Corona Virus - impacts on Information Technology Industry

 

Corona virus impacts on Information Technology Industry

World have seen how this Corona virus pandemic has effected every industrial sector with many unwanted  and unprecedented changes, whether it be Automobile, Hospitality, Aviation, Retail, or any other. Some sectors have been badly effected while others have experienced only the negative impacts on their respective businesses due to lock down situation.

However, there are a few business sectors as well that haven’t only got negatively impact by Corona virus in the start, but there is also a silver-lining for them in this situation – and here we’re talking one of these sectors i.e., Information Technology. The IT industry has not only handled the current situation decently to keep their workflow continue, but it has been also protect other businesses as well.  

Before moving further, let’s take a look at a few important stats based on several standard research reports:  

• Despite this global crisis, the revenue of the information technology Industry was calculated at around USD 190 Billion for 2020-21, and it is expected to reach around USD 300-350 Billion by the year 2025.
• Around 35-38% of tech organizations are likely to improve or enhance their information technology infrastructure due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
• The leading companies of the sectors have reported an average of 5-10% increase in information technology expenditures only because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Cloud Software and Digital Platforms have comparatively witnessed the fastest business expansion in 2020 when everyone was working from home.
  

The above-mentioned numbers show that information technology industry has somehow extracted the best out of Corona virus circumstances where all other businesses are thriving hard to get back to normal.  

If we look at the reasons behind this positive impact of the Corona virus on the Information Technology Industry, we will find out that all individuals or businesses, when they’re locked at home or are working remotely, are using information technology tools whether it be Social Media Platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram, Communication Apps like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, Cloud Software, etc. to continue their business. And this eventually increased the demand and usage of the internet, software and information technology hardware significantly. Just for an example – let us tell you that Zoom alone experienced growth of around 340-345% in the year 2020. Similarly, as per the McKinsey & Company reports, due to the covid-19 crisis, there has been a significant shift in technology adoption and digitization worldwide – the digital adoption has fast-forwarded by around 3 years.

Furthermore, the information technology Industry is the one that has also supported other businesses or industries to keep themselves alive. For example, when all the schools and physical classrooms are closed, students all across the world are able to continue with their education due to all those tools and technologies. In fact, various technical advancements through AI and ML, AR & VR, etc. are making the learning experience better for the students, compared to conventional physical classroom-based education. Other than that, e-commerce platforms have also reported a never-seen-before usage and growth during the lockdown period.  

 

The way information technology Industry helped out the healthcare domain to deal with the corona virus crisis, it is also one of the major reasons behind the upward trend of this particular sector in terms of growth and demand. From contact tracing platforms to advanced technologies for rapid testing to remote surveillance of patients – the technology industry is helping out the healthcare system in all possible ways and a lot of applications and platforms have been built in the last few months to achieve various healthcare-related tasks.  

Though…we still can’t say either that the information technology Industry has observed zero negative impact – but what we can say is that crises have caused the tech organizations to adopt advance technologies that can manage with such pandemic situations without stopping the company’s operations. And due to this, information technology businesses are forced to endure the required digital transformation where, without any doubt, will be several career opportunities for individuals but if we look at the other side, many conventional technologies or their respective tech jobs seem to get obsolete.  

For example, the lock down has generated the desperate need for chatbots in the end-to-end customer businesses that can assist the customers with their queries. Now, chances are more that in the near future usage of these kind of technologies will increase and subsequently will replace human executives.

Some of the tech trends or domains that are all set to grow in terms of demand and usage, particular due to the covid-19 crisis and its effects are listed below:  

1. Internet of Behaviors (IoB)
2. 5G
3. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
4. Total Experience (TX)
5. Blockchain
6. Distributed Cloud
7. Hyperautomation
8. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, etc.
   

However, it would be somehow better if technology organizations integrate these technologies into their infrastructure to strengthen operations and improve the productivity & efficiency of their workforce rather than doing it just for the sake of replacing the manpower with technical expansion.

Other than that, if we talk about the internal policies, operations, and management of technology companies – it has also considerably impacted and changed due to the corona virus crisis. For example, a quick shift to the Work-From-Home model, online interviews, online support and hiring process, etc. But this can also be considered as a blessing in disguise for the technology companies as after the remote working process, many leading technology companies have observed an increase in their efficiency and productivity rate. And that perhaps the reason that many big technology giants are likely to adopt Work-From-Home model permanently even after the post corona virus times.  

Just for an example – let us tell you that Twitter has already made a public announcement about its permanent work from home plans. Similarly, Facebook has also officially hinted that around 50% of the company’s workforce could be working remotely in the next 5-10 years.

However, things can be a little difficult for the small technology companies as they may find it difficult to adapt to such changes easily most probably due to lack of infrastructure, capital, exposure, etc.  

This article implies that the impact of corona virus on the Information Technology (IT) Industry is may not be that severe or negative compared to other business sectors – but now the IT Industry or tech sector has decided to cope themselves with advanced technologies and platforms to deal with the post corona world.

For example – once situation will be normal, other sectors like hospitality, manufacturing, retail, etc. most probably will work in the same fashion or may adopt this advancement partially. But now information technology sector have a huge responsibility to work on those technical solutions that can ensure the continued operations of every business without any hassle despite the pandemic-like situations.

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