Digital Transformation will be the Most Valuable Business Investment for 2022

New report shows explosion in Canadian companies adopting a digital strategy to drive positive business results

TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2021 /CNW/ – Canadian companies are embracing digital transformation like never before. A new SAP Canada study conducted in partnership with IDC Canada indicates that digital transformation will be the most valuable business investment Canadian companies can make as they enter 2022.

The survey discovered a big rise in enterprises which have fully integrated digital strategies into their core business. Nearly 40 per cent of those surveyed indicated having this integration – three times more businesses than in 2020. This robust digital shift was critical for Canadian organizations surviving the initial shockwaves of the pandemic delivering business impacts across efficiency, cost reductions, resiliency, decision support and intelligence, sustainability, and customer and employee experience.

“Digital transformation has been on the radar of Canadian businesses for years, but the last year has shown us that interest and value for it has soared,” said Brian Moore, Chief Operating Officer, SAP Canada. “We are seeing that organizations will need to continue to fully integrate their operations in the coming year to remain competitive. Simply put, a digital transformation strategy is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it’s a necessity for organizations to thrive. In 2022, we will see Canadian businesses step away from tactical, reactive enhancements in exchange for developing digital transformation strategies that will enable them to achieve new levels of success.”

Data further showed businesses realize digital transformation is necessary and valuable:

  • 75 per cent of Canadian enterprises planned on migrating all or some of their applications and data to the cloud in 2021.
  • 84 per cent of respondents highlighted that investment into digital technologies either met or exceeded their expectations this year.
  • 84 per cent of leaders in the digital transformation space are using technologies to make incremental and continuous improvements to their core business.

Customer experience was also at the heart of the survey with most organizations surveyed (81 per cent) indicating a positive impact on financial performance because of strong client experience. This is an increase of 20 per cent over last year’s survey.

Research found a need for integrated collaboration between IT departments and lines of businesses (LOB) to achieve digital transformation ambitions, with 40 per cent of IT and LOB respondents favouring a fully integrated digital plan into their enterprise strategy. This will help Canadian organizations make progress towards becoming digital leaders.

“After completing the sixth-annual SAP survey, IDC expects the benefits of cloud will continue to outpace the challenges, resulting in Canadian organizations using cloud services extensively across enterprise applications and infrastructure,” said Megha Kumar, Research Director, Software and Cloud Services at IDC.

Read the full report here.

For more information, visit the SAP News Center or follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews.

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

About the Study

In June 2021, IDC completed a survey of 150 Canadian organizations covering strategic decision makers (VP and above) across IT and LOB with $50 million+ in revenue and a minimum of 500 employees. The study objective was to examine the progress of digital strategy and innovation readiness, explore pathways to the intelligent enterprise, and develop a deeper understanding of the skills required to execute a digital strategy and dynamics between IT and LOB.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

© 2021 SAP SE. All rights reserved.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

SOURCE SAP Canada

Author Information

As a detail-oriented researcher, Sherril is expert at discovering, gathering and compiling industry and market data to create clear, actionable market and competitive intelligence. With deep experience in market analysis and segmentation she is a consummate collaborator with strong communication skills adept at supporting and forming relationships with cross-functional teams in all levels of organizations.

Sherril holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University.

Latest Insights:
Google Returns to the Frontier With Gemini 4 Argon
October 1, 2026
Article
Article

Google Returns to the Frontier With Gemini 4 Argon

Futurum’s Nick Patience and Fernando Montenegro share their insights on Gemini 4 Argon, Google’s new frontier model, and what its defender-first release means for enterprises and security vendors....
Docker Reruns the Container Playbook, This Time for Cloud Sandbox Kit
October 1, 2026
Article
Article

Docker Reruns the Container Playbook, This Time for Cloud Sandbox Kit

Mitch Ashley, VP and Practice Lead, and Vikram Rathnam, Research Director, Software Lifecycle Engineering at Futurum, on why Docker's Kit spec wins the agent control plane only if Kubernetes and hyperscaler runtimes...
Miro MCP Hits 16M Calls: AI Collaboration Goes Cross-Functional
October 1, 2026
Article
Article

Miro MCP Hits 16M Calls: AI Collaboration Goes Cross-Functional

Keith Kirkpatrick, Vice President, Research, at Futurum, Miro's MCP server exceeded 16 million calls since February 2026, with usage doubling since May and cross-functional adoption now outpacing engineering roles....
Salesforce Bets on AI Simulation to Defend CRM Dominance
October 1, 2026
Article
Article

Salesforce Bets on AI Simulation to Defend CRM Dominance

Salesforce's acquisition of Listen Labs embeds Agentic AI directly into its cloud platforms, enabling autonomous research agents and digital twins to compress customer research cycles from months to days across 50M+ global...
Latest Research:
When AI Is Everywhere, Data Becomes the Differentiator
September 30, 2026

When AI Is Everywhere, Data Becomes the Differentiator

In our latest Thought Leadership Brief, When AI Is Everywhere, Data Becomes the Differentiator, completed in partnership with Oracle, Futurum Research examines why industry-specific AI requires industry-specific data and how...
Where AI Delivers Real ROI: AI-First Integration and Orchestration
September 24, 2026

Where AI Delivers Real ROI: AI-First Integration and Orchestration

In our latest thought leadership report, Where AI Delivers Real ROI: How AI-First Integration and Orchestration Transform Workflows, completed in partnership with IBM, Futurum Research examines why AI delivers the...
From Pilots to Production: Why Agentic AI Runs Through the Ecosystem
September 22, 2026
Research
Research

From Pilots to Production: Why Agentic AI Runs Through the Ecosystem

In its latest report, From Pilots to Production: Why Agentic Transformation Runs Through the Ecosystem, published in partnership with Google Cloud, Futurum Research examines why enterprise AI spending keeps climbing...

Book a Demo

Welcome

The vision behind everything in Futurum’s Custom Research practice is this: research should show you what is happening, what comes next, and what to do about it. It should be personal to each audience, easy for people to grasp, and structured so LLMs can reason over it accurately. And it should be fast and turnkey; you want answers now, not another project to carry for quarters.

Whether you are defining business, channel, or go-to-market strategy; evaluating vendors or justifying ROI; or commissioning research to fill an emerging market need, we have your back, with a program that answers your questions with the objectivity and credibility to drive real decisions.

To do it, we bring unmatched data to bear: Futurum research, surveys, and market projections; validated market feeds; ETR’s 15 years of insight from 10,000 technology decision-makers; G2’s buyer and user data; and what our analysts hear every day. Add leading primary collection, from AI-moderated voice interviews to surveys and analyst-led interviews, all turnkey, and every project comes out credible, nuanced, and actionable.

And we don’t just drop the results in your lap. For internal work, we provide analyst-led sessions, interactive dashboards, and a range of formats. For market-facing work, Futurum delivers turnkey activation and amplification that actually gets seen, by people and by LLMs, through our media and share of voice. This is research that moves decisions and markets.

We will meet you wherever you are, from a fast-turn brief to a multi-year program, and shape the work to your goals, timeline, and budget. The right program for your moment.

If any of this is useful, I would love to talk.

Benjamin Brown, VP Custom Research, Futurum Research

Benjamin Brown

VP, Custom Research · The Futurum Group

Newsletter Sign-up Form

Get important insights straight to your inbox, receive first looks at eBooks, exclusive event invitations, custom content, and more. We promise not to spam you or sell your name to anyone. You can always unsubscribe at any time.

All fields are required






Thank you, we received your request, a member of our team will be in contact with you.