The Alta Group, Invigors EMEA, Alta’s affiliate in Europe, and The Alta Group Latin American Region announced plans to conduct an independent study to benchmark the status of digitization by leading equipment leasing and finance companies, according to John C. Deane, the global consultancy’s CEO.

“We think how our industry is embracing and adapting to digitization is an important question,” said Deane. “Currently, the accepted wisdom is that our industry is behind others in financial services.”

The study will look at where and how digitalization is being implemented across the leasing life cycle, challenges encountered and benefits realized. It will also seek to determine what are the core drivers of digitization efforts as well as the formal project development and implementation processes in place across the industry. The consultancy’s digital leaders have reported that digitization continues to be an investment focus for lessors and a key issue at the C-level, Deane noted.

Interviews are being conducted by John Rizzi, managing director of Alta’s Digital Business Advisory Practice, John Hurt, a U.S. practice director, Roberto Fernandez, director of the Digital Advisory Practice for Latin America, and Richard Ryan, an Invigors partner based in London. They are calling on senior executives representing an industry cross-section to include banks, captives and independents across industry sectors and geographic coverage.

From the survey findings, participants will be able to draw some conclusions and compare their progress and programs to others. Alta and Invigors will treat responses confidentially and report survey results in aggregate, said Rizzi. Those who respond to the survey will receive early access to the summary report and will be able to benchmark their digitization efforts to their industry peers, he added.