Post-COVID-19 Impact on IT Sector: Awakening of a new IT Era

Information technology (IT) has already taken a new shape ever since Big Data, AI, IoT, AR/VR, etc. gained recognition worldwide. Now with COVID-19 adding its unique touch, the IT services sector has completely taken a U-turn to a more flexible and remote work culture. In this article, we shall discuss in detail how COVID-19 has transformed the entire IT space and what smart steps have worked and are still being used.

Some Blessings in Disguise

Even though the pandemic came as a major hit to the economy, the IT sector is witnessing a whopping market boom from US $131 Billion (in 2020) to US $295 Billion by 2025. Its chief reason lies in the economic boost since the demands for developing different social media as well as software platforms have risen relentlessly. Using different platforms like Zoom, Hangouts, WhatsApp and other software have become a new normal.

With different teleconferencing tools connecting families, friends as well as remote workers, the upcoming economy will also bloom as people shift towards this digital age where technology lies in the center of everything.

7 Trends to Thrive the IT sector after COVID-19 

Given below are the main trends that have facilitated more growth after the COVID-19 pandemic revamped the entire world.

⦁ Automation

With AI overtaking a plethora of jobs online, it is propagating deeply into the different aspects of the business. Starting with marketing automation software to delegating AI in every arena in organizations has helped businesses to adopt it whenever there is a need for redundant activity. Investing in automating daily tasks with the use of these technologies will surely help in minimizing all future business disruptions since there will be lesser human interventions. 

⦁ Flexibility Standardized

Since everyone is working from their respective homes, flexibility in work schedules has incorporated more firmly. Even though in the past, BYOD or Bring Your Own Devices helped in making co-workers get that extra edge to carry any residual work to their homes. Now remote working has added another feather making the employees embrace working from anywhere and at anytime. This little step will also help companies to impart greater freedom to employees, thus, empowering them to achieve more from anywhere around the world.

⦁ Stress Testing 

Network-wide stress testing is now being opted as a standard operating procedure for many IT professionals. Although it was never considered in the past as remote work was less however, now after the pandemic unlocked many new things, this is critical to manage all the business operations effectively.

⦁ Cloud as a permanent data storage solution

McKinsey & Company predicted that many top companies shifted more than 20% of company workloads into the cloud. When businesses were hit globally, everyone had to work remotely and more than 50% people love to work in this fashion. Thus, business processes need to become more seamless and agile. Adding Cloud as the key data storage solution is helping them access everything under one roof. This smart move has not only provided advantages to current cloud solutions but also helped enterprises across the world to get prompt resources whenever they need.

⦁ IT Revolution Preponed

Remote working permanently has actually brought an exponential change of 10 years in just a few months. Fortunately, it is here to stay! Now all the businesses be it, big or small are channeling through different business arenas remotely and looking for ways to deliver same or more growth using these systems. Not just this, they are also looking forward to getting unique software catering their specific needs shunning all constrains that might hamper employee productivity. This has in turn redefined the IT community that is getting more innovative and creating best solutions using state-of-art technologies.

⦁ Data security will become a top priority

Since remote working has its benefits, it comes with one big drawback of data protection. As the data sensitivity is on the rise, securing the personal details is becoming highly crucial to work smoothly. In order to achieve this, the security aspect must be analyzed properly to ensure that the personal data never gets into wrong hands. Also, all the AI algorithms need to be modified in such a way that there is no data tempering in any digital channel.

Smart Strategies that worked during Pandemic and will continue working Post-COVID-19 

Following is the in-depth detail on how pandemic has helped in unlocking new opportunities for working online without facing any hassle. We have also added all the pointers that are still being used and will continue to dominate in the IT Service market.

⦁ Action plan for enabling IT in organization 

With COVID-19 disrupting everything around the world, some companies already had the provision pivoting towards the remote or Work From Home (WFH) model. However, others needed an effective action plan to ensure that their business was not affected due to lockdown restrictions and other limitations. Here are some of the key changes followed by companies in the IT world.

⦁ Investment in new IT infrastructure

Some companies were already working on remote work methodology, so they continued to thrive in the COVID-19 period by taking the advantage of the already-set model. By investing a little in some infrastructure, they found the whole shift towards the model pretty comfortable.

On the other hand, some companies were working completely on the traditional methodology, so they had to invest a lot in infrastructure to transition to this new model smoothly. As the COVID-19 reduced the cash inflow, this shift added a burden on the companies to invest in the required elements to carry on the business operations. In the future, all the companies will make sure that there is the availability of IT resources that allows employees to work from the office and home.

⦁ Establishing new culture

During COVID-19, some companies had all the provisions to shift to the remote work methodology, but the employees were not accustomed to the new culture. In the post COVID times, employees are well-versed with the remote methodology. They are now accustomed to the new technology and giving their best to elevate productivity.

⦁ Infrastructure upgrade

During this global crisis, organizations came to know the importance of modern technologies and upgraded tools. As everything was shifting to a new working methodology, it was necessary for the brands to arm their armory with the latest equipment. Here are the key trends in the domain

⦁ Connectivity improvement

Maintaining constant access to the office network for all the employees working from their homes was necessary to ensure continuity in the work. Now, all the companies will look to ensure that all their employees can easily access the office network by provisioning good WAN networks.

