For businesses all around the world, the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the need to make changes and accelerate the digitalization process, to survive the unprecedented situation at the beginning of 2020. The reality that most companies, regardless of their field of activity, had to adjust to, did not pose major problems to large organizations, because they already had an elaborated infrastructure, but it did affect smaller companies, who lack the same amount of resources. Therefore, since they were forced to react fast and keep up with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, they faced various problems during the digitalization process.

How did business models change, in the context of digitalization?

Taken by surprise, many companies have had to adapt their business models to the digital age. This means that companies from all industries have started to focus on flexibility and mobility – and they will continue to do so. Collaborative platforms that make it easier to work remotely, solutions based on Cloud storage and enterprise apps, have all allowed businesses to carry out their activity at normal parameters, regardless of the context. All these technical options were designed to facilitate the decision-making process in companies like yours and eliminate bottlenecks from vital processes while delivering results.

At the same time, to support the idea of mobility beyond the choice of certain technologies, more and more companies have had to rely on the use of mobile devices. These allow you to keep team members in contact at all times, regardless of their location, and allow them to access the same data, make informed decisions and thus complete tasks and business processes in a more efficient way. For organizations whose activity takes place mostly in the field, there are software solutions that can be used both online and offline, have a high level of security and allow the automation of repetitive workflows. These applications are useful both within the company, facilitating teamwork and externally, improving customer interaction. In addition to these, solutions based on data analysis play an increasingly important role, since they help businesses improve both their services and their customers’ experience.

The sudden transition to virtual collaboration and the digitalization of business processes has tested the courage and flexibility of organizations, which have to learn new ways of working in order to survive. However, the following period is the one that will show how many companies have to ability to keep up with the fast pace imposed by the crisis.

Some changes have become vital to the business environment and will stay in focus even after the pandemic is over. Therefore, here are some directions to keep in mind when planning for the upcoming years:

Data security: you must make sure breaches are not a threat for your enterprise, especially in remote working conditions, but also after the return of employees to the company’s headquarters.
Scalability: first, you must find out where the problems were since all employee and customer interactions have become 100% virtual. Then, you can solve these issues by implementing a custom solution, which responds exactly to your business needs and allows you to make changes, as the business grows.
User-friendliness: employees are more likely to get used to intuitive platforms, whose access does not require interaction with technical departments or service providers. This means that you need to choose providers that can deliver self-service solutions and specialized training.

At the moment, the process of digital transformation is taking place globally. Although some changes were necessary for a long time, their implementation was being delayed, and the pandemic only accelerated this process. This means that you should take advantage of new technologies because they have proven their utility for most industries, fields of activity and business models. Digitization is necessary and, fortunately, it is within our reach. Companies just need to continue to use what they have learned in the context of the global crisis.