2020 is changing the world. We are going through a moment when the need to implement new models of work, study, and purchase have been imposed to protect our health. The COVID-19 pandemic made e-commerce, telemedicine, and remote work take off for good.
Companies are, in this environment, facing new challenges. We need to find solutions to problems that were not in most of the plans, or to accelerate medium or long term digitization projects: digital and contactless payments, implementation of voice and video conferencing solutions, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms based on artificial intelligence technology, portable and permanent monitoring of health indicators, manufacturing on 3D printers and even deliveries without physical presence essential goods.
Now, more than ever, technology is a strategic element. Its applications allow us to connect organizations efficiently and deliver products with a new added value – personal safety – to customers. Today, Information Technology (IT) and Software Engineering departments are no longer a support area. Instead, they have become major players and decision-makers with a critical role: being able to keep a company connected while offering competitive advantages while providing solutions to the new challenges that have surfaced in this time.
A combination of technologies, from machine learning to facial recognition, natural language processing, intelligent digital assistants, and the use of augmented and virtual reality, can create a highly automated and autonomous environment that allows information exchange and, particularly in remote work, to and from home.
It is also time to be assertive and look for implementations that allow value propositions to emerge for customers through web and mobile platforms. The time has also come to turn to data analysis to observe user interaction with these platforms. This is not the time to implement just for the sake of it. It is time to implement it in a strategic and agile manner, classifying it through three variables: impact on business continuity and growth, the feasibility of implementation, and level of investment.
We are living in an era of profound changes in the way we interact, work, and do business. It is time to launch, definitely, to a digital evolution that allows organizations to adapt to this new environment.
