Canadian Companies Continue to Invest in their Digital Future according to PwC's 2015 Digital IQ Survey

Survey highlights 10 company behaviours linked to stronger financial performance and optimization of digital investments

TORONTO, Dec. 15, 2015 /CNW/ - According to PwC's 2015 Digital IQ Survey report, Canadian companies continue to grow investments in digital technology in order to drive greater business value. In fact, nearly half of Canadian companies surveyed (44%) allocate more than 15% of revenue to digital investments.

This year's report PwC identified 10 critical behaviors or themes common amongst companies with high Digital IQ scores that are correlated with strong revenue growth. Companies responding to the Digital IQ survey with the highest scores across the 10 behaviours are 50% more likely to achieve rapid revenue growth and twice as likely to achieve rapid profit growth when compared to the remaining Digital IQ respondents.

"Digital encompasses a broad set of trends and capabilities that are challenging Canadian organizations to innovate. A growing number of them are skillfully using digital technology to shift not only customer expectations but also entire business models," said Philip Grosch, Partner and National Digital Services Leader, PwC Canada. "Digital has already had a profound impact on the way we use data to create insights and on the way technology is deployed by the enterprise in the age of Cloud. Organizations need to weave these realities into all aspects of their business—their strategy, structure, how they engage with employees and customers and how they innovate and deploy new technologies."

Although lower than the global number, 65% of Canadian CEOs (compared to 73% globally) are seen to be the champions of digital. Leaders are also seeking more strategic value from digital investments, with 45% stating that their number-one expectation from these investments is revenue growth, followed by 25% seeking better customer experiences and 12% aiming for improved profitability. Further solidifying the correlation companies are seeing between digital and business success, 31% of global respondents stated they are investing more than 15% of revenue into digital investments.

Based on the latest survey, PwC identified the following 10 behaviors linked to stronger financial performance amongst Canadian companies:

1. CEO Champion
   Less than three quarters (65%) of business leaders in Canada point to their respective CEOs as champions for digital, as opposed to 73% globally.
2. Digital Leaders Set Strategy
   82% of companies in Canada say that executives responsible for digital are involved in setting high-level business strategy compared to 77% globally.
3. Executive Team Engagement
   79% of respondents in Canada say their digital strategy is agreed upon and shared with its executive team, in line with 80% globally.
4. Cross-Functional Strategy Sharing
   Business-aligned digital strategy is agreed upon and shared enterprise wide at 71% of companies in Canada compared to 69% globally.
5. Improve Market Competitiveness
   More than three quarters (80%) of respondents in Canada make enterprise investments in digital primarily for competitive advantage, more than the 76% globally.
6. "Outside In" Approach
   68% of companies in Canada actively engage with external sources to gather new ideas for applying emerging technologies compared to 64% globally.
7. Effective Use of Data
   More than three quarters (78%) of companies in Canada say they effectively utilize all the data they capture to drive business value compared with only 58% globally.
8. Defensive Cybersecurity
   A majority (83%) of companies in Canada say they proactively evaluate and plan for security and privacy risks as part of digital enterprise projects compared to 76% globally.
9. Digital Roadmap
   More than half (64%) of companies in Canada say they have a single, multi-year digital enterprise roadmap that includes business capabilities and processes as well as digital and IT components compared to 53% globally.
10. Consistent Measurement
    A large majority of respondents in Canada (86%) say they consistently measure outcomes from digital investments, versus 72% globally.

The full 2015 Digital IQ report can be found here: www.pwc.com/ca/digitaliq.

Follow PwC on Twitter at @PwC_Canada_LLP and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pwccanada.

About PwC Canada
PwC Canada helps organizations and individuals create the value they're looking for. More than 6,500 partners and staff in offices across the country are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, consulting and deals services. PwC Canada is a member of the PwC network of firms with more than 195,000 people in 157 countries. Find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com/ca.

© 2015 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.

PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

SOURCE PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

David Gollom, T: 416-869-2386, Email: [email protected]; Bryson Parks, T : 416-941-8383 ext. 14625, Email : [email protected]