in the firm’s mobility strategy. That’s slightly lower than the global average of 35 per cent.
“To stay competitive and become digital disruptors in industries that have gone through years of disruptions with new entrants, CEO’s need to become more engaged in creating and implementing digital strategies with their IT teams,” Gardiner said.