Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2021. Read them in this 13th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
2020 Jumpstarted Digital Transformation - What Does That Mean for 2021?
By Eric Carrasquilla, SVP of Product, Conga
While the circumstances have been far from
ideal, 2020 has impelled advancements and innovations onto companies that
otherwise may have been a distant dream, never to become a reality. In fact, nearly one-third of companies (31%) admitted
that without the COVID-19 pandemic, they would have never implemented the
technologies they did, with 23% projecting it would have taken them one to
three years to realize such changes were even needed.
While digital transformation has been an
unexpected silver lining of 2020, companies are entering the new year with
better tools, digitized processes and in many cases an entirely new version of
business. With that underway, here are my predictions for what companies should
expect in 2021:
Remote
work creating a limitless talent pool
Not too long ago, if you were hoping to make a
career in the tech industry, you had to move to Silicon Valley, Seattle, or New
York to find a good job with an exciting company. Now, with more and more
companies understanding that they can remain effective with a remote workforce,
talent searches can expand nationally, and even globally, rather than being
confined to regional locations near physical offices. This benefits companies
in a couple of ways. They have access to a broader array of candidates for a
given position, and they also can save money, both on commercial rent due to a
reduced re physical footprint, as well as on payroll due to cost of living
adjustments in more expensive areas.
Cracking
the code on - and crushing - remote collaboration
As much as companies would love to "virus
proof" their business, no one can predict what may or may not happen. During
this time, it's important to take a step back and look at workflows, technology
or even processes that are producing the best results - and then start reverse engineering your
thought process around them. Rather than focusing on the "how" you're producing
these results, look at what you're actually producing. Is there a way to do
this with less cost, better technology, more online tools - or even a way to
temporarily tweak the offering and end result to make it similar yet more
pertinent to what people need now? The answer will almost always be yes.
To that end, come January, many employees will
have been working remotely for nearly one full year. During this time,
companies - and their employees - have become experts in remote collaboration.
As organizations look to adopt long-term remote work policies, both employers
and their employees will continue gravitating toward technology to help them do
their jobs more productively and efficiently. Whether it's collaborating in
Google Docs, recording meetings and transcribing speech to text for those not
able to join the meeting, or whiteboarding virtually instead of explaining
things over the phone, businesses will become even more collaborative (and
productive!) come 2021.
Data
becoming even more of a differentiator
As organizations digitize their business, it's
creating more data - and in turn, a gold mine for making better, more informed
decisions. The data created by digitizing routine business processes will
provide insights that will guide them on to market, negotiate agreements and
monetize their products and services. While data has always been a
differentiator, the digital transformation that's taken place in 2020 will pay
dividends in data come 2021.
Additionally, while the digital transformation
that's now under our belts has its obvious benefits to internal processes, it's
important for businesses to also recognize the ways these technology
advancements are improving the way their customers - and their customers'
customers - operate. A company is
nothing without its clients, so ensuring technology and solutions are agile and
flexible enough to meet changing customer needs will be the ultimate key to
success in 2021.
##
About the Author
Eric Carrasquilla is Senior Vice President of Product at Conga, where he is responsible for the vision, design, and delivery of Conga's product portfolio. Eric has over 20 years of experience building, launching, and monetizing enterprise-grade applications that deliver successful customer experiences.
Prior to Conga, Eric served as SVP of Product at Model N where he led the strategy to identify and drive the right angle to enter markets and dominate them with innovative products and solutions. He has also held various product and marketing leadership roles at [24]7.ai, Amdocs, Baan, and Fujitsu.
Eric holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and a BS in Marketing from San Jose State University.