⦁ Shifting servers and desktops to homes

During COVID-19 pandemic, several manufacturing companies had to move their server in their homes as they the data centers were not allowed to function. Now, companies make sure that they don’t have to make such type of last-minute arrangements. They have invested in personal devices that can be used to provide end point and network security. They are investing in encryption protocols that will make sure that the network is secured and data traveling over it is encrypted.

⦁ Rise of laptops

Now, organizations are investing in laptops rather than desktops as they offer higher portability. Employees can carry them to the office or work from home and make sure that there is a constant flow of work without any unnecessary interruption.

⦁ Long term-plans

It is essential to plan for long-term goals to thrive in the post COVID world. Cloud technology and 3rd party data center will play a vital role for businesses to move ahead in these rough times. The prime shift will be seen in the OPEX model from the CAPEX model in the IT sector. Let us dive into the details.

⦁ 3rd party data centers

While the COVID-19 pandemic, several companies had to shift their data server to their homes to ensure a constant flow of work. On the contrary, the 3rd party data centers were not affected gravely during this time. So, IT companies will look to incorporate these centers in the future to tackle the issues in an effective manner.

⦁ Adoption of cloud technology

One of the major shifts in IT companies will be seen in the adoption of cloud technology. Cloud technology removes the dependency on the in-house infrastructure which is quite beneficial in the post COVID world. Companies have to understand the perks of the technology and invest in it to harness its power and take advantage of its perks. With high service availability and reliability, companies can elevate their growth rate with this technology.

⦁ Adoption of new and innovative ways

An agile and innovative approach will be the best one to follow in the post COVID world. Lack of online presence in this world will cost gravely for the IT companies. They have to look for new ways and methods to replace the ongoing manual and traditional processes and look into innovative web solutions to attract customers and take their business to the next level.

⦁ IT security changes

With the shift to remote work methodology, the number of cyber threats and attacks will also increase, the cybersecurity team for the IT companies needs to ensure that all the systems are well-monitored and there are adequate security protocols to handle different scenarios. Here are some aspects that cybersecurity teams need to look into.

• The cybersecurity teams need to provide secure connections, controlled access to critical systems, authentication mechanisms, and secure PII data.
• Take advantage of shared security to ensure theavailability of basic security features.
• Increase awareness of different threats so that the whole team can counter them properly.
• Place proper security protocols and safeguards to avoid intrusions from hackers and blocking them from accessing the critical systems.
• Ensuring data security in line with suitable data protection regulations.
• Improve data right management and data loss protection whenever required.

⦁ Recovery phase

In case the COVID-19 pandemic persists or elongates, then IT companies need to focus on the recovery phase so as to stand in the market. Here are some pointers to deem to tunnel through this rough patch.

⦁ Essential security and IT infrastructure availability

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several companies were short of the essential infrastructure and IT security to protect their private data and keep s steady flow of work while working with the remote model. Now organizations and companies should ensure that their systems are scalable and they have adequate provision to support both models.

⦁ Undaunted IT support

In this rough patch, IT companies had to deal with a sudden rise in the need for support staff to cater to the needs of their customers. Now, they need to make sure that they have proper teams in place with a strong back hold of the latest tools and technologies so that they can provide adequate support to their customers in the hour of need and retain them in the longer run.

⦁ Maintaining steady productivity

With the shift to a new model, employees needed some time to adjust which led to a decline in productivity. Now, IT companies need to make sure that they have proper teams in place with the support of adequate backup to cater to their needs. On top of that, they should invest in suitable training programs for their teams so that they can tackle such issues with ease.

Final Verdict

Now that you have known about all the main strategies that have proved to be quite helpful after COVID-19 pandemic, it is time to witness what points can be incorporated in your business. Overall IT sector has flourished more infinitely than ever after the pandemic and has emerged as the backbone of every other industry out there. It will keep walking on its growth trajectory steadily and soon be an essential asset in all business spheres.

FAQs

• Q.1: What are the impacts of this pandemic in the different sectors?

  The impact of this pandemic in the different sectors was disruptive largely.

• Q.2: What is the current situation of the IT industry?

  The IT sector has become one of the most significant sectors that is driving the growth of India, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP and public welfare. The IT industry accounted for 7.4% of India’s GDP in FY22, and it is expected to contribute 10% to India’s GDP by 2025.

• Q.3: What are the impacts of Information technology?

  There were more negative impacts than the positive impact of Covid-19. The pandemic forced the majority of the companies to work from home keeping in account of the public health concerns. Due to this, there is a massive loss in opportunity for many companies who have international clients. The intensity of the work and productivity also reduced.

• Q.4: What are 3 positive impacts of Information technology?

  The technology is seen to have a positive impact on the society which includes- increased knowledge & information, smooth communication and interconnectedness of the world because of globalisation.

• Q.5: How does COVID-19 affect technology?

  The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly altered the way of living. The digital transformation has accelerated and these few technologies are being adopted rigorously-Artificial Intelligence Robotics, Drones and Vehicle Automation The As-a-Service and Cloud Revolution Faster Networks and 5G Extended Reality (Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality)