Must-have Technologies that COVID_19 imposed on Businesses

Rania Mdimagh
IndiaNIC
Published in
5 min readMay 12, 2020

COVID-19 pandemic is a very powerful world crisis that took over the glorious history of businesses within two months of lockdown. In some countries, Lockdown was announced suddenly, making it massive pressure on unready businesses and threatening the survival of entire sectors.

But it was for sure an opportunity for some sectors to reconsider their business models and realize how important and crucial technologies can be to determine their survival during a global crisis!

Here are some major must-have technologies and digital solutions that COVID-19 made businesses consider!

Retail industry:

COVID-19 has transformed online shopping from a nice-to-have to a must-have around the world Those already owning e-Commerce platforms were fortunate to keep up with their daily business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions and only relying on their stocks while the customer shops comfortably from home. it’s based on social e-commerce platforms, online shopping, and mobile commerce solutions.

It includes online food ordering services, which are not a virus-immune system to opt for but still can be supervised in the right way to ensure business continuity for restaurants and stores. China already invented delivery-robots to avoid in-person deliveries.

Education:

Everything can support delay except for education. COVID-19 made e-Learning from optional to a must! educational institutions started offering courses online to ensure education was not disrupted by quarantine measures. Technologies involved in distant learning are similar to those for remote work and also include virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing, and artificial-intelligence-enabled robot teachers.

proposed digital solutions can be live classrooms, online examinations, and online assessments.

Healthcare:

Telemedicine, on-demand lab report, and patient management systems: can be an effective way to contain the spread of COVID-19 while still providing essential primary care. Wearable personal IoT devices can track vital signs. Self-diagnose apps contain Chatbots can make initial diagnoses based on symptoms identified by patients. on-demand

Bank operators

How would life be without apps such as google pay and PayPal in such a crisis? No ATMs, no banks, and a high risk of using cash that might carry the virus. Digital and contactless payments enable people to make online purchases and payments of goods, services, and even utility payments, as well as to receive stimulus funds faster, and safer.

However, according to the World Bank, there are more than 1.7 billion unbanked people, who may not have easy access to digital payments. The availability of digital payments also relies on internet availability, devices, and a network to convert cash into a digitized format still it is certain that it’s the only future and no way behind!

Bureautic companies :

Covid-19 made the “working from the home” system a new norm. A huge challenge that companies lacking the adequate tools had to face. some of the main digital solutions that became compulsory for those businesses are :

  • Virtual private networks (VPNs) and voice over internet protocols (VoIP) for a smoother workflow
  • owned Virtual meetings apps: google meet, DUO, zoom, and other apps saved the moment but they have some limitations including the meeting session duration, voice quality, and screen sharing options. Developing your own company’s virtual meeting tool is needed for better and more organized meetings
  • Cloud technology-based solutions: cloud technologies are necessary to access files anywhere and from any device
  • Data-driven software solutions: like CRM, ERM, and that help Keeping your team on track and to maintain everyone’s regular workflows and tasks while you’re all working remotely will require a top-notch project management tool.

on-Demand service companies :

Pick up and Delivery Solutions, Logistic Solutions, and Hyperlocal Delivery Systems are already a core bone for a lot of businesses. The Coronavirus crisis struck across the world created a whole new reason for organizing and employing them. it ensures the access economy or shared economy and fulfills consumer demand on the basis of immediate access to goods and services.

other technologies:

AIML

Organizations large and small are seeking solutions to understand where the new normal may be going when we emerge from the Coronavirus crisis. Companies are now using multiple AIML applications to analyze the root cause of various consumer and business issues and solve them efficiently. It’s become a self-fueled system where the enormous amount of data that is generated every day is aiding decision making and creating even more relevant data.

To conclude: COVID-19 made the world realize how the economy should stop relying on human interactions to make things work. Labor-intensive businesses, such as retail, food, manufacturing, and logistics get easily affected but such scenarios need a more robust system based on technologies. It was an opportunity and a strong push for businesses to evolve in matters of used digital solutions.

Here’s a look at what IT services needed to face this pandemic

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Rania Mdimagh
IndiaNIC

Marketer, Blog /content writer, and creator for IndiaNIC and Cohort believing that marketing is the art of selling potatoes ;)