The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 has left its mark on most businesses. The financial slowdown caused by the pandemic has left businesses reeling, with 3 in 4 finance leaders expecting significant difficulties in their operations due to the coronavirus.
Businesses that deemed working from home as a non-essential investment rapidly felt the impact of this decision once employees were advised to continue their work from their own makeshift office spaces at home.
A SHIFT IN COLLABORATIVE TOOLS?
Through these changes, the importance of digital transformation became more evident, as businesses needed to become more flexible. As employees swapped meeting rooms for videoconferencing, the optimal collaborative tools have become more sought after than ever before.
However, the recent controversies related to the popular video-calling application Zoom has also forced businesses to rethink the reliability of their collaborative tools. It became evident that unprepared companies could no longer maintain their reactive approach to digitally transforming their business processes.
On the other hand, businesses integrating collaborative software best practices have not been as strongly impacted by the change in work venue. Industry-leading collaborative software such as Microsoft Teams has seen an all-time high increase in usage amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks in no small part to the reliability and overall security of the platform.
MAINTAINING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT DESPITE COVID-19.
As business reduced their meetings with clients, so too rose the need to maintain brand engagement through social media. Forbes reports that there has already been a 20% increase in social media-related activities by businesses.
Thus, the need to establish a multi-channel form of client-to-business communication has become more useful than ever before, with Customer Relationship Management solutions proving to assist in the maintenance of the various interactive channels chosen.
Through the ability to obtain a 360° view of all interactions with customers on social media, email and messaging, CRM should efficiently assist businesses in making up for the lack of physical presence with a solid, well-rounded digital multi-channel experience.
FINANCE DURING LOCKDOWN?
Given the sensitive nature of these predictions, accuracy is pivotal. Businesses that have not effectively integrated their financial software with the rest of their business digitally will most likely be facing many obstacles to get a clear insight into what lies ahead for their business.
‘FUTURE-PROOFING’ FOR A POST-COVID-19 WORLD?
As uncertainty about the pandemic still lingers, one thing is for certain, the world of business will surely never be the same. Industry experts claim that Digital Transformation has now become the best option to ensure that businesses can survive the next crisis.
A Gartner report of 317 CFOs found that 74% intend to permanently shift some staff to work remotely, increasing the need to further invest in digital transformation as a viable solution. However, digitally transforming business processes is no simple task.
Achieving the desired results of a digital transformation project, especially while recovering from the impact left by the COVID-19 pandemic, is no small feat.
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At Exigy, we bridge the gap between business and technology. We are proud to help digitally transform our client’s business processes through the expertise of our consultants and our knowledge of industry best practices. To learn more about how we manage to digitally transform any kind of business, visit us at our DTx page.
Contact us to find out how our solutions can help increase your business resilience and take your business to the next level!
