To achieve digital transformation, North American companies are investing in big data, enterprise resource planning and Internet of Things technologies, according to a survey by enterprise application software company IFS.

For its Digital Change report, IFS surveyed 750 decision makers in 16 countries, including more than 120 in North America, to assess the maturity of digital transformation in sectors such as manufacturing, oil and gas, aviation, construction and contracting, and service.

Organizations in North America are pursuing a digital transformation by upskilling existing talent (61 percent); investing in digital resources, technologies and assets (46 percent); and through external recruitment of digital talent (nearly 39 percent).

“Companies all over the world now understand the urgency of digital transformation,” said Antony Bourne, vice president of global industry solutions at IFS.

In fact, more than three quarters of North American organizations either agree or strongly agree that their company has the culture and structure in place to adapt quickly and effectively to a digital transformation, Bourne said. They are relying on innovative technologies along with relevant industry expertise to guide them.

Identifying “internal process efficiency” as the number one driving force behind digital transformation, North American companies in all industries are looking to invest in big data and analytics (46 percent), ERP (41 percent) and IoT (37 percent). However, survey respondents in North America noted that the top barriers to digital transformation have been aversion to change (36 percent) and security threats/concerns (36 percent), followed by lack of standard processes (35 percent) and legislation and compliance (35 percent).

