New consortium including SAP, Amazon Web Services, and Deloitte targets digital transformation acceleration in Canada

Alliance of 11 organizations kicks off DXagents program; aims to help Canadian businesses become more globally competitive by embracing digital technology

TORONTO, February 23, 2017 /CNW/ -Today marks the launch of DXagents, a first-of-its-kind national digital transformation accelerator comprised of business leaders and technologists from leading private, public and not-for-profit organizations in Canada.

The year-long partnership between Deloitte, SAP, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Intel, SUSE, CIO Association of Canada (CIOCAN), Financial Executives International Canada (FEI Canada), TDWI, B2B News Network  and supported by several other organizations at a local level, is dedicated to helping Canadian businesses better understand and get on the path to realizing their digital transformation opportunities.

Digital transformation refers to the adoption of digital technologies such as cloud, big data, mobile and social media. With recent IDC research finding that 63% of Canadian companies are 'digital laggards' leaving themselves vulnerable to competition from less risk-averse global peers, DXagents was created as a community for Canada-based CIOs, CFOs and other decision makers to more easily and effectively share and discuss experiences related to digital innovation.

Humza Teherany, President of the CIO Association of Canada and CEO of CompassDigitalLabs, said: "The majority of Canadian enterprises are putting themselves in danger of being outpaced by global competitors who see gaps forming in our markets because of the widespread resistance to digital innovation.

"Joining forces with the organizations that make up DXagents is a big step towards us pooling our collective resources and talent to help more Canadian businesses accelerate their transformation. We believe we can give them the best chance of fighting off the competition eyeing up their essentially unguarded market share."

Michael Conway, President and CEO of FEI Canada, Canada's leading association for CFOs and other senior financial executives, said: "It seems some inertia has set in at many Canadian organizations, and it's preventing them from adopting new digital technologies. I'm hoping this consortium can be a launch pad for changing attitudes across Canadian business."

Conway added that FEI Canada encourages senior financial executives to learn more about the potential benefits of investment in technologies such as ERP systems, cloud computing, big data and data analytics, mobile business applications, digital payments and other innovations.

John Graham, President and CEO of SAP Canada, said: "I've seen firsthand what it takes to turn a big ship and transform in response to market conditions. It was invariably purposeful partnerships, shared successes and distributed knowledge that led to the most effective change, which is why I believe this consortium is such a powerful opportunity for Canada."

The DXagents.com digital hub will provide the content backbone of the accelerator. Each month the site will focus on a stage in the transformation process, including digital readiness guides, starter kits, needs assessments and other regularly updated resources for CIOs and CFOs. The site will also feature interviews with Canada-based and global CIOs, webinars and invitations to Deloitte-led roundtables and workshops with C-level executives from across the country.

As part of DXagents' accelerator, roundtable and workshop events will be held on April 11 in Montreal, April 12-13 in Ottawa and April 18 in Toronto. The group is also holding a competition to find Canada's most interesting, effective and inspiring digital transformation stories. To nominate a project and see a public sector example, please visit DXagents.com/Watchlist.  

To find out more about DXagents and become involved in the community or request an event invitation, visit DXagents.com.

SOURCE DXagents

Jen Evans, [email protected], 416 346 3262