News

How is that things seem so slow yet so fast? These nine months have felt laboriously slow yet did we just reinvent ourselves? While larger corporations generally have been able to absorb the impact,  the SMB with the little wiggle room they have, the Covid-19 era has been a gut wrenching 9 months: save what we can, reinvent everything about our business. Work from a distance as well as finding ways to leverage technology to transform the “physicality” of their business.

A term I have been hearing more often to describe the Work From Home trend is the “Low Touch Economy”. The Board of Innovation has conducted a number of reports that put into focus the larger trends at play with the new workplace. Worth a read:

boardofinnovation.com/low-touch-economy

A few highlights:

• Companies tight on cash will reduce office space and infrastructure. Expect setups at home that go far beyond a second screen
• Damaged trust in hygiene of people and products
• There will be a tremendous need for (remote) therapy and coaching. Certain regions already see a rise in demand for pets and animal companions.
• A sharp and unprecedented drop in demand will have ripple effects deep in the value chain.

Salesforce published a superb report about the Pandemic’s effect on the SMB enterprise. The SMB ecosystem is cleaving into digital innovators,  and those who are stagnating or just can’t justify innovation over survival. Here are a few choice nuggets that resonated with me.

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the digital divide that was already present in the small business market, and it is forcing companies to accelerate their digitalization,” said Daniel-Zoe Jimenez, AVP, head digital transformation & SMB research at IDC, in a press release.

As we tell our channel partners who serve the small business community, it is an imperative to further assist their constituents to adopt and manage new technologies that augment their current suite of services. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many SMBs to adopt new technologies to serve customers and support employees. However, they will need help with implementing and optimizing these technologies, which will require ongoing investment. If you can bundle more relevant and engaging tools into the mix, you will enjoy a longer customer lifetime cycle. Enjoy the read!