Workplace modernization has been one of the biggest buzzwords in recent years, but every business has a different concept of what it actually signifies. While the impact of workplace modernization can be great, it’s crucial to understand that it’s an ongoing process and needs to be guarded at all times.
In 2020, businesses worldwide had to adapt to remote work, implement operations and strategies in tandem with the new norm. The ‘new normal’ put the emphasis on the need for more technical tools to ensure seamless collaboration, personal productivity, and communication in the business environment.
Michael McDaniel, VP and General Manager of Modern Workplace at DXC Technology says, “There are 6 key trends that we are seeing happening in the market because of the global pandemic. It’s around health and safety of the employees, creating flexible work environment as we move into the future, handling security and compliance with so many people working remotely, how do we embrace zero-trust network access, creating better resiliency across the network and the infrastructure. The two most thing are how do we get organizations to continue to collaborate and all the while drive costs savings.”
Listen to the Podcast: Interview With Michael McDaniel Vice President & General Manager DXC Technology
Meetings and in-person events which were a norm, with virtual events being the rarity until the pandemic has now turned on its head. Social distancing has resulted in businesses looking for virtual alternatives. This signals a big shift and rise in tech-driven, cloud-based tools, solutions, and applications that can help businesses.
So, let’s look at a few key trends and changes that are being observed in the business landscape in 2021.
As per a 2019 IDC multi-cloud management survey, shows that majority of businesses shifted to the cloud to boost employee productivity, and around 81% of companies have developed multi-cloud strategies or are planning to shift to one. Furthermore, in January 2021, Statista predicted that the SaaS industry will generate $157 billion by year-end.
Newer and more advanced technologies are being built while older enterprises are updating their software and introducing features to meet the current demands and changes. Business leaders believe that this will require new training strategies, and software that can make onboarding easier.
Multiple organizations across the globe have also started moving towards API-led application and containerization to make it easier to operate between multiple clouds. Even though a multi-cloud strategy is extremely efficient, it can be challenging to use at times.
API-led applications and containerization will enable business to use multi-cloud platforms, navigate computing environments and access data in a much more seamless way.
Digital Adoption Solutions (DAS) has enabled a more efficient and easier transformation to digital workplaces.
Investing in DAS can help in upskilling employees, reduce onboarding time, reduce dependency on peers, and also change the attitude towards the evolving digital-first landscape. Therefore, this is an area where businesses will be keen to invest in the coming years, as they try to find new ways to boost output and productivity amongst employees.
As every part of people’s lives including personal and professional has embraced digital with advanced technologies, the risks related to security gets higher. Phishing, hacking, and other such cyber threats are rapidly increasing. Therefore, greater attention needs to be paid to safeguarding data, as well employee and client security. Businesses are constantly on the lookout for strategies and tools to protect data, and also have backup solutions in place.
Also Read: IT Modernization Programs of Most Enterprises Are Not Future-ready
It has become easier for businesses to get work done remotely, especially with the continuous advances being made in technology.
Many organizations that spent time working in a remote environment, because of the COVID-19 crisis have quickly analyzed what works for this unique situation and the areas that need improvement. Many have even adopted a permanent remote work model moving into the future even beyond 2021.
As per a 2020 Gartner Survey, 82% of business leaders say their organizations plan on letting their employees continue to work remotely at least for a certain period, while 47% have said they will be allowing employees to do so full-time going forward.
In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis forced organizations across the world to adopt the remote work trend. And in a few days’ time, employees found themselves challenged by working
remotely, relying heavily on virtual collaboration tools and technology infrastructure to get
work done and also stay connected.
Furthermore, collaboration tool vendors also had to scale their platforms while dealing with their own internal restructuring. One year into the this, it is now time for industries and businesses to take the best of what they have learned during the pandemic and leverage it to drive productivity & innovation going forward.
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Prangya Pandab is an Associate Editor with OnDot Media. She is a seasoned journalist with almost seven years of experience in the business news sector. Before joining ODM, she was a journalist with CNBC-TV18 for four years. She also had a brief stint with an infrastructure finance company working for their communications and branding vertical.
