The digital age is upon us: 2020 has launched some unexpected challenges in many different sectors, starting with remote work.
Technology has become critical not only for the survival of these sectors, but also for their future prosperity. In a year that could have seen stunted progress, in several cases we have seen the exact opposite, especially due to the smartworking boom. Here are six predictions for the digital world in 2021, with a special look at remote working.
Girl power even among programmers
Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First Girls : “Today women represent a minority in information technology, but this is changing. In 2021, companies globally will seize the opportunity to reshape the way they work and fight for gender equality in the workplace. By enabling women to improve their technology skills, companies across all sectors can establish a work culture that will improve the status of both women and companies.
Forward-thinking companies will look to their existing employees and provide opportunities to support skills improvement and personal growth. Both in person and remotely, companies can collaborate with organizations dedicated to creating tailored training sessions, providing participants with new skills and perspectives. The predictions for 2021? The companies that take the initiative to educate and improve the skills of female staff will win ”.
After the introduction of remote work, its improvement
Joshua Zerkel, Head of Marketing for Global Engagement, Asana : “When the world was confronted with remote work in March 2020, business leaders did what they had to do. They gave employees the tools to survive in a completely remote environment. But now there is a danger of fueling app overload. Our data shows that employees of companies use 10 remote work apps, switching between them about 25 times a day. This has consequences. 27% of workers lose messages and 25% end up duplicating work.
The predictions for 2021? many of these tools, such as Asana, Zoom and Slack, will remain in place to support workers in distributed work. But ensuring employees know the purpose of each app they are using and how they are using it is key to keeping teams aligned and avoiding duplication of work in 2021 ″.
Increasing appetite for content
Tanzil Bukhari, CEO EMEA, DoubleVerify : “Content consumption skyrocketed during the pandemic. Our recent research study, "Four fundamental changes in media and advertising in 2020“Revealed that people have doubled the amount of time they spend each day consuming content, from 3 hours and 17 minutes to an average of 6 hours and 59 minutes. Social media platforms such as TikTok.
The predictions for 2021? This behavior will not slow down, even after the pandemic passes. And this is a significant opportunity for advertisers to tap into consumers' appetite for content ”.
Digital Headquarters
Stuart Templeton, UK CEO of Slack : “In the last few months, the word 'work' has been completely redefined. The traditional "8 to 16" division of labor has been completely skipped. Benefits were also achieved in the shift to remote work, so it is not surprising that our recent Future Forum survey found that less than 12% of knowledge workers want to return to full-time office work.
The predictions for 2021? A strong shift towards the hybrid work. 2021 will be the year that companies will need to create their "digital headquarters". Places that keep the culture of a brand alive, and will keep discussions and documents to have teams that are always connected and productive ”.
Network as a service
John Morrison, SVP of International Markets, Extreme Networks : “With the pandemic and the rise of remote working, organizations will focus even more on their networks in 2021. After all, they are the lifeblood of an organization, especially in uncertain times. A major challenge for many businesses next year will be the need for their network infrastructure to continue to perform at peak performance despite the fallout from the global pandemic and subsequent recession.
Network-as-a-service will emerge as a key enterprise networking trend because it provides businesses with a cost-conscious solution. It also gives companies the flexibility to expand or shrink network services on demand as business needs change, without sacrificing performance. The predictions for 2021? It will be the year in which many companies begin to abandon investments in physical network infrastructures, committing to the network as a service model ”.
Solutions outside the box
Sergei Anikin, CTO, Pipedrive : “Last year was a catalyst in helping even the most conservative industries to embrace the technology. The onset of the pandemic has caused an abrupt disruption of traditional working methods and this trend is set to continue into the new year and beyond. The demand for innovative solutions has increased, and is expected to reach even higher levels in 2021. This is giving industries the motivation to invest in digitalization and automation.
A virtuous circle will form: with increasing demand comes a greater willingness to use online services and a better understanding of the usefulness of digitization, which in turn increases trust in technology and drives its spread across all sectors.
The predictions for 2021? I foresee even more streamlined and effective solutions. In 2021, we can expect to see out-of-the-box solutions that aim to solve any professional challenge ”.
