Digital Resistance

This is emerging as a common theme…digital resistance.  See the article and report from cgi below which mirrors other recent research and writing from McKinsey and others.  It is somewhat hypocritical that FI leadership is so clearly behind digital transformation and yet the FI itself is the primary resistor to change.  I had breakfast with a senior TD exec yesterday and another meeting with 6 financial services veterans last night and the theme of conversation was similar.  With the banks making ~$2B quarterly why should they change?  It is the frog in the boiling water phenomenon.  The answer is far from simple and if InvestorCOM is going to be a partner in FI digital transformation (which is as important for our survival as it is for the FIs) then we need to develop aggressive strategies to help our FI leaders overcome this internal resistance.

Digital shift slowed by resistance: study

The Globe and Mail Metro (Ontario Edition)

November 9, 2017

Global companies and governments are looking to expand their digital footprints despite facing internal resistance to change, says a new CGI Group survey released Wednesday.

The Montreal-based company’s Client Global Insights survey found that 81 per cent of executives and IT leaders surveyed said internal culture and a shortage of people with digital-technology skills are the top challenges.

A large majority of respondents (85 per cent) said meeting customer expectations was primary motivation to conduct digital transformations, up from 71 per cent a year ago, said the CGI report. Growing cyberrisk was the second driver and increasing regulatory demands was third. For governments, the next most important trends are cost pressures and increasing use of the cloud.

“The top takeaway was a clear and accelerating need across all industries for organizations to transform in order to meet the digital needs of consumers and citizens,” CGI chief executive George Schindler said on Wednesday.

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