How The Pandemic Has Accelerated Digital Transformation
In 2020, the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus, which was first discovered in 2019 a pandemic (meaning it had spread across the world). Health authorities scrambled to control the spread as the virus claimed victim after victim. Since the virus was airborne and gets transmitted through body fluids and droplets, many governments decided to tackle it by imposing mask mandates and limiting in-person interaction.
The worst-hit countries imposed lockdowns, forcing people to stay away from places of work and large gatherings. With people unable to go to work in person, businesses and government agencies had to find a way for them to continue working so that a vacuum isn’t created. This led to a massive adoption of digital transformation which ended up affecting not only the business that desperately needed those transitions but also normal interactions. The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in the following ways:
1. Remote Work and Business Management
Before the pandemic, many businesses only took decisions at in-person meetings where everybody involved in decision-making had to commute over to the office where the meeting was taking place. However, during the pandemic, most companies switched to online mobile telephony apps like zoom and Microsoft teams. With this online phone app that provided audio and video services, employers were able to connect with employees and carry on work as usual.
More importantly, the pandemic did not only allow brands to adopt solutions that allow intra-company work to become seamless, but it has also allowed businesses to collaborate more easily and with more flexibility. These days, long after most lockdowns have been lifted and mask mandates have been relaxed, many businesses have seen the cost savings and reduction in the stress of commuting on their employees and have either remained fully remote or now have a hybrid work schedule.
Furthermore, the pandemic accelerated digital transformation in company management. For example, companies that stored their business data on paper filing systems or hardware storage devices that required employees to be physically present in the office to use them had to switch to cloud services so that employees working remotely coulde access their workflow data. They also had to use task management apps to be able to bring together their employees from various remote locations.
2. Decentralized Servers.
The pandemic also hastened digital transformation in the adoption of decentralized finance. During the pandemic, there was increased adoption of blockchain technology and its products, such as De-Fi. The number of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies increased tremendously, and a lot more organizations and countries accepted cryptocurrency as legal tender and for conducting trade. The acceptance of cryptocurrency also increased the acceptance of blockchain-based digital products, such as NFTs.
The pandemic accelerated the growth of Alternate Reality, Virtual Reality, and Augmented reality, with companies and individuals showing more interest in the metaverse and its digital products. Thanks to the acceptance of blockchain technology in finance, it is now set to be applied in the areas of agriculture, health, education, e-voting, and particularly social media.
3. Digital Product development
The pandemic saw an increase in the creation of digital products, much more than any year before it. With workplaces, schools, cinemas, and other places of gathering banned, people turned to digital products. Digital books and podcasts replaced physical books, online streaming services replaced physical locations for movies and music, and webinars and Youtube tutorials replaced in-person teaching.
In the wake of the pandemic, many people have adopted virtual digital products over their traditional versions. They are more accessible, cheaper, and easy to create in most cases. Many digital product developers prefer them since they take less time and effort to create and bring in a better return on investment.
4. Social Media and Social Communities
One area in which the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation is in the area of social media. For the average social media user, social media went from an individualistic space to a space for virtual communities. Social media platforms that sought to keep their users engaged created more features that allowed users to create virtual communities for business and pleasure.
Twitter, for example, created spaces, while Facebook created the Watch Party feature, among others. It is worthy of note that with people unable to go out, many people had a lot more time on their hands and tried to document how they were coping with the crisis and what was going on in their lives. Given that many people now had time to watch social media content as a way to stave off boredom, many social media content creators became popular and grew a large following quickly.
This created a new class of digital entrepreneurs. People who sold no physical goods nor ran any brick and mortar business but earned up to millions of dollars in documenting their lives for their followers to enjoy. With the change in social media use for individuals also came changes in social media marketing for businesses. The pandemic transformed marketing for businesses. Many businesses found themselves creating video content to market heavily on visually reliant platforms like Tiktok and Instagram. Many others created audio content and podcasts.
In the same vein, a lot of businesses partnered with and endorsed popular social media creators in their niche, allowing them to adapt their products to fit their audience on social media. Even with lockdowns lifted and people now able to go back to their jobs, social media has continued to grow. The next stage of development will move from people using social media to meet and interact with their favorite content creators to earning money based on their clout and social media followership.
Conclusion
The pandemic may have been bad for the economy while it raged, with many governments still struggling under the economic depression it created at its highest point. However, it has also accelerated the transition from the traditional age to the digital age for much of the world. And the changes that have come from it have huge implications for business owners and individual members of society alike.
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