COVID-19 and the adaptation of businesses to the new technologies By Alfredo Serrano Figueroa

Alfredo Serrano Figueroa

Ms. Kulich

POP-20SMU-GVT-180-D

31 July 2020

Blog Post: #1

   COVID-19 and the adaptation of businesses to the new technologies

After COVID-19, businesses have been disrupted and after three months of interrupted activity, they won’t go back to normal, or at least for a while. The silver lining of this situation is that businesses are starting to adapt to this new situation… But how?

Over the last decade, almost all companies have advanced exponentially on their digital capabilities over the past few years, but with the amid of the COVID-19 outbreak, companies are suffering moderate impacts; one of them has been shifting all operations to remote work (Even classes) through online methods via video calls and communication tools like the Zoom app, which has been the company that has grown the most during the last three months. 

After the crisis, companies had to react immediately to the challenges created by the pandemic and some of them even took advantage of it, always remaining loyal to their mission and vision, make quick and efficient decisions. In a fast pace-changing marketplace, aggressively pushing for new solutions companies have been pushed to go online, If they weren’t before… It is critical for companies to move in the right direction as the shutdowns may continue.

Luckily, this crisis has brought opportunities for almost all kind of companies and should trigger them to adapt and explore new paths for their companies.

It is probable that the government will invest more over the next years just to erase the impact created by COVID-19, aiming to restore the old economy or triggering market changes, which will have impacts on businesses’ outlook as well. Right now we are in the middle of a new technological era. We are watching how the companies are grabbing this opportunity and taking advantage of it . We see how restaurants have created QR codes to replace cards in order to read the menu, or even ordering it at the moment. The pandemic has forced businesses to adapt quickly and change, we had the knowledge and resources to change the menu cards, but no one did it, not until people were forced to adapt.

People are about to adapt their consumption patterns, everybody now wants fitness solutions for home, entertainment, people-tracking, data security, healthcare equipment, efficient online education solutions… And so on, all of the named developments will create many new opportunities for businesses. Because the truth is that on these time times of uncertainty, companies from every single industry need to adapt and renew their technologies, from online ordering systems to introducing video chatting in their companies. Right now we don´t know how the world might look in the next three years, but we do know it’s going to be full of ongoing technological advancement.

That’s why companies will have to remain agile, we live in a globalized world that can change overnight, just like it happened with COVID-19. Technology will have to be adapted to healthcare workers and health organizations, since we’ve seen that they are the first line of defense against these emergencies and the digital commerce will become the center of the retailing industries, since they provide a system for commerce that will be useful in all sort of situations, even in quarantines.

The world is constantly evolving, and COVID-19 has given companies a new reason to keep evolving and developing themselves through new technology.

REFERENCES

         Digital, Deloitte. “How Technology Is Changing the World during COVID-19.” Deloitte Digital-US, 21 May 2020, www.deloittedigital.com/us/en/blog-list/2020/how-technology-is-changing-the-world-during-covid-19.html.

         Ebr. “3 Ways Businesses Need To Adapt To Survive COVID-19.” The European Business Review, 29 Apr. 2020, www.europeanbusinessreview.com/3-ways-businesses-need-to-adapt-to-survive-covid-19/.

         Bhakta, Atul. “How Businesses Must Adapt Post Covid-19.” UKTN (UK Tech News), 19 May 2020, www.uktech.news/news/how-businesses-must-adapt-post-covid-19-20200515.

         PricewaterhouseCoopers. “COVID-19 and the Technology Industry.” PwC, www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/coronavirus-technology-impact.html.

         Ercolano, Patrick. “COVID-19 Is Transforming How Companies Use Digital Technology.” The Hub, 27 July 2020, hub.jhu.edu/2020/07/27/digital-technology-in-business-joel-le-bon/.