EDITOR’S COMMENT
WHAT WILL THE
MAJOR CHANGES
BE IN THE WAY
COMPANIES WORK
FOLLOWING THE
PANDEMIC?
IAN JANSEN VAN RENSBURG, SENIOR SYSTEMS ENGINEER AT VMWARE
One of the significant challenges
with the global pandemic is that
some companies might not open for
business after the dust has settled. The most
vulnerable are low to mid range restaurants
and coffee shops known for their day-to-day
operating margins but also department stores
and retail. The companies that do survive
will have to work harder and be creative to
recover lost revenue. Retail and restaurants
will downsize but, at the same time, upsize
their online presence and services.
Depending on the sector and type of
business, each company will have been
affected differently. Several companies will
Work from home
policies will evolve at
an exponential rate
as office employees
can use their desktop
computers from home.
change to online business.
The typical office-based
employee, for example,
a doctor, will start
to evolve to online
doctors. Online
medical services
already exist, but
the majority of
people visit their
‘house doctor’ in
person. The ‘house
doctor’ will take
an online approach for diagnosing
medical problems and write scripts.
Work from home policies will evolve at an exponential rate as
office employees can use their desktop computers from home. There
will be employees, for example, mine workers, that will not be able
to work from home, but if you can access your business-critical
applications from any device, why not work from home?
Large global company meetings have already come under
pressure from environmentalists in recent years due to mass
quantities of airline fuel and pollution. The pandemic created a
business opportunity for online conferencing software to take over
from large international gatherings and meetings, which is bad news
for hotels, airlines, public transport and car rentals. These industries
will also have to evolve and innovate.
Virtual reality platforms fail to gain traction, not because of
technical issues but for business reasons. It’s too expensive to adopt or
the need isn’t quite there yet. If the pandemic continues over time and
destabilises the market for live music events, theatrical productions,
movie theatres, virtual reality could suddenly look a lot more attractive.
Software technology companies will become more crucial than
ever throughout and after the pandemic, which is good news for
technology companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft,
Apple, etc. When fewer people leave their homes, information
services and social connection through the Internet becomes more
important than ever. Software technology companies could dominate
the working of modern life.
To summarise some of the points raised above. Changes to
business and communities after the pandemic:
• Companies need to work harder and be creative to recover
lost revenue.
• Several companies will change to online businesses.
• Work from home policies will evolve at an exponential pace.
• Large global company meetings will be downscaled or
cut altogether.
• Virtual reality technology will gain momentum.
• Software technology companies could dominate the working of
modern life.
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