Digital Transformation (DX) is picking up speed. According to a recent announcement by IDC, the market is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.9% to reach a whopping 321 billion dollars by 2021. In 2018 alone, IDC expects that 326 billion will be spent on transforming how people and things communicate.

Digital transformation has been a top concern of CMOs, CEOs and boards across industries. The digital imperative came earlier to some sectors, such as media and financial services, while others have not yet been driven to re-invent their businesses around bits and bytes. For a company that’s still at the starting block, and with little experience in the realm of developing digital products and services, the prospect of transformation can be daunting.

'Great time to be expanding': Old-school retailer Simons keeps faith in beautiful stores in Age of Amazon. Sears Canada's departure has also boosted Simons. Peter Simons, CEO of the 178-year old family run company, at best sounds cautiously optimistic about the industry's future.Clement Allard for National Post. We are private and we have the luxury and the DNA to work longer term. We are old-school merchants.