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As tech companies start to push forward into 2021, they’re facing a marketplace where yet more lockdowns have continued to affect how we, as consumers and businesses use and adopt technology.
There is no doubt that everything we have faced over the last 12 months has brought the digital future forward and technologies have been embraced at a rate far beyond the norm.
We see this across the breadth of the world economy – from the growth in e-commerce, surging mobile data consumption and video streaming, through to the adaption of supply chain logistics, the production of pharmaceutical products, and the accelerated move of business to cloud services.
These new habits are largely driven by the move to home-working, which have of course been fast-tracked by the pandemic but are unlikely to reverse. This in itself will also drive tech spending further – as we continue to spend more time at home, adoption of Tech such as IoT devices alongside Health and Education Technology will also grow rapidly.
The UK tech sector is at the heart of all these shifts and has much to consider for the year ahead. There are plenty of upsides to this enhanced adaption of new technologies to be had but also some very important points to consider if the UK is to stay at the forefront of this revolution.
One of the most powerful is the changing workforce. Tech companies have shifted to home working with relative ease but the longer-term challenge is a workforce that fits your new strategy. Tech companies should lead by example - reskilling where required, investing in training but most importantly ensuring the wellbeing and trust of their workforce.
Even the tech giants such as Apple have seen the benefit this offers not only in the costs associated with having workspace for all your employees but also in both the effectiveness of their current employees remote working capabilities and the access to a much larger talent pool with the rise in international remote working - which over the last 6 months has jumped to almost 65% adoption within TMT companies.
We all know that there will be ongoing impacts from COVID-19 and Brexit not just over the coming months but throughout the year, from rapidly changing consumer demands, supply chain disruption, to financial pressures on certain customers. It is more vital than ever to understand these risks – being more agile in your approach and adapting your strategy where needed.
It is our view that one of the biggest things that will play a defining role of success in 2021 will be in how companies within the tech sector (and wider economy) build trust and human connections with their clients. Raging from addressing privacy and security concerns to being contactable and approachable – as remote working becomes embedded into society’s norm people are becoming more conscious of security issues, privacy within their homes, and requiring a reliable and personal point of contact to troubleshoot and address issues they are now having to solve themselves.
Speaking from personal experience – over the last year we have chosen to work with companies and adopted software based on who we are able to easily contact and work closely with over other market leaders who are more competitively priced or have a wider service offering.
An overall message for the year ahead? As society continues to adopt these technologies and way of working, the opportunity for growth is unprecedented, but to succeed tech businesses need to build trust and develop human connections. Achieve that, and the outlook is very bright.