From the fracturing of international harmony to the decisiveness of democratic opinions, 2020 has signalled the beginning of a new era not just in society but also in technology. Technology is at the very centre of the changing landscape because it is enabling and even forcing us to take a new look at the way we do business. Let’s look forward to 2021…
TREND 1: Bifurcation of internationalisation
For as far as you can look back in history, there has been an inevitable degree of reliance on international travel in order to make business deals. This outlook did not change until the onset of COVID-19 when nations resorted to regional or national boundaries, leaving the travel industry in a grim state. The pendulum has shifted from travel to people as businesses continue using the many forms of unified communications (UC) technology available in the market.
Those who were somewhat new to the technology have by now had the chance to take a nascent bite, struggle hard and eventually excel at making remote working work for them. There is no denying the fact that video, audio and software services have seen a boom in adoption that will continue into 2021. Even if we are able to return to normal, business travel and trade treaties will not be exactly the same as before.
The way people work will ultimately also result in offsetting their carbon footprint in 2021. We will start seeing some of what many scientists, visionaries and activists, including the likes of Greta Thunberg, set out to do just before the turn of the decade.
TREND 2: Resurrection of prosumer
The fine line between consumer and prosumer will continue to blur in the next year. Usage of technology across personal and professional lives will result in acute demand for individual preferences for comfort, features and aesthetics of the device in question. The individualisation of technology will make the consumer more powerful and the industry will innovate further.
UC devices and software will become even easier to use and work-from-home kits will put home decor at the centre of innovation. This doesn’t mean that we will diverge from using and making secure enterprise technology.
Work-from-home kits will be enterprise-grade and technology for office buildings where groups of individuals work will see a stark rise in a similar demand for individualisation. More devices will talk to each other and software and applications will be created for cross-industry compatibility.
The tech vendors who fail to pivot their strategies in line with prosumer trends will perish. With people moving between their offices and homes, business continuity and individual preferences will finally be put at the same level when making purchasing decisions.
TREND 3: Hybrid working is here to stay
Whether you work from a home office, an office building or somewhere else, creativity thrives when we meet each other. Connecting people, not things – was put to test by governments when everyone who could work from home was asked to do so as soon as COVID-19 restrictions struck us. Only essential work was completed from office spaces and employers had to move a few workers between different types of workspaces for their own safety.
This hybrid working age has further levelled the playing field in 2020 – when everyone is remote for most of the time, no one is different. A true outcome-based work approach has been stress tested inadvertently and at a global scale, and one of the many things on offer for everyone is equal opportunities. It is a job seeker’s market for talent acquisition teams out there – no distance is too large for the UC technology that continues connecting us.
People will be the biggest asset of any business next year. The considerable amount of effort applied by each organisation’s Human Resources departments into building people-first cultures in 2020 is paving the way for the future of work. There is no question about hybrid working moving into 2021, and the flexibility of work practices, workspaces and work cultures will continue to be embraced with open arms.
Guest Blog by Paul Clark, Senior Vice President and EMEA Managing Director at Poly
