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Straw Poll

How do you feel about your organisation's ability to recover from the pandemic?

Milan Djuricic is NEC's Director of Managed Services. In this interview, he talks about his career, his values and how NEC managed business continuity through the pandemic.

In today’s highly competitive marketplace, it is not just an advantage for organisations to use data to make intelligent business decisions but a necessity.

Is your organisation ready to embrace the data revolution?

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Getting through the dip

For most, relocating home for work was seamless. The novelty of online meetings and working from home generated positive energy to contrast against pandemic gloom. People and organisations have adapted and tried to recreate work and leisure activities at home.

We're here now:

• The necessity of online meetings drove demand for solutions from Zoom, WebEx and Microsoft. With its billion user install base, Facebook also got in the game.
• Working from home meant we all needed new equipment and better connectivity (ABC).
• Australian consumer sentiment is robust, yet most feel that a recession is inevitable (BCG).
• The ABS recorded a 1% increase in the unemployment rate between April and March (ABS). The next set of numbers will be out in late May.

Trying to live our virtual lives at home:

• Using technology to watch live online performances (BBC).
• Accessing a lot of (free) workouts (Gold’s Gym).
• Or just finding new ways to be comfortable at home by buying sleepwear and skincare (The Age) or buying bikes (news.com.au).

All the while, there are signals of a different future:

• The big tech firms are signaling a change in work from home policy. Twitter says you can do that forever (TechCrunch) while Google and Facebook say “same” but only until the end of the year (BBC).
• If you do return to an office, things could be very different there as well (BBC).
• Restaurants in Washington State are asking for personal details (Vice) to trace potential outbreak sources. It’s a trade-off between contact tracing and privacy.
• Even the vaunted Apple Store is getting the pandemic treatment.(Washington Post)
• What will the future hold? That’s unknown but there are likely to be a few changes. (Forbes)

Implication

This is digital’s moment, spreading deeper into the mainstream and late adopters. If it can be done virtually, new behavior just might stick. The underlying infrastructure and security becomes more important to access these services.

When we do need to be physically present, expect new hurdles at a societal (masks, hand-washing) and technical (temperature and proximity sensing) level.

Surreal - seeing usually crowded places now empty. (New York Times)

Tired of that toilet paper fort? IKEA can help you with something new. (Gartner)