New Delhi, (Asian independent) A key learning from the pandemic-hit year is that every business needs to be a digital business and resilience, adaptability and lifelong learning have been key skills that stood out this year, industry leaders said on Sunday.
According to Rajiv Bhalla, Managing Director, Barco India, 2020 has been a transformative year and it has changed the way we work.
“A growing trend in hybrid working enabled with digital transformation was witnessed through 2020. The leadership structure and work culture underwent a sea change as organisations strived to limit the pandemic backlash and drive a digital and hybrid transition,” Bhalla told IANS.
Many organisations worked towards ensuring business continuity employee wellbeing and pivoted towards adapting themselves to navigate and survive through the storm.
“As we enter 2021, organisations will focus on talent strategies, leadership, and culture, combined with a focus on deep tech and reskilling,” Bhalla added.
More than half (63 per cent) of Indian enterprises surveyed have ramped up their investment in Hybrid Cloud as a direct result of the pandemic, compared to 46 per cent globally, a new report said earlier this month.
Also, more than half (56 per cent) of Indian firms said they plan to run an integrated hybrid environment within five years, stating that traditional data centre penetration will drop from 13 per cent to 3 per cent.
“Cloud infrastructure is now a critical component of IT infrastructure, as Indian enterprises branch further into investing in digitization and look for secure alternatives for their workloads,” said Balakrishnan Anantharaman, managing director, sales, India and SAARC, Nutanix.
According to Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India, 2020 has set the stage for 5G to go mainstream and 2021 will drive the next level of innovation across sectors, be it remote working, gaming, healthcare, manufacturing, video and data consumption.
“This will also lead to an increase in demand for next-gen 5G smartphones, newer applications and smart devices like smart TVs, tablets, phones integrated with voice interface, etc,” Jain told IANS.
2021 will see a bigger trend towards improved remote work capabilities with 5G SoCs taking smartphone and smart device experience to the next level.
“The pandemic has acted as a great catalyst expediting digitalisation and faster adoption of transformative technologies like Artificial Intelligence, AIoT, Robotics and Cloud Computing, among others,” Jain noted.
Karthikeyan Natarajan, President and COO of global engineering and digital technology solutions provider Cyient, said that 2020 will be remembered as a year of disruption, resurgence, and a year when we saw the true spirit of humanity, collaboration, and selfless-service emerge.
“What we are seeing is the start of a strong multi-year digital transformation cycle. Our aim is to be a technology solutions provider for the 21st Century with a three-pronged strategy of ‘Survive, Stabilise and Strive’,” Natarajan said.